The Awakening: Casting Shadows :: essays research papers

The Awakening: Casting Shadows Happiness; is it essential or is it a mere unimportant simplistic virtue in life's plans? Does everyone have the right to happiness? It is stated in the Constitution that we as Americans have the right to life, liberty, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin the main Character Edna has the â€Å"perfect life†. The sweet loving husband, the cute children, enormous amounts of money and an extremely large house. Yet with all of this Edna is partially happy, but is not fulfilled. Since having a rushed marriage to spite her parents Edna never took time to examine her life to see what she wanted out of it. Edna late in the marriage wanted the freedom to explore her mind, find herself and find what this person liked. In the following I will defend the actions Edna took to find her happiness as irrational as they may seem. This story took place in the late 1800's when women's liberation was never heard of. In this era women were supposed to find happiness in serving their husbands and taking care of the children. There were no other options within the restrictive boundaries of marriage, and divorce was never an alternative. Women's lives were austere and self enrichment or self gratification were often times cast aside relative to the more mundane tasks of daily life. Most women accepted this but Edna did not. She figured that life was more than constantly doing for someone else. She wanted time for herself in order to figure out who she was. Some may see this as selfish but everyone is entitled to â€Å"me† time and space. Although I admit she did not go about it in the best way at times; Edna still was in going in the right direction. Edna's marriage to Leonce Pontellier was to spite her father the Colonel because Leonce was of a different religious faith. Also, Leonce was unceasingly devoted to Edna which was something that had never occurred in any other relationship. Edna, who had not experienced many male relationships before this was naive when it came to men. This naivetà © affected her in such a way that she neither knew love and it's limitations nor the experience it took to make it through a relationship. This showed Edna's immaturity which was a big issue in this story. This shown as the woman inside who had been asleep all those years. Her relationship with Leonce was what she sought to find happiness in. After six years of marriage to Leonce, Edna felt an ever-growing void in her The Awakening: Casting Shadows :: essays research papers The Awakening: Casting Shadows Happiness; is it essential or is it a mere unimportant simplistic virtue in life's plans? Does everyone have the right to happiness? It is stated in the Constitution that we as Americans have the right to life, liberty, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin the main Character Edna has the â€Å"perfect life†. The sweet loving husband, the cute children, enormous amounts of money and an extremely large house. Yet with all of this Edna is partially happy, but is not fulfilled. Since having a rushed marriage to spite her parents Edna never took time to examine her life to see what she wanted out of it. Edna late in the marriage wanted the freedom to explore her mind, find herself and find what this person liked. In the following I will defend the actions Edna took to find her happiness as irrational as they may seem. This story took place in the late 1800's when women's liberation was never heard of. In this era women were supposed to find happiness in serving their husbands and taking care of the children. There were no other options within the restrictive boundaries of marriage, and divorce was never an alternative. Women's lives were austere and self enrichment or self gratification were often times cast aside relative to the more mundane tasks of daily life. Most women accepted this but Edna did not. She figured that life was more than constantly doing for someone else. She wanted time for herself in order to figure out who she was. Some may see this as selfish but everyone is entitled to â€Å"me† time and space. Although I admit she did not go about it in the best way at times; Edna still was in going in the right direction. Edna's marriage to Leonce Pontellier was to spite her father the Colonel because Leonce was of a different religious faith. Also, Leonce was unceasingly devoted to Edna which was something that had never occurred in any other relationship. Edna, who had not experienced many male relationships before this was naive when it came to men. This naivetà © affected her in such a way that she neither knew love and it's limitations nor the experience it took to make it through a relationship. This showed Edna's immaturity which was a big issue in this story. This shown as the woman inside who had been asleep all those years. Her relationship with Leonce was what she sought to find happiness in. After six years of marriage to Leonce, Edna felt an ever-growing void in her