In Kate Chopin's, The Awakening, Chopin told the story of a woman who struggled between leading the life of a conservative, traditional wife and mother or leading the life of an independent, fee-willed woman. The woman's name was Edna and she felt stuck in a family that she viewed as a burden and a nuisance. After reading the story, I felt Edna was a disgrace to women. My reader-response was one of disgust towards her. It was plainly obvious that she mainly focused her attention on herself and her wants, instead of caring for her children and husband. This read-response included many assumptions I made about Edna and the way I think a woman based on today's society.
             When I first started reading The Awakening, I developed many assumptions about Edna. As the story progressed, many of these assumptions were met, many were surpassed, and others were somewhat different from my original expectations. My first assumption about Edna was that she was a selfish woman. This assumption was proven and became evident in the beginning of the story. In the third chapter her husband Mr. Pontellier returned home from Klein's hotel, where he went to play billiards. Mr. Pontellier was getting ready for bed while he was telling his wife, "the sole object of his existence," about the "bits of news and gossip that he had gathered during the day" (636). He was discouraged to find the she had very "little interest in things which concerned him and [that she] valued so little his conversation" (636). When Mr. Pontellier went to check on his children who were sleeping, he discovered that his son Raoul had a fever. He then went and informed Edna who replied by saying that the child went to bed perfectly well and that there was no way he had a fever (636). This showed that Edna was a conceited woman who cared little for her husband and children. My first assump
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