“You can leave
home all you want, but home will never leave you.” This quote by Sonsyrea Tate
can be related to different literary works, including The Awakening by Kate
Chopin. In this novel, “home” could be compared to Edna’s mansion with Léonce,
the pigeon house, and the overall society in which she tries to escape.
Although society is not literally a home, the ideas and symbolism remain the
same. In The Awakening, Edna, a woman living in the 1890’s, decides she is
unhappy with her society because women are treated unequally and do not have
the same rights as the men. They are domestic in their marriages and have very
few choices but to conform to their society as well-behaved housewives. Edna no
longer wants to live like this, and decides to rebel into the independent life
that she longs for.
Edna begins her awakening while she is living in the mansion with her husband. She begins to get fed up with her life and how she is treated by him. She starts to stand up for herself and stops allowing Léonce to control her. Eventually, she moves out of their house and moves alone into a pigeon house. This transition symbolizes a crucial step towards her independence and awakening. “She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet, half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above the stars. They jeered and sounded mournful notes without promise, devoid even of hope” (Chopin 70). Even in the beginning of her solitude when it was still fresh and exciting, there was a part of her that felt a darkness from it. In her house with Léonce she felt trapped and unable to self-express. It wasn’t a true home for her.
The pigeon house is a comfort for Edna in the beginning because she enjoys the newly found independence. She soon realizes that this house is not the solution she hoped for, and it will not lead her to a happy life. Although it is a temporary escape from her caged life from her husband, and provides isolation, she soon feels trapped again. The pigeon house is an old cage for domesticated pigeons, which is ultimately how Edna feels.
By Robert’s denial, she learns that she cannot escape her society and that she is “at home” nowhere. If she chooses to go back home to Léonce and her children, she will again be caged into their lifestyle and will not be able to be independent. Marrying Robert would also lead to again being under the control of a man. If she goes off and lives in solitude, she will end up like Mademoiselle Reiz, which by Chopin’s writing, is shown to not be a lifestyle that would bring Edna happiness. This leads Edna to a feeling of imprisonment with no way to escape. By committing suicide she hopes to find a true home; complete with privacy, love, shelter, and comfort- a place she failed to find in her society.
Edna begins her awakening while she is living in the mansion with her husband. She begins to get fed up with her life and how she is treated by him. She starts to stand up for herself and stops allowing Léonce to control her. Eventually, she moves out of their house and moves alone into a pigeon house. This transition symbolizes a crucial step towards her independence and awakening. “She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet, half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above the stars. They jeered and sounded mournful notes without promise, devoid even of hope” (Chopin 70). Even in the beginning of her solitude when it was still fresh and exciting, there was a part of her that felt a darkness from it. In her house with Léonce she felt trapped and unable to self-express. It wasn’t a true home for her.
The pigeon house is a comfort for Edna in the beginning because she enjoys the newly found independence. She soon realizes that this house is not the solution she hoped for, and it will not lead her to a happy life. Although it is a temporary escape from her caged life from her husband, and provides isolation, she soon feels trapped again. The pigeon house is an old cage for domesticated pigeons, which is ultimately how Edna feels.
By Robert’s denial, she learns that she cannot escape her society and that she is “at home” nowhere. If she chooses to go back home to Léonce and her children, she will again be caged into their lifestyle and will not be able to be independent. Marrying Robert would also lead to again being under the control of a man. If she goes off and lives in solitude, she will end up like Mademoiselle Reiz, which by Chopin’s writing, is shown to not be a lifestyle that would bring Edna happiness. This leads Edna to a feeling of imprisonment with no way to escape. By committing suicide she hopes to find a true home; complete with privacy, love, shelter, and comfort- a place she failed to find in her society.