Theme Article

There are many different themes in the book The Awaking. However, the main theme is never confine your self for some one else, or because of social norms. Edna finally realizes this by what she has been doing. She goes against everything and loves Robert. When Robert tries to acknowledge the social norms of her husband controlling her she says that “You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,’ I should laugh at you both.” Edna refuses to be confined any longer, so she becomes her own person. After she gave up her worries about social norms and what her husband, she felt happier. In chapter 19 the author even says that “There were days when she was very happy without knowing why. She was happy to be alive and breathing, when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day. She liked then to wander alone into strange and unfamiliar places. She discovered many a sunny, sleepy corner, fashioned to dream in. And she found it good to dream and to be alone and unmolested.” She was happy. She was free.