Psychological Reading of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening in the light of Freud’s
Theories
Zeinab Adnani Sadati
1
, Nooshin Elahipanah*
1
1
Dep. Of English language and literature, Faculty of Humanities, University of Semnan,
Semnan, Iran
Corresponding author: N. Elahipanah
E-mail: Nelahipanah@Semnan.ac.ir

Abstract
The Awakening was written in the last decade of nineteenth century, which was a period full of chaos. Thanks to the theories proposed by scientists and theorists such as Freud, Darwin,
Marx and Nietzsche, most of the Victorian values were undergoing a radical change to modern values. Freud’s theory on psychology was one of the influential theories of the time. Although most of the critics consider The Awakening as a feministic novel and it is often labeled as an early feminist novel, but some critics suggest that Chopin was more influenced by Freud’s theories rather than feminist movements. This study is an attempt to read Kate Chopin’s The
Awakening in the light of Sigmund Freud’s ‘structural model of the psyche’ and ‘psychodynamic model of abnormality.’
Key words: Kate Chopin, The Awakening , Sigmund Freud, structural model of the
Psyche, psychodynamic model of abnormality

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Scholars consider The Awakening as Chopin's best-known work which was written in
1899 but it was very much ahead of its time. The themes of sexual freedom and women’s independence, which was supported by sensual imagery, caused Showalter to call The
Awakening “a revolutionary book” (Showalter.34). Chopin is among the first American female writer whose revolutionary writing “marked a significant epoch in the evolution of an American female literary tradition” (Showalter.34). Edna Pontellier’s unwomanly action violated the codes of nineteenth- century American woman’s behavior which shocked the contemporary critics, who described The Awakening as “morbid,” “essentially vulgar,” and “gilded dirt”(Martin.34).
Although The Awakening as an “odd book”( Mikolchak.30) was not welcomed in Chopin’s time, however “it was rediscovered in the 1960s (the period in which the feminist movement, known as the second wave, was in its heydays) by the feminist scholars and theorists who regarded Edna Pontellier, Chopin’s protagonist, as a prototype of feminism”(Tas.413).
The Awakening was written in the last decade of nineteenth century, which was a period full of chaos. Thanks to the theories proposed by scientists and theorists such as Freud, Darwin,
Marx and Nietzsche, most of the Victorian values were undergoing a radical change to modern values. Freud’s theories on psychology was one of the influential theories of the time. Although most of the critics consider The Awakening as a feministic novel (Sharma.882) and “it is often labeled as an early feminist novel” (Williams.53), but some critics suggest that Chopin was more influenced by Freud’s theories rather than feminist movements (Tas.413).
Chopin was deeply influenced by the intellectual issues of her age, reading fully in
Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, Freud and the French naturalists (Seyersted 49, 85).
Her

2 relation with leading St. Louise journalists during the 1880s was very influential on her mind and idea. It was also important in the development of her career. Walker states, “[St. Louis] was an intellectual center for the region, with two private universities and several periodicals in addition to newspaper” (Walker.2001:58). She further continues saying that some of the editors of the periodicals were women that Chopin was among them. Abraham wrote that:
Her friends discussed ideas flowing in from Europe, particularly ideas of
Marx, Darwin and Freud. She also had her own “Thursday Salon” at her home, which was visited by artists and intellectuals. Dr. Fredrick Kolbenheyer, who was her friend and doctor, and an important figure in St. Louis’s intellectual life, was part of this group. He was the one who encouraged her to read Darwin, Zola and other European writers (Abraham.45).
As Abraham wrote, being in contact with St. Louis made Chopin familiar with Freud.
Sigmund Freud who was the father of psychoanalysis, elaborated the theory that the human psyche is composed of three parts: Id, Ego, and Superego. He asserts that all people are born with their Id, which consists of sexual, aggressive instincts concerning with immediate fulfillment. The motivating force for the id is the libido or sexual desire. This pleasure-principle component of our psyche, works by providing us with desires for all types of things. The main goal of the id is to satisfy the person’s wants and it does not care about reality or other humans’ needs. Freud argues that the id is entirely hidden in the unconscious. At the age of three, ego or the reality-principle component of the human psyche starts to develop. The ego is the rational part of the mind and is concerned with behaving in a social acceptable way. The ego, which is partially hidden in unconscious, must also balance the desires of the id with the control of

3 superego. Around the age of five or six, the child finally develops his or her Superego, the morality-principle component of the human psyche. The superego acts as an antithesis to the id by placing moral and ethical restrictions on the human. The superego is often thought of as the human’s conscience because it determines what we believe to be right and wrong. Freud would argue that the superego is partially hidden away in the unconscious, but is also part of the human preconscious and conscious; thus, it can be accessed by the human mind. The superego is concerned with moral judgments of guilt. It will permit the id to receive whatever it wants as long as it is not immoral (Bresseler, 146).
Living in her own house as an independent housewife, Edna Pontellier attempts to oppose patriarchal society by having different lovers. These unusual and abnormal actions and behaviors of Edna could be easily justified since she is just acting according to her id (sexual desire) in order to fulfill her desires. Tas believed that Edna’s actions are rooted in her impulsive feeling or in the other word her Id, stating that:
She [Edna Pontellier] rather makes efforts to fulfill her amoral desires. She is enthusiastic to push away all her matrimonial, familial and societal bonds,
(be it the father, the husband, the children or social mores), for the sake of her impulsive feelings. (Tas. 415)
Edna’s id leads her to betray her husband by loving Robert and having sexual affair with
Arobin. It also pushes Edna to leave her responsibilities as a mother and wife in order to be too free to fallow her own desires. Her id does not consider anything just its desire even if they are immoral. Patriarchal society plays the role of superego in Edna’s psychological existence. It always prevents her from following her desires. The society defined the role of a woman as a

4 sexually unwanted wife and a selfless mother. However, Edna’s id rejects all of these norms.
The death of Edna at the end could signify that if you are living in a society, you should act according to its codes, unless you have no place in it.
According to Freud’s model of abnormality, human being’s behaviors and actions are motivated by internal and psychological forces such as id, ego and superego and abnormality is caused by an imbalance in these forces. Therefore, id, ego and superego can all contribute to abnormality. Some of these imbalances are having too powerful superego, weak ego and unchecked id impulses. For instance if a person has too powerful superego, he will be too harsh and inflexible in his moral values. This too harsh morality causes him to restrict his id to such extent that he would deprive himself of even socially accepted pleasures. According to Freud, this person would suffer from neurosis and could have the symptoms of anxiety disorders, such as phobias and obsessions.
However, it seems that Edna’s abnormality is due to two reasons: her weak ego and unchecked id impulses. Well-balanced people have a strong ego, which is able to balance the demands of both the id and the superego by permitting each to express itself in appropriate times.
However, if the ego were not strong enough to make balance between id and superego, then either of them, which are stronger, would dominate the personality, therefore abnormality occurs.
Accordingly, Tas believed that Edna’s abnormality is rooted in her weak ego as he wrote:
It is obvious that, according to Freud’s ‘structural model of the psyche,’
Chopin’s protagonist Edna Pontellier is undergoing such a psychic abnormality that due to not having a strong ‘ego’, she cannot balance out the demands arousing from her subconscious area -the id- of her mind. The structural model of

5 the psyche or the psychodynamic model of abnormality is a model in which Freud introduced the id, ego, and super ego as templates for the functioning of the psyche. It is based on the principles that psychological illness comes about from repressed emotions and thoughts from experiences in the past…if the ego is not strong enough to balance out the demands of the id and the superego, then abnormality will occur. (Tas.416)
Edna as a married woman and the mother of two children with a prestigious life and great economic and social condition finds no fault in having affair with Alcee Arobin and she does not consider her love for Robert as disloyalty toward her husband. Regarding Freud’s psychodynamic model of abnormality, Edna’s illegitimate love for Robert and her sexual desire for Arobin prove that she has such a weak ego that let her to do whatever her id wants without regarding conformity and social norms (superego). Sending her children to stay with their grandmother is another reason for Edna’s weak ego since “her ego once again seems to be null to realize that it is the parent’s responsibility, “intended by nature,” to take care of the children”(Tas. 417). George Arms believes that “Mrs. Chopin regards freedom from children as a necessary basis for complete freedom” (Arms, 150).For Edna, “complete freedom means to be completely free of her ego and super ego,” (Tas. 417) or to live a life which is controlled with instinctual desires or ids. According to Walker, Edna’s awakening is instinctively sexual which lacks "command over her own feelings and actions" (Walker, 1979:69).
Another reason for Edna’s abnormality might be “unchecked id impulses.” If id impulses are unchecked they may be expressed in self-destructive and immoral behavior. This is exactly what has happened to Edna. She has not checked her id impulses to realize whether they are

6 logical or no. these id impulses lead her to a self-destructive action of committing suicide at the end of the novel. Edna, who has children and a husband, decides to end her life in order to satisfy her pleasures, yet this act does not take into consideration the happiness of her family that she chooses to leave behind, a perfect example of the id.
Freud also believed repressed desires of human beings would be problematic in their future. Through the novel there would be lots of hints which represent that Edna is suppressed by social norms. Women in those days were their husband’s property; the men looked upon their wives as objects. Women certainly were not allowed to have sexual needs. In that case, they were considered as “bad girls” as Tyson points out, “‘good’ women were expected to find sex frightening and disgusting” (Tyson.89). This makes Edna to repress her sexual needs.
While some critics believe that Edna’s life-long emotional distress lies in her suppressed desires, a number of critics began to suggest that Edna's motherlessness is a key to her feeling of emptiness (Gudmundsson.5).
Therefore, Edna instinctively longs to return to the unbroken bond with her mother, which represents a regression to her unconsciousness. Michelle Gremillian's essay “Edna's Awakening: A Return to Childhood” said that Edna’s commitment of suicide represents her desire of a “womb-like” world (Gremillian.153). Fox Genovese has compared the seductive ocean with the attractiveness of mother’s embrace and she believes that Edna’s eroticism is rooted in her childhood (Genovese.227). Rosemary F. Franklin in her article called
"Chopin's " The Awakening ": A Semiotic Novel" attributed Edna’s motherlessness to the preoedipal theory which mainly focuses on the relationship with mother stating that:
In a search for a psychoanalytic and explanatory model for motherlessness in The
Awakening and Edna's ensuing depression and death, we need to examine a pre-

7 oedipal theory that stresses the relationship with the mother, whom the infant fantasizes as an unconditionally loving Maternal Presence who fulfills all needs
(Franklin.2).
Therefore, this nameless mother who is mentioned only three times in the novel seems to be a significant loss in her life. Also Edna's perception of Adele's newborn baby as well as
Edna's taking off her clothes before going into the ocean represent Edna's desire to return to the fetal stage and become re-birthed. The water of the ocean represents the womb and the removal of her clothes represents the nakedness of being born. This reversion in to infancy in order to attain security can also be applied to the id.
In her essay, Maria Gudmundsson, finds the relationship between Edna’s awakening and
Freudian terms of Eros (the sex drives) and Thanatoes (the death drives or death wishes) as she wrote that:
Edna’s recurring dives into the water are significant for her awakening by connecting them to what Freud termed “oceanic feeling,” a concept connected to the more widely known Freudian term the unconscious, as well as his concepts of
Eros, the sex drives, and Thanatos, the death drive. Eros/Thanatos drives are normally hidden in her unconscious, triggered by her bathing (Gudmundsson. 3).
Gudmundsson believes that the ocean is the symbol of Edna’s unconsciousness writing that: “the ocean becomes a metaphor for her unconscious: no one has ever been there”
(Gudmundsson.8). By going to swim in the ocean, she gradually comes to know her unconsciousness which is full of prohibited desires. The first time that Edna swims, she starts to

8 defy her husband. Gudmundsson believes that this is the beginning of Edna’s Awakening. The more times she goes into the ocean the more rebellious she becomes. The next time she goes for swimming, she does not see any fault to have sexual affair with Arobin or to be in love with
Robert. Going into the ocean, which is equal with going into her unconsciousness, makes Edna aware of her Eros or sexual desire and her suppressed emotions as Gudmundsson states that: “it is Edna’s swimming that causes the gradual steps towards her awakening, i.e. becoming partly aware of what is suppressed on her unconscious” (Gudmundsson .12).
Lois Tyson defines the unconscious as “the storehouse of those painful experiences and emotions, those wounds, fears, guilty desires, and unresolved conflicts we do not want to know about because we feel we will be overwhelmed by them”(Tyson.15). Edna is completely awakened at the end of the novel but she is dissatisfied when she realizes that she cannot satisfy all of her desire as Gudmundsson wrote: “Edna has awakened, but she discovers that she will never be fully satisfied. Always hunted by her Eros drive, she therefore gradually submits to darkness and death”(13). At this moment Edna’s Eros changes to Thanatos or death drives which leads her to the decision of committing suicide in order to escape from lightness of being aware of her unconscious to the darkness of not being aware of it (to the same dark world in which she had lived before without any awareness and problems). According to the definition of unconsciousness given by Tyson, Edna does not like to know more about her suppressed desires.
Many critics consider The Awakening as a psychological novel, which is a kind of prose fiction that concentrates mainly on interior characterization, character’s motivation, circumstances, and internal action. The psychological novel tries not to state what happens but to explain the motivation of this action. Psychological realism is considered to be character-driven

9 rather than plot-driven and places special emphasis on the interior life of the protagonist or other characters. In this type of writing writers often go into the mind of a character so it can be called a novel of the "inner man." the stream of consciousness technique and interior monologues could be employed to illustrate the inner thought of the character’s mind. Although these techniques were used by Shakespeare in Hamlet but it is said that the first psychological is
Samuel Richardson's Pamela. As a modern movement, psychological realism started with the emergence of psychology as a formal study.
Chopin was a local color writer but Fusco believed that reading Maupassant’s works leads her to writing psychological novel (Fusco.159).As a psychological novel, The Awakening mainly puts the emphasis on Edna’s inner motivations and thoughts. Chopin even wanted to show that inner Edna is more important than outer Edna which means that it is Edna’s inner motivations that guide her what to do as she wrote: “Even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions” (Chopin.17). These lines clearly represent that there are two Ednas: an Inner Edna and an Outer Edna and these two do not match up. The Outer Edna conforms to social rules while the Inner Edna questions her actions.
This is the Inner Edna which dominate the Outer one and command her what to do.
At the end of the novel, Edna is confronted with a dilemma: whether to stay in this world and act according to social norms or to commit suicide in order to escape from all limitations, which are imposed on her. At the end, she decides to commit suicide because she could neither act according to her own desires, which are not socially accepted nor tolerate the entrapment of social conformism.

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Throughout the novel, Edna undergoes a significant change in attitude, behavior, thought and overall character, as she becomes aware of and examines the private, unvoiced thoughts that constitute her true self. Her rebellion seems to be motivated more by her self-centered desire to fulfill her whims and wishes. These qualities make The Awakening a Psychological novel.

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