Kate Chopin's The Awakening

1495 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What is the awakening about

Kate Chopin's The Awakening

In Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening, written approximately one hundred years ago, the protagonist Edna Pontellier's fate is resolved when she 'deliberately swims out to her death in the gulf'(Public Opinion, np). Her own suicide is indeed considered as a small, almost nonexistent victory by many, nevertheless there are those who consider her death anything but insignificant. Taking into consideration that 'her inability to articulate her feelings and analyze her situation [unattainable happiness] results in her act of suicide...'(Muirhead, np) portrays Edna as being incapable of achieving a release from her restricted womanhood as imposed by society. Others state that the final scene of the novel entirely symbolizes and realizes Edna's victory on a 'society that sees their [women's] primary value in their biological functions as wives and mothers?(Kate Chopin, np).

In short, The Awakening is the tragic story of a woman who in a summer of her twenty-eighth year, found herself and struggled to do what she wanted to do; be happy. Although ?from wanting to, she did, with disastrous consequences?(Recent Novels 96). For those who wanted it to be a truly, and ironically, life achieving instead of life ending end, it was. But those who disagreed with Chopin?s choice ending found themselves losing

some sleep over another magnificent author gone wrong (96). Various readers and reviewers alike found the ending to be sold short and unsatisfactory since it did not deliver the promise of a rewarding happy life to the protagonist who so valiantly endured her obstacles throughout the novel.

Had she lived by Prof. William James? advice to do one thing a day one does not want to do [in Creole Society, two would perhaps be better], flirted less and looked after her children more, or even assisted at more accouchements- her chef d?auvre in self denial- we need not have been put to the unpleasantness of reading about her and the temptations she trumped up for herself. (96)

Irony plays an inexplicable and majestic part in the conclusion of The Awakening. One can say with confidence that in a story a protagonist, or heroin in this case, is expected to fulfill a happily ever after ending not only from a repetitious guarantee but from the incisive determination by such character, whom through hardships, earned it. Edna Pontellier...

... middle of paper ...

...ine. Galenet. 4 April 2001. Available FTP: www.galenet.com

Muirhead, Marion. ?Articulation And Artistry: A Conversational Analysis of The Awakening.? The Southern Literary Journal 33.1 (2000): n. pag. Online. Internet. 4 April 2001. Available FTP: http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/slj/33.1muirhead.html

?Kate Chopin.? Gale Group (1999): n. pag. Online. Galenet. 4 April 2001. Available FTP: www.galenet.com/servlet/SRC

?Recent Novels: The Awakening.? The Nation Vol. LXIX, No. 1779 (3 Aug. 1899): 96 pp. Online. Galenet. 4 April 2001. Available FTP: www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC

Bogard, Carley R. ?The Awakening: A Refusal To Compromise.? The University of Michigan Papers in Women?s Studies U Vol. II, No. 3 (1977): pp. 15-31. Online. Galenet. 4 April 2001. Available FTP: www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC

Eichelberger, Clayton L. ?The Awakening: Overview.? Reference Guide to American Literature 3rd ed. (1994): n. pag. Online. Galenet. 4 April 2001. Available FTP: www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC

Eble, Kenneth. ?A Forgotten Novel: Kate Chopin?s The Awakening.? Western Humanities Review No. 3 (1956):pp. 261-69. Online. Galenet. 4 April 2001. Available FTP: www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC

Show More
Related

  • The Role Of Reinvention In The Awakening

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier, ventures through a journey of self-discovery and reinvention. Mrs.Pontellier is a mother and wife who begins to crave more from life, than her assigned societal roles. She encounters two opposite versions of herself, that leads her to question who she is and who she aims to be. Mrs. Pontellier’s journey depicts the struggle of overcoming the scrutiny women face, when denying the ideals set for them to abide. Most importantly the end of the novel depicts Mrs.Pontellier as committing suicide, as a result of her ongoing internal

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Kate Chopin's, The Awakening, Edna Pontellier came in contact with many different people during a summer at Grand Isle. Some had little influence on her life while others had everything to do with the way she lived the rest of her life. The influences and actions of Robert Lebrun on Edna led to her realization that she could never get what she wanted, which in turn caused her to take her own life.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Setting in The Awakening

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    New Essays on The Awakening. Ed. Wendy Martin. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988.

    Read More

  • Identity and Society's Expectations In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna Pontellier’s suicide is an assertion of her independence and contributes to Chopin’s message that to be independent one must choose between personal desires and societal expectations. Chopin conveys this message through Edna’s reasons for committing suicide and how doing so leads her to total independence. Unlike the other women of Victorian society, Edna is unwilling to suppress her personal identity and desires for the benefit of her family. She begins “to realize her position in the universe as a human being and to recognize her relationship as an individual to the world within and about her” (35).

    Read More

  • Ambiguity in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    3587 Words  | 8 Pages

    Sullivan, Barbara. "Introduction to The Awakening." In The Awakening, ed. Barbara Sullivan. New York: Signet, 1976.

    Read More

  • Edna Pontellier’s Fall from Grace in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1991 Words  | 4 Pages

    Franklin, R. F. "The Awakening and the Failure of Psyche" American Literature 56 (Summer 1984): 510-526.

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kate Chopin's novella The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a woman who throughout the novella tries to find herself. Edna begins the story in the role of the typical mother-woman distinctive of Creole society but as the novelette furthers so does the distance she puts between herself and society. Edna's search for independence and a way to stray from society's rules and ways of life is depicted through symbolism with birds, clothing, and Edna's process of learning to swim.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X: Paving the Way for the Rights of African Americans

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of the people whose names are mentioned in history, some men like Thomas Edison are praised for their genius minds, while others such as Adolf Hitler are criticized for leaving a depressing legacy behind. While it is relative easy to notice the type of legacies these two men left, legacies of other men are often vague and they seem to be imbedded in gray shadows. This is how many people view the life of Malcolm X. Malcolm X during his lifetime had influenced many African Americans to step up for their rights against the injustices by the American government. One on hand, he has been criticized for his hard stances that resemble extremism, while on the other hand he has been praised him for his effort in raising the status for African Americans. The extremes in viewing his life from the modern day perspective have often come from reading his climatic speech The Ballot or the Bullet that he gave in many cities across America in 1964. When he was with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X favored Blacks to be separated from the Whites, and during this time he strongly opposed White Supremacy. This also seems quite prevalent in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. However, one events during the last year of his life reveal that he wanted the Blacks and the Whites to coexist as peaceful Americans.

    Read More

  • Kate Chopins' Awakening is Not a Tragedy

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sullivan, Barbara. "Introduction to The Awakening." In The Awakening, ed. Barbara Sullivan. New York: Signet, 1976.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Autobiography of Malcolm X

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Malcolm’s second transformation was his immersion and dedication to the Nation of Islam.  He followed the "great" Alijah Muhammad and his teachings.  Malcolm started preaching to small amounts of followers.  It did not take long for the word of Malcolm’s preaching to get into the community.

    Read More

  • Edna's Struggle for Power in Chopin's The Awakening

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kate Chopin's The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother living in the upper crust of New Orleans in the 1890s. It depicts her journey as her standing shifts from one of entrapment to one of empowerment. As the story begins, Edna is blessed with wealth and the pleasure of an affluent lifestyle. She is a woman of leisure, excepting only in social obligations. This endowment, however, is hindered greatly by her gender.

    Read More

  • The Significance of Art in Chopin's The Awakening

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 535-625. Print.

    Read More

  • Importance of Water in The Awakening

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    Central Lib. Fort Worth, TX -. 11 Feb. 2003 Dawson, Hugh J. & Co. "Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A Dissenting Opinion. " American Literary Realism 26.2 (1994):18.

    Read More

  • Breaking the Social Norms: Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bogard, Carley Rees. “The Awakening: A Refusal to Compromise.” University of Michigan Papers in Women’s Studies 2.3 (1977): 15-31. Gale Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 January 2014.

    Read More

  • Computer Components and Latest Devices

    2422 Words  | 5 Pages

    Pointing devices are used depend on the types of task to perform in the computer. For example, joystick is often used to control play games. Digitizer tablet and light pen is used for drawing new images or tracing old images. It is usually used for drawing maps and engineering design. However, the most commonly used pointing devices nowadays are the mouse and touch screen. Mouse has four types which are mechanical, optical, touch sensitive and wireless mou...

    Read More

More about Kate Chopin's The Awakening

Open Document