Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening has carried a burden of criticism and speculation since its initial publication. While many past critics have chastised Chopin and condemned the novel for its portrait of an adulterous heroine, modern responses are often inexorably concerned with drawing conclusions about the novel's inconclusive ending. Most modern critics have set aside moral considerations of Edna's adulterous behavior in favor of countless considerations of the novel's final scene: Edna's death. Readers want to know if Edna's death was intentional. It's hard not to dwell on this point because the answer determines whether Edna succeeded or surrendered. The reader seeks the conclusion to be satisfied, but this desired conclusion is not given by Chopin. However, Chopin's failure to provide all the answers and his failure to give Edna thoughtful explanations for her actions is not a fault nor should it be a criticism of the novel. Whether Edna intends suicide, whether she reclaims her authority over her life by taking it, or whether she simply gives up, is an important consideration, one to which the author's simple response would reduce the power of the novel by produce readers' thoughts and speculation. while possibly leading to negative social assumptions. To understand and find satisfaction in the novel's ending, one must appreciate both the freedom of discourse allowed by such a non-ending and the implications of the representation of female adultery and suicide in the 19th century. Although the escalation of the plot implies that Edna's disappearance is necessary because she cannot be free to live the life she chooses, a suicide would present a problem in that it provides closure for readers which attaches to Edna the social conceptions by which female suicide was defined. Not only would suicide have been seen as another moral transgression on the part of a selfish character, it could be inferred, applying popular thinking about female suicide, that Edna's problem was not systemic nor a societal problem but rather a problem with one's own mental state. Chopin cannot define Edna's death as suicide, because to do so would be to provide a conclusion that would invite a social interpretation of her act rather than a deliberation about her intentions and alternatives. Rather than speculating about her intentions, requiring a careful reading of the events that led to her death, the closure with definitive suicide invites interpretation through the prism of 19th-century thought on female suicide, a prism who would not fail to condemn and isolate her. difficult situation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay As Chopin's novel draws to a close, hope begins to diminish that Edna will find happiness and freedom in her social world. The novel must end with Edna's death because society cannot offer a solution to her problem or recognize her needs. With her husband's return imminent, Edna has no choice but to play the role of dutiful wife and return to her home or attempt an escape that could result in her conviction and dismissal from her society. The reader would be deeply disappointed if Edna returned home to live out her life in misery, as such an action would be anticlimactic and out of character for Edna. Edna's boldness increases throughout the novel and Chopin admits that his "original conception of the novel was altered by Edna's making such a mess" (Treu 2). At the end of the novel, Edna has given uphis Tuesdays at home, coming and going as he pleased. She also moved to her own house where she engaged in extramarital affairs. Having broken almost all social codes and knowing that her husband's return must put an end to it, Edna has no choice but to run away or return. However, escaping with Robert proves impractical. His desire to make her his wife and possess her is not possible nor is it what she wants. Edna said: “I will give myself where I want, if he said: “Here, Robert, take it and be happy; she’s yours,” I would make fun of you both” (Chopin, 102). A continuation of her affair with Robert could not bring happiness because he has the same intention of possessing her. Robert's words "Goodbye because I love you" (Chopin, 106) puts an end to their affair. From this point on, Edna's intentions can only be speculated. Edna can neither be happy nor have what she wants. She is incapable of self-ownership and autonomy. The novel diagnosed something for which there is no answer. Although a return to one's social position would be anticlimactic, it seems impossible to escape. Edna's death is necessary to the plot, but it remains ambiguous. Such ambiguity, however, is consistent with the rest of the novel and serves Chopin's purpose. Edna is still a very passive character. The major decisions she makes in the novel hardly seem like decisions. When asked why she gave up her Tuesdays at home, she replied: “I just wanted to go out, and I went out” (Chopin, 49). When Edna recounts her plan to rent a house, Miss Reisz responds "Your reason is not yet clear to me" and the narrator goes on to say "it was not very clear to Edna herself either" (76 ). Edna's first encounter with a drowning death again brings the reader back to the limits of Edna's thoughtlessness. As she swims, Edna appears aimless, "she seemed to reach out for the limitless to lose herself in", implying that she is unaware of it. “A quick vision of death struck his soul and weakened his senses.” This once again implies his passivity and lack of influence over his environment. His death rightly reveals the same structure. Edna does not decide that she will commit suicide; her decision to go to the beach is just an idea, Edna says "I have the idea of ​​going to the beach and washing myself well and even swimming a little before dinner" (Chopin, 107 years). Edna continues by saying that she “could go down and try” (Chopin, 108). By asking twice about dinner and asking for napkins, the reader is not prepared to accept premeditated suicide. As she swims in the ocean, her thoughts go to her children, her husband, and her childhood. She has no resolution but to swim, and as the ocean and distance overwhelm her, her strength disappears. Her body propels her forward, the ocean challenges her strength, and yet her mind is without resolution. Does Edna make a conscious decision to die? Is her death a reclamation of her body or is she simply giving up? Chopin's ending is both fitting and shocking because it demands reflection on the part of the reader. He refuses to provide a simple answer. It is up to the reader to decide whether Edna surrendered or succeeded, died accidentally or by her own decision. Neither idea can be proven, but interpretation is encouraged if not necessary. The reader's mind craves conclusion; however, none are provided. We can imagine responses to alternative conclusions that are less effective in producing thought. In the event that Edna thinks "This is it! I can't go on, I will never have the freedom that I chose to have, I must end mydays,” the reader thinks, “how sad! I feel sorry for a person so dissatisfied they have to end their life. » In case the novel ends with Edna thinking "I'm desperate and the only way to claim my life is to take it", the reader thinks "hmm, it's sad that Edna couldn't find the happiness in life but she made a decision which is a victory for her” The last scenario that one could imagine is that Edna, swimming aimlessly, realizes “I am too far from the shore, I feel tired. and the sea is too powerful. Help!" In this case, the reader thinks, "Someone help him! Why did you swim here? Haven't you learned your lesson from last time?" However, Chopin fails to adopt any of these conclusions. The reader's response to these endings seems contained and brief. Chopin's true ending, however, produces other feelings. "Why?" asks the reader. "Was this intentional? A search for answers must take place and Edna's thoughts and statements are reviewed. be proven. This conclusion cannot be a definitive conclusion but rather a subjective conclusion in that the reader's thoughts influence the novel by giving more or less weight to the clues pointing to Edna's intentions. A subjective interpretation is necessary. This interpretation is important in that the reader is challenged to take into consideration the evidence provided by the novel and interpret it to reach a conclusion. This personal interpretation allows the reader to justify the ending in relation to both. rest of the novel and to his own feelings towards Edna and the situation. If the reader feels that Edna committed suicide, he must feel that she had no way out. It is more difficult to criticize a character and their actions when you have inferred their actions instead of the author giving them. To conclude this novel, the reader must ask himself what Edna would be likely to do and, to a lesser extent and perhaps unconsciously, what she would do. The inconclusive ending has the power to draw the reader in while stimulating identification and reflection on larger issues. When a reader is asked to draw their own conclusions, it is less likely that the character will face criticism and condemnation in the eyes of the reader and more likely that the reader will be able to identify with the character. Identification with a character is important, especially for a character willingly condemned by the standards of his society. Chopin recognizes the “mother women” who represented what Edna, as a wife and mother, was meant to be. Chopin says of these mother women: "They were women who idolized their children, adored their husbands and considered it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and to grow wings like angels in service" (Chopin , 9). Indeed, society expected books to be about these women; the portrait of an adulterous woman who refuses to let her husband and children “possess her body and soul” was a moral abomination. Chopin does her best to show us who Edna really is and who she can be as she realizes the “blind contentment” that is the existence of female mothers. Chopin also introduces society's perspective into the novel through the thoughts and actions of the men in the novel, particularly Lonce and Doctor Mandelet. As Lonce finds Edna's independent behavior disturbing, he makes an important trip to the family doctor. Unsurprisingly for the time, Lonce and the doctor see Edna's actions as the result of an individual psychological problem rather than a.