"They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels," (The Awakening,16) is how Kate Chopin described the typical women (or mother-women) of Edna Pontellier's time in the book, The Awakening. In those days, the women were to protect the "precious blood" (16) of their children from any harm, real or imaginary, and this was to be the sole purpose of their life. But what of a woman's life? Should a woman consider her own needs as much as the needs of her family and consider her own blood to be just as precious? In the time in which the book takes place, a woman who did not display the decorum befitting of a well-mannered lady was ostracized from society by those who considered themselves to be of the proper social normalities. While these women were looked down upon in those times, there has been a residual affect on present day women who choose to live for themselves, but it becomes more clear with every generation that passes that women should be free to make their own decisions without fear of public scrutiny.
             Women in the times of Edna Pontellier, the main character of the story The Awakening, were often an afterthought seen almost as lowly as possessions. We find evidence of this early on in the novel as Léonce, Edna's husband, criticizes her decision to swim in the sun because it made her skin appear as if it was the skin of a servant and he sees her almost as "a valuable piece of personal property that had suffered some damage." (7) A woman's needs never came before those of her children. It was the responsibility of the woman to make sure everything was perfect for the husband and children and this role of women has transcended through the generations and easily translates to the present day society as well as to today's modern women and thei...