Kate Chopin writes with
the same universal theme throughout her works: selfishness. In The Awakening, Mrs. Pontellier, the supreme
caretaker of her children, overlooks her role as a mother. Mothers, in this day
of age, were supposed to nourish their kin while the fathers worked to support
their families. This, for the Pontelliers, is not the case. “He reproached his
wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not
a mother’s place to look after children, whose on earth was it?” (Chopin 7).
Mrs. Pontellier thought of her children’s care simply as a task. A job. A
chore. She would much rather have the quadroon nurse look after her own kids
than deal with them herself. Mr. Pontellier clearly loved his kids more than
his wife did; he always made sure to shower them with gifts after his departures.
However, Mr. Pontellier could not be at two places at one time. As much as he
wanted to be with his family, he needed work to make a living for them. Robert,
another vacationer of Grand Isle, spent more time with Mrs. Pontellier's kids
than she did, playing croquet with them before supper. Mrs. Pontellier is
selfish when it comes to the care of her children, letting others take care of
them.Friday, February 5, 2016
Selfishness
Kate Chopin writes with
the same universal theme throughout her works: selfishness. In The Awakening, Mrs. Pontellier, the supreme
caretaker of her children, overlooks her role as a mother. Mothers, in this day
of age, were supposed to nourish their kin while the fathers worked to support
their families. This, for the Pontelliers, is not the case. “He reproached his
wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not
a mother’s place to look after children, whose on earth was it?” (Chopin 7).
Mrs. Pontellier thought of her children’s care simply as a task. A job. A
chore. She would much rather have the quadroon nurse look after her own kids
than deal with them herself. Mr. Pontellier clearly loved his kids more than
his wife did; he always made sure to shower them with gifts after his departures.
However, Mr. Pontellier could not be at two places at one time. As much as he
wanted to be with his family, he needed work to make a living for them. Robert,
another vacationer of Grand Isle, spent more time with Mrs. Pontellier's kids
than she did, playing croquet with them before supper. Mrs. Pontellier is
selfish when it comes to the care of her children, letting others take care of
them.
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I also noticed this too Amanda! It shows up in her other works such as "A Pair of Silk Stockings" and the story about the Mallards! Maybe selfishness was a characteristic of Kate Chopin, which may be why it shows up so frequently in her writings.
ReplyDeleteSo rad Amanda! Certain actions by Edna Pontellier make her selfish in ways and the fact that she doesn't realize what it means to be a mother. She looks at it as if the quadroon nurse can do all of the labor and she just has the title of a mother, which she doesn't deserve, and also seems to not even want.
ReplyDeleteWow anj that was groovy!
DeleteI agree with they way you described her selfishness with lack of affection between her and her kids. She looks at her kids as if there a burden in her life rather than a joy. You did a good job explaining your feelings better be a poet who writes about life because its A-M-A-Z-A-Y-N
ReplyDelete