Choices, options, decisions, whatever one chooses to call them, he is aware that he has them. In reading Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Henrik Isben's A Doll's House it is clearly seen that the choices made by the two female protagonists, Edna and Nora, stem from their perception of themselves and their capabilities. Furthermore, it is that view of self that leads each to make either a life-altering or life-ending decision.

In Chopin's The Awakening, the title itself is symbolic of the awakening that Edna undergoes throughout the course of the story. The story opens with Edna's first visit to Grand Isle, it is here that Edna will begin to awaken to herself. It is implied, and said, throughout the story that Edna is not the motherly type. "In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman." One might wonder then what exactly is Edna awakening to if not...