Edna Pontellier's so-called "awakening" is her realization that she is a disposable object in her environment, the patriarchal Creole society of the 19th century. She slowly recognizes in The Awakening that she has never been honest with herself about her true feelings and desires, and grows to understand that a woman in her lifetime will never be seen as an independent person capable of making decisions independently. However, her "awakening" is false; though she makes these realizations, she can not in the end handle her new vision of independent life, and continually places herself in the realms of male dominance by the situations she creates.

Chopin's Creole society is very much one of male dominance. In Mrs. Pontellier's life, her husband provides only the means for her external, material existence; no kind of emotional support or individual acceptance lives in their marriage. When Mr. Pontellier speaks with Doctor...