Kate Chopin's Motherless Heroine

In the article "Kate Chopin's Motherless Heroine," Virginia Ross explains how the lack of a mother affected Edna Pontellier's life in the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The thesis of this essay is, "critical discussion of her conflicting needs has overlooked one crucial desire that crystallizes in Edna Pontellier during the course of the novel: the yearning for a mother." (252) This reflects the main idea of the essay, which is how the lack of a mother negatively impacted Edna throughout the entire novel, preventing her from becoming the woman that society expected her to be. According to Ross, this is even done through the imagery used in the novel. For example, by saying, "the touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace," Chopin was really expressing Edna's need for a mother. The sea is referred to many times throughout the novel because it is a symbol of comfort and the womb which is "subconsciously remembered throughout life as an archetypal image." Ross also refers to Walt Whitman's poem, "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking." Even in Whitman's poem the voice of the sea is a maternal voice. The poem Ross referred to read, "Like some old crone rocking the cradle, swathed in sweet garments, bending aside, / The sea whisper'd to me." (253) The essay then continues on to describe the effects of Edna's lack of a mother. Often throughout the novel, Edna's methods of raising her children is criticized but according to this article she was simply incapable because, "having never received a mother's comfort, Edna has not learned to offer it herself." (253) Edna's need for mothering is also seen in her relationships with others. She seeks to have a mother figure, so she becomes close with Adele. She even becomes jealous when Adele's children intrude upon their friendship. According to the article, "Edna's feelings seem less like homosexual strivings than like the feelings of a child excluded from her parents' intimacy." (254)

I believe that Ross's intended point was very well presented. She uses multiple examples and references to prove the impact that a mother can have on a child, or the lack thereof. Consequently, I agree with this article because if Edna had had a mother, she would have had someone that she could look up to and would not have so much confusion in discovering her role in society as a woman.