In her novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin shows how the character Edna Pontellier has to deal with a life of hard choices. The novel is about a woman who marries into the creole way of life. Edna has everything a woman could want, but she is not happy. Edna feels like a possession of her husband, of her children, and of her society. The story deals with the struggles she goes through in order to find herself. Edna realizes that as a wife and mother, she has not been living for herself, throughout the entire novel, Edna searches for herself. Edna begins to realize that her role in society is that of a person, not someone's property, she remains "stuck" in a world of marital commitment.
             Edna realizes that as a wife and mother she has lost all her freedom. Her freedom has been taken away by her husband and children. At the time this novel was published, women did as they were expected to by society. They were expected to be good daughters, good wives, and good mothers. A woman was expected to move from the protection of her father's roof to the protection of her husband. Edna does not fit into this mold. She says, "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself." Edna is unwilling to lose her self-identity, which throughout the novel she works so hard to achieve. It is not until she gets a taste of this new life through Robert that she craves for more.
             Throughout the entire novel Edna searches for an identity which she can call her own. At first, Edna is married and seems satisfied with her life. However, she does not find the true happiness she is looking for. Her "awakening" begins when a young man named Robert enters her life. Edna begins to respond to him with a passion she has never felt before. She begins to realize that she can play roles other than wife and mother. Throughout the book, Edna takes many steps to increase her independenc...