A feminist reading of The AwakeningAwakening is not new to me. However, in class, when I read it in front of the instructor, I refused to accept a feminist critique. The theory presented was that Edna knew what kind of man she was marrying and all these things she experienced: her friendship with Madame Reisz leaving the house, having her friends at the party, her situation with Robert and Arobin were all selfish efforts for good. the ultimate freedom which is death. I think Chopin blames Léonce as much as Edna for Edna's problems. It's a cold fish. He is controlling and he puts on a show for his friends and neighbors “proving” that he is a model husband, which he is not. He is Creole and I think that Edna, being as reserved as she is, is not the best companion for him. He may need an outwardly passionate woman to keep him interested and alive as a husband. For a Creole, he is reserved and he doesn't know how to respond to Edna's reserve. By the end of Chapter V, we know that the Pontelliers are having problems and we know that Robert sympathizes with Edna simply because she is a woman and he likes women. We also saw the “ideal” woman in the person of Madame Ragtignolle. Chapter VI is very different. Chopin lets us know that Edna has begun to become aware of her world and that her relationships are far from desirable. She and Léonce do not have a happy and fulfilling marriage. She is not the earth mother type and cannot appreciate her children. However, part of the problem here is that Léonce undermines her maternal efforts from the start. Her mother embodies motherhood and no one can measure up. I doubt she would have been a demonstrative mother, but she would have been a loving mother. The last paragraph of Ch...... middle of paper...... the very end of the story just before Edna enters the ocean for the last time. End watches the coast. There is no living thing along the beach, but there is a bird, a wild and free bird, with a broken wing, that was "beating the air above, staggering, fluttering, circling." , disabled, down to the water.” Even wild birds need support. End had no support, just like this bird and his fate is the same “down in the water”. I'm hooked on the lack of communication between Edna and Léonce. I wonder if Léonce has a comparable story of misery. In the first few chapters, Edna says four lines and they are in response to someone or something else. These are not ideas that come to him. Léonce's words to Edna are aimed at control. He leaves for the hotel and says he will come back any time. This leaves her waiting for her next move, her next request (request).