Much like other works of literature, The Awakening by Kate Chopin has many different conflicts throughout the novel. There are many areas of conflict such as physical, moral, intellectual and emotional. However, most of the conflict that Edna goes through is the emotional conflict of being involved and part of two completely different worlds. Edna struggles to be in the world of being free and unbound.
Throughout the text there are many pieces of evidence that support this emotional conflict that Edna is going through.One example of this conflict are the two friends she has, Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle. Mademoiselle Reisz represents the world where Edna can be free of societies binds, while Madame Ratignolle represents the world where she must abide the common culture where a woman is basically a possession to her husband. Being friends with both of them suggests the struggle of trying to be both.
Another piece of evidence is some nights Edna will stay up for countless hours occasionally crying. This displays how hard and stressful this situation is for her.An example Edna’s emotional conflict is her starting to disobey the regular duties of a respectful housewife. Along with this, she also moves into another house of her own just to feel distanced from her husband and society.
This indicates evidence that she is in conflict with separate worlds. She also feels guilty and conflicted about her children and what she is doing to them by proceeding with her actions. Another main piece of emotional conflict is falling in love with Robert and associating with Arobin.This shows that she is conflicted about having feelings for them vs being loyal to her husband.
All these pieces of evidence from the text provide us with examples of how this emotional struggle of fitting into two worlds effects Edna. This conflict eventually leads to her suicide because she can not take it anymore and just wants to be free. All these conflicts end up being too much for her to handle. All these examples of emotional conflict Edna goes through helps her to see who she really wants to be and what is the right thing to do for her in her world.
