Edna Pontellier’s Sin in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

1582 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The awakening symbolic meaning

Nora's Sin in The Awakening

In writing this paper, I believe, God has given me wings, strong wings, to help me fly above common literary convention. The prophet Isaiah said, "[T]hose who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. . ."(Isaiah 40:31). Because I believe the Bible is the complete word of God, I must conclude that that "The Awakening," by Kate Chopin, is "not a healthy book"(Culley 146). The truths presented in the Bible that lead me to this conclusion are the following. "The Awakening" has a central message that is contrary to Biblical Christianity, denying the headship of Christ and making it seem that people are basically animals and should be able to do whatever they want. It would be possible to argue that Kate Chopin is simply projecting that man is an animal lacking moral obligations without bringing Christianity into the picture, but Kate Chopin made several attacks on Christianity in her fable, and her seeming obsession with tearing down Christianity opens her up to Biblical criticism.

On two occasions, Chopin uses terms probably from the King James Version of the Bible, including the term for Christians as "the salt of the earth" and the "Holy Ghost." According to Chopin, Edna, lulled by the sea into deep self contemplation, "received [from herself] perhaps more wisdom than the Holy Ghost is usually pleased to vouchsafe to any woman"(Chopin 32). Why did Chopin have to bring the Holy Ghost into this? The Holy Ghost, termed Holy Spirit in modern translation, is acknowledged as being equal and one with God. She is using her own twisted irony to imply that Edna's awakening is a step superior to Christianity. The moral or ideal being projected to the read...

... middle of paper ...

...iliar world that it had never known"(Chopin 136). This rebirth, very much different from the Christian rebirth or salvation, is an assertion that life isn't worth living when you are just an animal. This is the awakening that is being glorified by Kate Chopin, and it is not healthy.

Works Cited:

Chopin, Kate. Walker, Nancy A. ed. The Awakening Boston, NY Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press. (c) 1993.

Crowley, Aleister. The Book of the Law. Access via the world wide web. URL: http://www.crl.com/~thelema/crowley.html

Culley, Margaret. Ed. The Awakening: An Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism NY WW Norton, 1976.

Nine Satanic Statements, The. Access via the world wide web. URL: http://www.marshall.edu/~allen12/cosstate.html

The King James Version of the Bible as set forth in 1611. Bible Truth Publishers, Addison, Illinois. 1983.

Show More
Related

  • The Comparisson Between Edna Pontellier Character and a Poem

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening." The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. C. New York: Norton, 2012. 561-652. Print.

    Read More

  • Mrs. Edna Pontellier: A Real American Woman

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. 1865-1914. Ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. 561-652. Print. Vol. C of The Norton Anthology of American Literature.

    Read More

  • Awakening

    2436 Words  | 5 Pages

    When Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" was published at the end of the 19th Century, many reviewers took issue with what they perceived to be the author's defiance of Victorian proprieties, but it is this very defiance with which has been responsible for the revival in the interest of the novel today. This factor is borne out by Chopin's own words throughout her Preface -- where she indicates that women were not recipients of equal treatment. (Chopin, Preface ) Edna takes her own life at the book's end, not because of remorse over having committed adultery but because she can no longer struggle against the social conventions which deny her fulfillment as a person and as a woman. Like Kate Chopin herself, Edna is an artist and a woman of sensitivity who believes that her identity as a woman involves more than being a wife and mother. It is this very type of independent thinking which was viewed as heretical in a society which sought to deny women any meaningful participation.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Act 1 Analysis

    439 Words  | 1 Pages

    In act one scene two it says, "Benvolio urges Romeo to go to the party to see how Rosaline compares with other women." In scene five it says, "Romeo suddenly sees Juliet and falls in love at first sight." Romeo sees Juliet and immediately forgets about Rosaline. Romeo changed from loving Rosaline that broke his heart to Juliet that will eventually love him later in the story.

    Read More

  • Expectations For Women In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society of the 19th century gave a heightened meaning to what it meant to be a women. According to the commonly known “code of true womanhood” women are supposed to be docile, domestic creations whose main concerns in life were to be raising children and submissiveness to their husbands. In the book The Awakening written by Kate Chopin; introduces the protagonist, Edna Pontellier a rebellious twenty-eight year old woman who is dissatisfied with the role of being a wife and mother, a woman who desires independence and sexual freedom. She soon discovers she doesn’t quite fit into the role that has been given to her. Through the use of symbolism, imagery, and irony. Chopin exposes expectations for women in order to be accepted during the Victorian

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Awakening

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    Breaking away from society’s “so-called” customs/norms incorporates a large array of valor, inspiration, and most importantly, individuality. Society places normalities upon its people in order to maintain stability and often times, tradition. More specifically, gender roles, such as women raising children; men being the only source of profit, must also be broken in order to establish uniqueness and distinction in a conventional- themed culture, such as Victorian society. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is perhaps the only novel that fully illustrates the struggle that is leaving Victorian ideals and tradition from a woman’s perspective. Although often considered a feminist text, The Awakening can be viewed as a novel that depicts and promotes individuality using symbolism. Instead of plastering readers with dull literalism, Chopin uses symbols, such birds and music, to relay subtle ideas. Within each fictive part, Chopin provides symbolism that readers must comprehend in order to appreciate the novel as a whole.

    Read More

  • Kate Chopins' Awakening is Not a Tragedy

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chopin, Kate.  The Awakening.  A Norton Critical Edition:  Kate Chopin:  The  Awakening.  Ed. Margo Culley.  2nd ed.  New York:  W.W. Norton, 1994.   3-109.

    Read More

  • Television Portrayal of Christians as Being Out of Touch With the Modern World

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    going on in the world around us at the moment, and do not want to try

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

    4155 Words  | 9 Pages

    Kate Chopin’s The Awakening should be seen as depicting the discontentment that comes from self-gratification rather than the glorification of delighting in one’s fantasies. Chopin describes the central idea of one who is seeking to please her personal needs and desires and, in the process, neglects to notice how her actions affect others. The protagonist, Edna, is not able to find peace or happiness in the accepted daily life that a woman of her era and social status should have. The fulfilling of her desires could essentially cause social ostracism for her, her husband, and her children, yet she is unable to find repose in living the typical social Victorian life. The final resolve of her “awakening” to her desires, her ultimate suicide, is not an honorable position that women should strive toward as a romantic ideal because her desires were hopeless in her situation. Through Edna’s striving for personal satisfaction, she loses the joys that daily life has to offer.

    Read More

  • Selfish Edna Pontellier in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    Could the actions of Edna Pontellier in Kate Chopin's novella The Awakening ever be justified? This question could be argued from two different perspectives. The social view of The Awakening would accuse Edna Pontellier of being selfish and unjustified in her actions. Yet, in terms of the story's romanticism, Edna was in many ways an admirable character. She liberated herself from her restraints and achieved nearly all that she desired. Chopin could have written this novel to glorify a woman in revolt against conventions of the period. Yet, since the social standpoint is more factual and straightforward, it is the basis of this paper. Therefore, no, her affairs, treatment of her family and lovers, and suicide were completely unwarranted. She was not denied love or support by any of those close to her. Ultimately Edna Pontellier was simply selfish.

    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

    Dawson, Hugh J. "Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A Dissenting Opinion." American Literary Realism 26.2 (1994):1 18.

    Read More

  • Edna, the Anti-Mother-Woman in Chopin’s The Awakening

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the first passage, Edna is clearly set apart from what appears to be the status quo of female behavior in her society. She is not a mother-woman. The term, mother-woman is a reductive one which implies a singular purpose or value. The mother-woman is a mother; being one defines and regulates every aspect of her life. They “…esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels.” Chopin’s use of religious words and imagery is interesting; it certainly alludes to Victorian ideals of womanhood in which the woman is a vessel of purity and piousness. Viewing women as angels or pure, infallible beings elevates them, but also robs them somewhat of their humanity. In addition to this, it places restraining and unnecessary imperatives on their behavior, and encourages them to strive for the unattainable-a pursuit that will probably leave them feeling inadequate. The mother-women are described generally, however, in this passage, and seem entirely one-dimensional. Also, they possess an almost absurd and quality, “fluttering” about after their children, perceiving “imaginary” dangers everywhere. Chopin deals with the mother-women more complexly later through the character of Madame Ratignolle.

    Read More

  • The Awakening by Kate Chopin

    2434 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Awakening is considered to be Chopin’s best work as well as a unlikely novel to be written during the 1890s in America. The Awakening is a story about a woman, Edna Pontelier, who is a conventional wife and mother. Edna experiences a spiritual awakening in the sense of independence that changes her life. Edna Pontellier begins her awakening at the Grand Isle when she is 28 years old. She has been married for ten years, and she has two children. This situation proves to be different from the male characters of most other novels because they almost always do not have to face the complications of marriage and parenthood to reach self-determination (Bogarad 159). Chopin is able to portray this awakening through Edna’s rela...

    Read More

More about Edna Pontellier’s Sin in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

Open Document