The issue that was presented in The Awakening was the fact that women who have everything are generally not content with their lives. Edna had everything that she could ever want, her husband gave her everything, yet she was not happy with her life. Léonce tried so hard to make Edna happy, but she was never content or pleased with his efforts.
For example, my cousin works for this family where the one daughter-in-law married into the family for the money. Before she got married, she was humble but not very content on a materialistic level. However, after the vows were said, she was given everything she wanted and was even satisfied on the topics of love and children, but for some reason she still yearned for more. Her excessive yearning was unreasonable and an excellent case of the state of discontent that plagues women of this kind.
These women, in my opinion, are spoiled and self-centered. They cannot see that what they have is good and be happy with that. They are always looking for more. I do not understand why rich women are never satisfied with what they are in possession of. They are constantly looking for more, yearning for more and I believe that this is wrong.
However, I do not believe that this is the case for all women. I do believe that there are women out there who are very happy and content with what they have in life, even though they have so much less than those women who are discontent with their lives. These women are not the women that pertain to the issue of the state of discontent that upper class women share, so I do not have a problem with them.
Also, I do not think that all upper-class women are upppity or in the state of discontent displayed in The Awakening. There are many upper-class women, some of whom I have met and enjoyed their company, that are not uppity or in a state of constant yearning at all. Therefore, these women do not fit this issue either. Their lives are good, they know it, and they are in a constant state of contentedness with their lives.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Good job Alex.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple of questions (come on- you had to know it was coming). When you say "women who have everything are generally not content with their lives" do you mean that men who have everything are more content... or that when a man is not content and yearns for more we don't say he is spoiled and never satisfied, but just trying to live out the American Dream? Do we not admire men who are not satisfied but want more, more, more out of life and will do whatever it takes to get it?
It seems that your major issue is about discontentedness- and you are absolutely correct in saying that Edna is a strong example of this! What is up for debate is whether or not she had good reason to want more out of life. It's always a good time discussing that one in class ;-)
Good work!