Choosing between family and individuality in The Awakening of Kate Chopin The Awakening of Kate Chopin focuses on a woman's struggle to become an individual while being a mother and wife. Over the course of this journey, the female heroine discovers that establishing her identity means losing her identity as a mother. Edna appears to be the “courageous soul,” a “soul that dares and challenges” (Chopin 61). Edna's society looked down on women who seek anything other than caring for their children and their husband's needs. Therefore, she is seen as an outcast and must turn both inward and outward to nature for satisfaction and approval. At the beginning of The Awakening, Mr. Pontellier asks the question, "If it wasn't the mother's job to care for children, who the hell was it?" (Chopin 7). It reflects the general belief of her time that women should be self-sacrificing mothers for their children's most important needs. She believes that women should be selfless beings who never take and always give. He thinks, just as other men believed during this time, that she should be "the angel of the house", meeting his every need. Mr. Pontellier wants her to be one of the "ministering angels" (Chopin 9) who "idolatized their children" (Chopin 9) and "adored their husbands" (Chopin 9). Mrs. Pontellier shows little interest in caring for her husband and children, suggesting that she seeks something more than a life lived for others. She begins to “recognize her relationships as an individual to the world in and around her” (Chopin 14) which inevitably becomes a curse in disguise. It creates a complicated internal conflict. Mrs. Pontellier wonders if she should be called a mother and... half of paper... nature for acceptance and for her soothing childhood memories of forgotten innocence. Works cited and consulted Chopin, Kate. "The awakening." 1899. The Complete Works of Kate Chopin. Ed. For Seyersted. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1989. Culley, Margo, ed. A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994. Edwards, Lee. "Sexuality, motherhood and individuality". A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994. 282-285. Walker, Nancy. "Feminist or naturalist". A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994. 252-257. Wolff, Cynthia. "Thanatos and Eros." A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994. 231-241.