The Idea of "A Room of One's Own" in The Awakening
In "A Room of One's Own," Virginia Woolf states that the reason a woman gets married is because of her need for money. Woolf says, "Indeed my aunt's legacy unveiled the sky to me, and substituted for the large and posing figure of a gentlemen...a view of the open sky." Keeping this statement in mind, one can say that Edna Pontellier, the main character in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, got married because of circumstance and later discovered that in order to make something of herself; she first had to become independent. In order to get the independence she wanted, she had to have "money and a room of one's own." Edna's realization of missing out on life did not happen overnight, but rather it took a series of stages to make it complete. Throughout the whole novel Edna changes her place in society. First, she's the perfect woman in the Creole society; women want to be her, men want her. The summer trip to Grande Isle gave Edna a freedom she never experienced before. Most of the time at Grande Isle her husband is away at work and Edna spends most of her time with Robert Leburn who is the person that keeps her company during that summer. Here at Grand Isle, Edna doesn't perform the way society expects the "standard" woman
This is where she knew no one could force anything on her and showed to society that if she didn't have her freedom, she would rather die. In order to reach that state of independence, Edna moves out of the big house in order to become the artist she wishes she could be. It most probably was an act of final rebellion-of refusal to sacrifice her integrity by putting her life in the hands of controlling powers. On the other hand, Ratignolle lives the socially accepted lifestyle that Reisz rejected for solitude and freedom. This is so because in order for someone to be successful, he/she needs support from the people around him/her, and when Edna doesn't get that support, she needs to feel independent and prove that she is able to make something of herself. On the other hand, Mademoiselle Reisz takes care of herself; and has earned everything she has by herself. One could say this was Edna's final artistic creation, letting herself die in a place where beauty existed and where she was free from any worries. And in order for the place to be her own, she doesn't want anything in it that is not hers; that she hasn't gotten by herself or that she didn't work for. One can relate this to what Woolf says, ". Madame Ratignolle may be a musician, but she is dependent on her husband. She often takes walks on the beach unescorted.
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