Spread Your Wings and Fly

Spread Your Wings And Fly

"The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply that they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings." Edna Pontellier discovers her faith and, like Peter, ventures outside of her comfort zone relying only on her faith. Just like Peter, Pontellier loses her faith and begins to sink; however, Pontellier does not have a Savior to rescue her and succumbs to her selfish wants. In Kate Chopin's, The Awakening, Edna Pontellier is compared and contrasted to a caged parrot, the protective mother bird, and directly compared to the birds wings.

In the beginning of The Awakening, Chopin compares Edna Pontellier to "A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door. (Chopin 1)" Pontellier is aware of her confinement and is exposed to the exciting thrills of the outside world. Pontellier begins to yearn for what is outside of her cage, such as Robert, but is restricted by her marriage. Pontellier is tied down by social demands and expectations forced upon her from her marriage to Leonce Pontellier, much like how the bird is restricted by the bars of her cage. Edna is expected to stay in on Tuesdays and receive callers, to make sure everything is perfect at the house, and to be the cookie cutter mother-wife based on the views of society. Edna is bothered by these restrictions and gets her first taste of what life outside the cage of societies expectations has to offer her, and she falls deeply for the temptation to the point of no return.

Pontellier never fully concerns herself with her kids, not seeing the need to constantly hover over her children in contrast to the protective mother birds of Grand Isle. Leonce Pontellier "reproached his wife with inattention her habitual neglect of the children (17)" late one night after returning from the Kleins hotel. Leonce wanted her to check on one of their children stating he had a fever in order to force her to assume the mother role. Chopin describes the mother-woman of Grand Isle, especially Adele Ratignolle, as "fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. (11)" Edna contrasts greatly from these women preferring to let the children off on their own and allows the children to run to the Quadroon when they fall and hurt themselves. The mother-woman ideal forced upon Edna by society created a motivating force behind Edna's escape from her cage.

Madmoiselle Reiz has become aware of Edna Pontelier's internal struggles and tries, without stepping on any toes, to let Pontellier know this. As the story continues, Pontellier finds herself in the company of few friends who seem to know her better than Pontellier knows herself. Madmoiselle Reiz "put her arms around me [Edna] and felt my shoulder blades to see if my wings were strong... (112) " Madmoiselle Reiz knows Pontellier