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Role of women in literature
How to interpret chopin's awakening to someone
Role of women in literature
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Nineteenth-century society was an era that was defined by one ideology: “separate spheres.” Resting on preconceived notions of male and female characteristics, men, being the strongest of the species, were expected to work, while the women-with well-credited rectitude over their male counterparts-were expected to care for the home and raise their army of children to lead their family tree into world domination and carry on the misogynistic line of male hierarchy. Edna’s life is parallel to this Victorian era philosophy of the “separate spheres,” and it is these exact demands that that finally push her to find herself. The main source of this awakening does not just come from her somewhat backward love connection to Robert Lebrun, but from the …show more content…
“The voice of the sea is seductive” to Edna, primarily because the vastness represents the independence she craves for, as the sea controls its own way. Becoming the “property” of her husband Léonce was not something she ever intended, as evidenced by her past love interests and even free-spirited nature of her younger self. Even more so can be evidenced by the fact that a major love interest was cut off because of differing religious views, and that her husband was more of a settlement. Her first dive into the sea connects to her finally taking a plunge towards spiritual freedom, and furthers pulls out the defiance toward the status quo. Once connected to her inner demons, she listens less to her husband and does more of what she wants, such as not answering to callers of the house who come to visit. Starting merely as a small hobby, her first dip of freedom opened Edna up to ferocious artistry. Finding a companion in Mademoiselle Reisz, the raw talent and compassion Mademoiselle puts into her work stirs Edna internally in a way she has never felt before. This is another stab at the society she finds herself to be in, for intellectual artistry was not meant for women to be an escape for themselves, but merely entertainment for others. Music becomes a therapy for Edna and opens her up to further creativity that she hadn’t given herself
Many readers would argue that Edna finds this niche in her seaside vacation home on Grand Isle. To Edna, the sea is a wide expanse of opportunity and liberation from the constricting socialite world of French Quarter New Orleans. Chopin's lavish descriptions of the sea give us an insight into its powerful effect on Edna:
As her interest in the ocean rises and the fear lowers, Edna begins to feel a sensual connection to the sea and its wonders. As Edna is progressing in her life, her senses begin to come alive out of curiosity and desire to understand this mystery of nature. Edna is first drawn to the ocean and the sight "made a delicious picture that I wanted to just sit and look at." (16) The two combined senses of taste and sight seem to pull Edna in the direction of her fear. As she creeps closer to t...
She desperately wanted a voice and independence. Edna’s realization of her situation occurred progressively. It was a journey in which she slowly discovered what she was lacking emotionally. Edna’s first major disappointment in the novel was after her husband, Leonce Pontellier, lashed out at her and criticized her as a mother after she insisted her child was not sick. This sparked a realization in Edna that made here realize she was unhappy with her marriage. This was a triggering event in her self discovery. This event sparked a change in her behavior. She began disobeying her husband and she began interacting inappropriately with for a married woman. Edna increasingly flirted with Robert LeBrun and almost instantly became attracted to him. These feelings only grew with each interaction. Moreover, when it was revealed to Edna that Robert would be leaving for Mexico she was deeply hurt not only because he didn’t tell her, but she was also losing his company. Although Edna’s and Robert’s relationship may have only appeared as friendship to others, they both secretly desired a romantic relationship. Edna was not sure why she was feeling the way she was “She could only realize that she herself-her present self-was in some way different from the other self. That she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored
The music that was played by Mademoiselle Reisz also awakened the soul that was sleeping in Edna. “The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reisz struck upon the piano sent a keen tremor down Mrs. Pontellier’s spinal column.” It was the first time for Edna to feel the emotional power of music and the message that Mademoiselle Reisz wants to express though each
With her mind already gone, Edna's body begins to swim out into the sea, not caring about what lies ahead: "She did not look back now, but went on and on, thinking of the blue-grass meadow that she had traversed when a little child, believing that it had no beginning and no end." (109)
Just as the sea brought Edna her independence, the sea also brought along troubles for her and her family. As she begins to feel more and more daring and independent, she began to become more likely to defy her husband and the set rules that society had set for her. Edna soon begins to abandon her family and children for solitude and has several instances of infidelity with Arobin. The sea can be seen to be a dark mysterious place for many. A place full of uncertainty, unbound depths, fear and darkness.
One’s life isn’t whole if they fail to take time out and discover who they are, the reason for their existence, and their life’s purpose. For without self searching one will solely live by societal standards never exploring their deepest desires and hidden talents and in no way reaching unconditional freedom. We see the journey of Edna Pontellier’s soul searing in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening as Edna fearlessly sacrifices her glamoured rigid life for one with a flexible amount of possibilities.
...a and her response to it at the beginning of the fifth stanza. The speaker being “followed” by the sea shows its hunt after her. Repeating the pronoun “He” alerts us to her continuing terror after she escapes the immediate site of the vulnerability. The sexualized motions of the sea follows the speaker’s that signal a transformation from the sexual aggressor to just a responsive partner from the sea’s part. When the speaker’s sexual urges and energies awakened or started, they outstrip those of the previous aggressive sea and exceed them in enjoinment. The repetition of “he” serves to discriminate the speaker’s state of arousal from the sea. When the speaker defines herself in terms “ankle” and “shoes,” she domesticates limits the irresistible sea with only these two phrases “his Silver Heel” and “ Pearl” because she restricts the sea to rise higher that her ankle.
The book raises issues about the role of women in society, not only in the time period in which it is set, but also in the modern world. Edna was truly brave in the way that she slowly began to defy society's conventions. She was never unfaithful to her husband because he had betrayed her by seeing her as an object. This contributed to her yearning for truth and freedom. Her husband was a well-meaning man, but Edna had no real trust in him. She felt empty with him and their children. Once Leonce was gone and Edna had been with Robert, she felt like she had found true and passionate love, but she had not. Robert was like Leonce. Robert speaks of her being "set free and given to her" and she realizes that Robert also viewed women as possessions. This was a trouble that she could not get away from. Robert loved her, but the way that he thought was still being controlled by the society and time that they lived in. Edna realizes that her loving and lusty relationship with Robert would still be repressed by the society that they were
Edna Pontellier is a woman in the 1800s who is way ahead of her time. She is a woman that knows what she wants and likes, and she is not afraid to speak her mind. She has her own opinion on things. Even though society tells her that she must act and speak a certain way, she is not afraid to do things her way even if they seem rude to everybody else. Throughout the book we see her progress from a woman who is somewhat content with her life to a woman who needs to break free. Edna thinks of her marriage to Léonce as the end of her passionate days and the
As this passage commences, Chopin, through Edna’s thoughts, describes the seemingly endless sea that presents itself before her. Edna, through personification, shows the intimacy of her relationship with both nature and the sea. This large, “[…] never ceasing […]” (Chopin 139) body of water has entranced and enthralled Edna to the point where she is now beginning to see this natural element that amazes her so much as the only option left to her in life. Chopin reveals these intentions to the reader by describing the sea as “[…] inviting the soul to wander in the abyss of solitude” (Chopin 139). The word abyss in itself leaves the reader the impression of a mysterious place in which one might not return from; and it is later implied that Edna accepts this sensuous invitation from the sea.
In the end, the sea symbolizes freedom for Edna. It will never treat her as a possession like her husband has for so many years. It will not demand all of her time and attention as her children do. It will never abandon her as Robert does. It will enfold her "in its soft, close embrace" (Chopin 176) and allow her to experience the vast array of feelings that her life has forbidden her to do. The sea will allow her to be free.
During the nineteenth century, writers like Henry James and Kate Chopin write about women who are depressed and suppressed. Daisy Miller and The Awakening are representations of beautiful and well-dressed women who are in a state over a discontent. These two works picture the life of the Anglo-Saxon bourgeoisie. Daisy and Edna are forced to respect the traditional cultural structures. They are shaped to perform their domestic role. In American literature, Daisy and Edna can be seen as transitional fictional women from object to subject position. Feminist critics emphasize that the reason of Edina and Daisy’s suicide is the social controls. American womanhood is defined by freedom, independence, and self-expression despite social constraints.
Through metaphors, the speaker proclaims of her longing to be one with the sea. As she notices The mermaids in the basement,(3) and frigates- in the upper floor,(5) it seems as though she is associating these particular daydreams with her house. She becomes entranced with these spectacles and starts to contemplate suicide.
Both middle and upper class mothers have certainly heard the message throughout their lives that their responsibility is in the caring for and nurturing of their children. This certainly leads to a multitude of tasks above and beyond clothing and feeding, which often result in a loss of freedom for the mother and a sense of enslavement. Breaking out of this pattern which has been expected of women and mothers in particular has been a goal for women for many decades. Being raised in a harsh environment has resulted in Edna naturally having an outlook on life that is quite different from the standard upper middle class belief of the mother being all sacrificing for her children. The emotional ties between mother and child seem to be on the back burner while more immediate needs are tended to. Edna's standards of what it means to be a good mother are entirely different from those of someone from a different class. She denies the upper-class role and defines motherhood in the only way she is capable of doing so, and is not damned by those around her for the way she raises her children.