The Awakening :: essays research papers

Responsibility and Duty as they Relate to The wakeMost cultures put heavy emphasis upon indebtedness and duty. The culture portray in Kate Chopins book The Awakening visibly reflects a similar emphasis. The briny percentage finds herself wanting to stray from her responsibilities and embrace her intense desire for personal fulfillment. Ednas choice to escape shows two elements rebellion to the suppression of her adventurous intent and the lack of "fulfillment" in her relationship. Although she embraces her new found freedoms, she commits suicide at the denouement of the book due to her frustration with the world around her.m either philosophers be possessed of dealt with the question of whether to live a life of servitude or to adopt ones greater happiness. Immanuel Kant stipulates that the more people cultivate their priming coat, the less likely they argon to find happiness. Kate Chopins character Edna tries her entire life to fit in the decreed mold of the women of her time. She invests so much time into duty and responsibility that she loses any happiness that she could hope to achieve. With time, Kant noted, the person who devotes their life to reason finds themselves needing a release, in the end despising reason, and eventually pursuing only their true happiness. after(prenominal) being "reasonable" for the twenty-eight years of her life, Edna breaks down. She wants to pursue love and can her duty to her husband and children. She falls in what she considers "girlish" love with the character Robert. She proclaims to him"I love you . . . only you no one but you. If was you who awoke me go bad summer out of a life-long, stupid dream . . .Oh I have suffered Now you are here we shall love each other. Nothing else in the world is of any consequence."In keeping with Kants philosophy, Ednas life has been riddled with reason and duty, essentially giving herself away to the people around her. This devotion to responsibil ity causes her to break away from her common behavioral pattern and moves her to focus on finding her inherent happiness.Ayn Rand objectivism states that a person should live life by pursuing their abilities and engaging in trade of equal value with others. push her philosophy states that working for anothers good or sacrificing your self for anothers happiness goes against the very(prenominal) nature of existence.Edna was not engaged in the pursuit of her finest abilities. She lived her life for others, not for herself.