Anna's Existentialism In The Awakening

571 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays in existentialism summary

Before she knew it, Anna quickly got overtaken by this passion, and it ultimately led to her own demise, as the love that Vronsky had to offer quickly diminished. This became a problematic force since Anna practically gave up everything she owned to chase the life that this man offered her. She did it in such a manner that she could no longer return back to her family or normal lifestyle. In a way, she was victim to a lifeless marriage by which she found herself to pretend to be happy. When Anna finally gets a shot at love, she realizes all that she has missed, and it is easy to see how she falls victim to such an enamored opportunity. Anna simply wanted to know that she mattered, to have been appreciated and admired. Unfortunately, being a …show more content…

Since a train is a mode of transportation, it can be equated to her love story, as she let herself get swept up off of her feet, but didn’t take into consideration the hurt she would bring herself in doing so. She ultimately falls to her death before being swept by a train, as her omen suggests. This element of suicide resents the ultimate figure of existentialism, as she proceeded in this regard as a way to overcome her tragic …show more content…

Beyond killing herself though, this last scene symbolizes the idea that Anna finally got to a state in which she would face her judgement, and because of this, the reader did not have to ascribe her to any kind of punishment, as God himself is the one to determine what is to happen to her from this point onward. Even though she is the only one who faces a wrath following her wrongdoing, Tolstoy still hinted a sort of fondness towards the character of Anna, as she was simply a victim of a dead marriage. Under any other circumstance, if she would not have been married, her story would have been accepted as a love story. But since she was married, she should have accepted the unhappiness of her marriage, as to some extent or another, it seems to be a thread within the familial structure (as depicted in the opening line of the novel). The very fact that the novel started out with the infidelity of Stiva and his ease to reincorporate himself back into the society, while Anna ultimately met her maker symbolizes a double standard of gender that existed in this structure of

Show More
Related

  • Alexandra Bergman in Willa Cather’s O Pioneers

    2250 Words  | 5 Pages

    Alexandra Bergman’s lack of self awareness allows others to forget that she is a woman and, at times, even human, which continuously builds the wall of isolation that surrounds her. As a result, when she reacts to situations as a woman would, rather than as “she” should, those around her don’t know what to make of it. Because she has been such a steady influence for so many years, those around her do not understand that perhaps she did have another dream besides working the land that she seems to care so deeply about. Her brothers in particular are unable to comprehend that Alexandra is a woman and was forced into the life she has lead by their father’s fantasy rather than by her own free will. Perhaps the only people who truly understand her dilemma are Ivar and Carl. Ivar is a “natural man” and a religious mystic and Carl a man who was unable to make a living from the land– neither is respected by their peers, and yet they have some sort of insight to Alexandra’s heart that even she has failed to acknowledge. Alexandra’s walls are brought down only by love: love of her youngest brother, love of the land, and the return of the childhood love she thought was lost to her– as these loves begin to change her, her outlook on her entire life begins to change and meld into something that only those who actually know who and what she is recognize: a woman.

    Read More

  • Humanity In Elie Wiesel's Night

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    Moreover, the trip in the train gives an example of the loss of the humanity. In the train, a

    Read More

  • Burgermeister's Daughter

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    Furthermore, the story of Anna’s battle for her inheritance shows a great deal about popular opinion. Anna, known for the affairs that she had, initially lost her case. Instead of calmly accepting t...

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In Togmarole

    1802 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, of more importance is Anna’s lack of communication with Peter. A large part of what makes Anna herself is her ability and love of creating stories. When her husband does not share this, Anna finds this challenging, and lets it become a barrier to communication. “His face set in the pained expression he wears for conversations like this – “What ifs” speculations. When Jennifer and I sit in a restaurant making up stories about the people around us, he closes his eyes, just as he’s doing now” (Wallace, 317).

    Read More

  • How Does Kate Chopin Use Characterization In The Awakening

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    The irony of the story is the Edna learns how to swim ,yet she used the sea to take her own life. When the author states’ “But it was too late, the shore was far behind her, and her strength was gone. She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant then sank again”(135). In this quote the author ,Chopin, chose to show irony to end Edna’s character because Edna had faced her fears,and learned to swim and not fear the water. However ,the climax is also shocking for the readers because the author had shown Edna’s character as a strong women who had faced her fears and learned how to swim. By Edna killing herself the author shows us that Edna never changed and she is still that weak broken women who is trapped in life that she was so desperate to get out

    Read More

  • The True Identity In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1882 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, the main protagonist, experiences multiple awakenings—the process in which Edna becomes aware of her life and the constraints place on it—through her struggles with interior emotional issues regarding her true identity: the confines of marriage vs. her yearning for intense passion and true love. As Edna begins to experience these awakenings she becomes enlightened of who she truly and of what she wants. As a result, Edna breaks away from what society deems acceptable and becomes awakened to the flaws of the many rules and expected behavior that are considered norms of the time. One could argue that Kate Chopin’s purpose in writing about Edna’s inner struggles and enlightenment was to

    Read More

  • Cult Of Domesticity Essay

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is a story of a series of events that happen within an hour to a woman named Louise Mallard. Louise is a housewife who learns her husband has died in a train accident. Feeling joy about being free she starts seeing life in a different way. That is until at the end of the story she sees her husband well and alive. She cries at the sight of him and dies. The story ends with a doctor saying “she had died of a heart disease—of the joy that kills” (Chopin). Even though the story doesn’t describe Louise doing chores at the house like in The Storm we know that she was a good wife because of the way she reacts when she learns that her husband is dead. Louise gets described as “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (Chopin). From this line we get a bit of insight into her marriage and herself. We get the idea that she wasn’t happy being married to her husband but still remained with him and did her duties as she was supposed to. In reality her being a good wife was all an act to fit in society’s expectations of a woman being domestic and submissive. As she spend more time in her room alone thinking about her dead husband she realizes life would finally be different for her. She knows that “there would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself” (Chopin) For a long time in

    Read More

  • Feminism in "The Awakening"

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel The Awakening, by Kate Chopin the critical approach feminism is a major aspect of the novel. According to dictionary.reference.com the word feminism means, “The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.” The Awakening takes place during the late eighteen hundreds to early nineteen hundreds, in New Orleans. The novel is about Edna Pontellier and her family on a summer vacation. Edna, who is a wife and mother, is inferior to her husband, Leonce, and must live by her husband’s desires. While on vacation Edna becomes close friends with Adele Ratignolle, who helps Edna discover she must be “awakened”. Adele is a character who represents the ideal woman. She is loving, compassionate, and motherly. Throughout the novel Edna seeks something more from life than what she has been living. Also, she is unhappy with her marriage, and all through the summer falls in love with Robert Lebrun. Furthermore, Edna attempts to become independent, free, and in control of her own destiny. During this time period the Feminist movement was taking place. The Feminist movement was a time when women fought to prove themselves equal to men. Women fought for the rights to vote, have jobs, and go to school. The late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds showcased the power the women had to prove their equality. According to the excerpt, “Women of Color in The Awakening” by Elizabeth Ammons, “… The Awakening is its heroine’s break for freedom.” Ultimately, this shows how most women, especially Edna Pontellier, try to break free from the burden of society. Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, showcases the feminist critical approach through women’s roles, women characters, influences, and in...

    Read More

  • Drops Of Jupiter Analysis

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    The lead singer of the band Train, Pat Monahan revealed in an interview that this song is about the death of his mother. In the interview Monahan stated, “ Loss of the most important person in my life was heavy on my mind, and

    Read More

  • Regaining Control in Anna Karenina

    2239 Words  | 5 Pages

    Anna has had control over her own life taken away from her, due to the societal limitations on her choices as a woman. She becomes resentful of the society she lives in, and turns that frustration on the unsympathetic Vronsky, who retains his own freedom as well as control over her own happiness. She is too proud and passionate to live in subordination, as Dolly Oblonsky does. Anna cannot conceive of going on indefinitely as she has been, and at the same time can take no pleasure from contemplation of her past, or her future, which holds no prospect of change. Feeling trapped and untrue to her own unwanted desires, she begins to see the entire world as a wretched place populated by miserable, entrapped individuals just like herself. Through death alone, she feels she can secure a place in Vronsky's heart. Death is also the only decision that she is free to carry out on her own.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Anton Chekhov's Anna Round The Neck

    1640 Words  | 4 Pages

    It seems as though Pyotr and Alexeich both represent different aspects of Chekhov’s father, and Chekhov himself is Anna. Chekov’s father was aloof from his family and came from a lower class background; like Modest Alexeich, Chekhov’s father also fawned at the feet of his social superiors. Chekhov, in contrast, was an unconventional boy. He eventually broke from his family’s lower class position and became a doctor; however, throughout his school and career he performed additional odd jobs to earn money he could send to his father. Also like Anna, Chekhov loved to be with people (Payne xiii, xvii-xxi). Comparing the two, then, it would seem as if Chekhov identifies with Anna as she struggles to find her social identity and wrestles with her desires and the needs of those she loves. This tone gives the story a melancholy mood and leads to a bittersweet conclusion. The ending seems happy for Anna, yet the reader is left to wonder what the ending represents. Did her father and husband receive the dues for their behavior? Are Anna’s actions a normal product of the transformation from youth to adulthood, or did she come to completely discard respect and

    Read More

  • Anna Karenina by Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...s during which Tolstoy describes her death as a candle, “and the light by which she had read the book filled with troubles, falsehoods, sorrow, and evil, flared up more brightly than ever before, lighted up for her all that had been in darkness, flickered, began to grow dim, and was quenched forever” (Tolstoy 918). It is a powerful way to represent the life in Anna, and gives a prominent image of how quickly one’s life can be taken away from them. Just like a candle’s flame, Anna instantly has disappeared forever.

    Read More

  • Structure in The Lady With the Pet Dog by Joyce Carol Oates

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, the structure of the story reflects Anna's state of mind. The events in the story seem to take place with a total disregard for timekeeping. The opening sequence occurs when Anna sees a familiar face at the theater. This is her second encounter with the man, who is her lover, and she is immediately overwhelmed with a feeling of sickness. Yet, when she goes home her mind passes over him while she is with her husband and it is made apparent that the man she saw was at one time her love...

    Read More

  • Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Sometimes [one should be] terrified of [the] heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants (Edgar Allen Poe). Endeavors of the heart may be the most dangerous of all, resulting in dismay. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy follows the lives of several families who live in 18th century Russia, each coming from different social groups and classes. The story begins with Anna’s brother Stiva Oblonsky, who is caught having an affair. As a result of this discovery, Anna must leave her family in St. Petersburg, and go to Moscow in attempt to mend her brother’s broken marriage. While in Moscow Anna meets Count Vronsky, an eligible young bachelor that Anna’s sister in- law Kitty is taken with. Unable to supress her love, Anna has an affair with Vronsky. Furthermore, a love triangle develops adding Levin, a childhood friend of Kitty into the toxic combination rendering him hopelessly in love with Kitty. Although all the characters commit wrongful acts, only a few are penalized and the judgement they receive from society is unjust. In the novel Anna Karenina, the presence of love and lust serves as a catalyst for chaos within the backdrop of a misogynistic society, with discrimination baring the way for the characters progression in social status.

    Read More

  • Leap Year Essay Theme

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    She goes from only caring about herself to having compassion for others and the hardships that they are experiencing. These terms are ironically coined the concern for self and others. By the end of the movie, Anna no longer aspires to obtain wealth and material possessions, but instead to acquire true love and happiness. In the beginning, Anna is concerned with being married to a wealthy, renowned doctor as well as having a luxurious apartment and spending time with her snooty friends. As the movie approaches the end, Anna becomes more concerned for others when she decides to follow her heart even if it means losing everything she dreamed of having. She acknowledges the concept that intimacy and contentment are more meaningful than acquiring prosperity, lust, and expensive

    Read More

More about Anna's Existentialism In The Awakening

Open Document