Kelsey Knutson English 271 Deconstruction in Kate Chopins The Awakening Kate Chopins The Awakening is widely known

for the central character Edna Pontellier. Her struggle with femininity and motherhood has been extensively studied and discussed by feminist critics. Set in the late nineteenth century, Edna must uncover her identity as an oppressed woman to experience her awakening. However deconstruction, a term coined by philosopher Jacques Derrida, can be applied to the reading of The Awakening. It seems the character of Edna Pontellier follows the problems of western metaphysics that Derrida criticizes. She believes her identity or self is the ultimate center in her life. Derrida asks what if this is the wrong conclusion. What if there is no unifying element in life such as identity or self? Through this perspective, a reader can question Ednas decision at the end of the novel. Could Edna have lived with her new self and the identity of motherhood and wife? Deconstruction would make the claim that Edna Pontellier was following the basic logical laws of thought. Started with Greek philosopher Aristotle, three laws were developed that were seen as so logical that they couldnt be denied. The law of non-contradiction stated, no thing can be and not be at the same time and in the same report(Flood). The excluded middle law noted that, no third category in addition to being and non-being can exist(Flood). Lastly, the law of identity states that a thing is what it is and cant be any other thing(Flood). This law was usually shown as something is A and not B. Deconstruction allows a reader to look at a text and deny all these logical laws. The very word deconstruction is meant to undermine the either/or logic of the opposition construction/deconstruction(Walker 294). As a reader, it becomes easy to accept a text as it is and make judgments about what is right and

Knutson 2 wrong. However, literary critics who follow the guidelines of deconstruction take on a tougher challenge. Multiple meanings, interpretations, or messages within the text may be uncovered that are unknown to even the author. Derrida would say that anyone attempting to find a single, homogeneous or universal meaning in a text is simply imprisoned by the structure of thought that would oppose two readings and declare one to be right and not wrong, correct rather than incorrect(Walker 294). It is logical to look at the text of The Awakening and discover a woman who is oppressed by society or men in her motherhood/wife status. She believes her identity as a woman can only be A and not B. What if she was wrong? Throughout the novel, Edna Pontellier faces the binary oppositions of masculinity and femininity. One of the assumptions facing readers is the belief that masculinity is superior and femininity is inferior. Binary oppositions exist in relation to logical thought. To know something is good, we need to know what is bad. The Awakening coincides with the belief that femininity is inferior. Mr. Pontellier questions womans place in society saying, if it was not a mothers place to look after children, whose on earth was it?(Chopin 27) Furthermore, when Edna starts to question her place in society Mr. Pontellier believes she is having health problems. He consults a doctor who refers to women as pseudo-intellectual as well as very peculiar and delicate organism(s)It would require an inspired psychologist to deal successfully with them(Chopin 89). On the other hand, masculinity (particularly in Mr. Pontellier), is seen as superior. The novel says all declared that Mr. Pontellier was the best husband in the world. Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit that she knew of none better(Chopin 28). In this passage, a tension is beginning to arise between Edna and the other characters in the novel. An article by Anca Parvulescu sees this as a primary tension in The Awakening. Edna is experiencing a dual life. Parvulescu states, The novel thematizes a tension - the tension within a self that lives itself

Knutson 3 as double, as oscillation between an outward life in which one conforms and an inward life in which on questions(478). She, unlike the rest, does not accept the binary oppositions in place. Sexuality is very interesting in deconstruction since it can be shown to contain contradictions and ambiguities that more traditional readings of sexuality have masked(Walker 304). As the story develops Edna represents those contradictions and ambiguities that sexuality creates in deconstruction. As the novel develops, Ednas femininity begins to form more masculine traits. As mentioned, Edna represents the supplementation in the text or the unstable relationship between elements in a binary operation(Bressler 114). Edna begins to take steps in her life to create a more masculine image. She studies art(Chopin 80), moves into a new home(Chopin 105), begins an affair with a man(Chopin 100), and ultimately takes steps to become independent. Through these acts, Edna focuses her world on the self while disregarding her children and husband. Scholar Ivy Schweitzer notes that Edna develops the masculine privilege to ignore and override the rights of others in the name of a higher abstract end(170). In addition, Schweitzers article describes Edna as creating a masculine mask(172), following a masculine path(172), and obtaining masculine freedom(183). She puts herself in a masculine position by linking her to the masculine world of representation and power(173). Progressing through the novel, Edna constructs herself into a strong masculine image by concentrating on herself instead of her children and husband. Edna has morphed into a stronger and more independent woman while focusing primarily on herself instead of her family. Passages from The Awakening make it clear that Edna had pinpointed the self as her transcendental signified. According to western philosophy, the transcendental signified was an external point of reference upon which one ma y build a concept

Knutson 4 or philosophy(Bressler 109). An interesting quote in The Awakening comes from Edna when she declares, I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldnt give myself(Chopin 69). Later in the novel, Edna repeats this by saying, she would give up the unessential, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children (Chopin 138). When Edna declares I wouldnt give myself, there is more meaning behind her words. She is using her words skillfully to tell the reader that her identity is something she values highly. An article by Zoila Clark reiterates this statement saying Edna has found a new woman who ultimately belongs only to herself(335). According to Derrida and deconstruction scholars, Edna has made a great error. No universal transcendental signified exists. Her new independent identity is not the only component to her true self. Therefore, Edna shouldnt have conflict between herself and her children. Lastly, The Awakeneing can develop into a different story if Edna didnt identify her self as the essence of her being. Diffrance, introduced by Derrida, is the word used to counter the argument for a transcendental signified. This is the what if? question. What if the self isnt Ednas true center? What is Edna wrongly identified the self as only an independent woman instead of a wife and mother? In the end, did she really give herself to the best possible achievement? Peter Ramos takes on this question fiercely. He states the flaws in finding ones identity: ones decision to take on an identity is, in important ways, akin to believing in a kind of fiction, precisely because ones identity is so often unrelated to the physical, biological being(147). Ramos points out that our identity is difficult to classify because there are different ways to say a mother is a mother or an artist is an artist. Nothing about a persons physical body controls their identity. Edna hasnt physically changed throughout the novel. When she moves from her home with her husband to the pigeon house,

Knutson 5 she still looks the same. Yet, somewhere in this process she has taken on a new identity. At what point is someone considered an artist; a mother? Edna Pontellier slowly discovers her place in society in the novel. There isnt a precise moment, but several, where she moves from a mother and wife to a self-governing woman. For example, early in the novel in Chapter 6 it states, a certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her(Chopin 34). Further along, in Chapter 19, she was becoming herself and daily casting aside the fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world(Chopin 79). In addition, why cant these identities co-exist? Edna wrongfully declared her identity to be A and not B when it could possibly be A and B. Scholar William Barley chooses to look at this diffrance in terms of imagining the future. The life Edna desires is the hypothetical fictions we frame (and) to reach those ends are invariably modified and deflected by other wills, by our own flagging will, or by unforeseen circumstances from moment to moment(730). Bartley points out that Ednas decision in the end relies on her being able to predict a future that cant hold her new found identity. How does she know this? Furthermore, womenhave, over time, and with effort, successfully modified the boundaries and definitions of the role of mother to include someone who works both inside and outside of the home(Ramos 148). It seems that the novel ends with a gigantic flaw in Ednas character. Her inability to live with her new identity relies on her capability to predict the future. She rashly gives up a life when she feels like she isnt in control. Wouldnt a true feminist novel encourage Edna to keep fighting? However, Edna becomes too exhausted to continue. The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novel about the struggles of Edna Pontellier. She becomes a strong woman by opposing society and the men in her life. She steps into

Knutson 6 masculine roles to contradict her femininity. However, her goals and new life became too much for her in the end. If Edna had realized her error in announcing the self as most important, she may have been able to find a way to live on. Edna declares she would never sacrifice herself for her children(Chopin 138). If Edna denied the law of identity and declared she could be A and B she wouldnt have to lose herself. A tragic flaw in Ednas character ultimately led to her end.

Knutson 7 Works Cited Bartley, William. "Imagining the Future in the Awakening." College English 62.6 (2000): 71946. JSTOR. Web. 2012. Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism. 5th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2011. Print. Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Ed. Nancy A. Walker. 2nd. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000. Print. Clark, Zoila. "The Bird that Came out of the Cage: A Foucauldian Feminist Approach to Kate Chopin's The Awakening." Journal for Cultural Research 12.4 (2008): 335-47. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. Flood, Anthony. "Logical Laws of Thought." Mediaeval Philosophy. Minard Hall, Fargo, ND. 10 Feb. 2012. Lecture. Parvulescu, Anca. "To Die Laughing and to Laugh at Dying: Revisiting "The Awakening." New Literary History. 36.2 (2005): 477-95. JSTOR. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. Ramos, Peter. "Unbearable Realism: Freedom, Ethics and Identity in "The Awakening." College Literature. 37.4 (2010): 145-65. EBSCO. Web. 2012. Schweitzer, Ivy. "Maternal Discourse and the Romance of Self-Possession in Kate Chopin's The Awakening." Boundary 2 17.1 (1990): 158-86. JSTOR. Web. 2012.