In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the upper class Creole society, in the 1890s, has a strict idea of the appropriate lifestyle. Their expectations of women include nothing more than being devoted wives and nurturing mothers. Chopin introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier. Edna has always followed these beliefs and society's norm, until she awakens from this reality to find her life too boring and mundane. This awakening allows her to glimpse of an entirely different lifestyle, where she feels independent and free. Eventually, Edna comes to the realization that these dreams for a new life through the awakening cannot be reality. Gilmore states: "Edna resolves to commit suicide because she can find no room for her newly awakened self in the present social system" (Gilmore 62). She comes to the conclusion that the ideal life that she wants so badly to live is just a dream, and because it cannot become a reality, she would rather not live at all. Her awakening directly influenced her decision to commit suicide, in which she saw as her only option.
             As a young woman, Edna chose to follow the path that society had paved for her. She conformed to their views, and, as a result, ignored her own personal feelings. She married and left her dreams and fantasies in the depths of the shadows. Chopin writes:
             "The acme of bliss, which would have been a marriage with the tragedian, was not for her in this world. As the devoted wife of a man who worshiped her, she felt she would take her place with a certain dignity in the world of reality, closing the portals forever behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams" (Chopin 24).
             Edna's husband, Leonce Pontellier, was the ideal husband. He was a successful businessman, who adored his wife. "He fell in love, and she liked him and was flattered by his devotion. She thought that they had much in common, but, once married, she found that this wa...