In the literary criticism, “Kate Chopin’s Motherless Heroine,” Virginia Ross suggests that Edna Pontellier’s conflicting needs are the consequence of the absence of her mother. The Creole society began the “awakening” within Edna into a “sensual and sexual woman” (Ross 252). Edna turns her back on her family, her home, and what she deems society requires of her. She chooses to seek out a life where she is independent and free from the chains of society. Her actions from then on reveal insecurities and a regressive tendency. Ross analyzes the novel through a psychoanalytical lens that gives evidence of Edna’s yearning for a mother that causes the insecurities and regression from her former self.
Ross put an emphasis on Freud’s theories in her criticism. Freud’s overarching concept is to scrutinize a person’s actions to find a deeper motive that is buried in their unconscious. Freud claims that the unconscious part of the mind holds the darker desirers that the conscious mind suppresses. According to Freud, the confliction between the unconscious desires with the conscious is the cause of much of human behavior and the cause of mental disorders. Ross writes that the sea is symbolic of maternal love in the novel. Whenever Edna is by the ocean she feels depressed and abandoned. Freud might say that sea evokes these feelings because of the absence of a mother in her childhood. According to Ross, Freud says that a child may not feel separate from the mother giving the child the feeling of eternity. Carl Jung, a Neo-Freudian, looks at water as the female side of personality. Edna may substitute a mother with the sea. When Edna looks towards the sea, she feels a sense of eternity.
One of Abraham Maslow’s theories is present in the criticism. Maslow’s Theory of the Hierarchy of Needs is not directly mentioned in the criticism, yet it is outlines in Ross’ article. Edna’s regressive tendency and search for independence can be her journey to self-actualization. According to Maslow, in order to reach self-actualization there are other requirements of basic survival have to be meet. With a dead mother, insensitive father, and unloving sisters, Edna stops short of feeling loved and accepted. Ross writes that Adele provides the feeling of love and belongingness to Edna. This brings about her awakening.
I feel that Ross presents and argues in her article very effectively. Analyzing Edna’s actions from a psychoanalytical point of view helps prove her points valid. I believe that Edna’s actions throughout the novel are motivated behind her wanting of a mother.
It's interesting how your author also mentions the affect of Creole society on Edna's awakening. Since Edna was able to break out of her strict Presbyterian upbringing, she probably thought it wouldn't be so hard to reject society overall. If we look at The Awakening through this interpretation, it could be argued that her suicide was brought about by the series of unloving relationships in her life. Aside from her family, her husband, and even Robert, did not give her the affection she craved. Her suicide could be seen as a final attempt at finding love and happiness, or a desperate act of a very depressed woman.
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis, Emily! The part in particular I found most interesting was the part where you said "Edna may substitute a mother with the sea". I agree with this statement, and i think that it ties in nicely with the various interpretations of the sea throughout our disections of the story. It reminds me of a point made in my article, which says that Edna liked going to the sea so much because she could actually get away from her own children and obligations as a mother. Maybe her lack of a mother is the reason why she is so distant and unattached to her own children.
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