Edna’s Realization in Chapter 28 of Chopin’s The Awakening
The fifteen lines of chapter 28 express Edna’s multi-voiced mindset after her relationship with Arobin exceeds the boundaries of friendship. The chapter opens with her crying and then explores the process of guilt as it sets in. Edna’s guilt, however, is afflicted by the other figures in her life, not by her own sense of wrongdoing. The manipulating voices in Edna’s life do affect her, but they do not linger as they once did. It is her voice, her realization, that comes at the end.
The chapter’s second line, “It was only one phase of the multitudinous emotions which had assailed her,” suggests that Edna’s emotions are influenced by other individuals; the primary definition of “multitudinous” is “including a multitude of individuals” (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). It is as if more individuals than just her self populate Edna’s mind. These men (she hears no women’s voices) express their own wishes and wants, not Edna’s. Their voices and emotions “assail” her violently. First, Edna feels irresponsible - an odd emotion after an unfaithful act. She feels irresponsible as a married woman for she has not performed her appropriate duties, or rather, she has performed inappropriate duties as a married woman. This irresponsibility is the voice of society. Edna additionally experiences a sense of shock at something new, something out of the ordinary. Her customary way of life does not include intense sexual situations. Next, Edna senses her husband’s “reproach” - his rebuke and disapproval. She does not sense his anger or his jealousy, emotions which would perhaps be more appropriate for a man whose wife has been unfaithful to him. Rather, he is concerned with what “society” will say. Her mind’s portrayal of Mr. Pontellier’s response is quite accurate; when Edna writes her husband to let him know she is moving out, he is not angry or sad, but rather concerned with society’s estimation of the situation. He joins society in disapproving of her. Then comes Robert’s reproach, which she attributes to a “quicker, fiercer, more overpowering love....” Robert’s disapproval, then, comes from love, not from society’s cares and not from a desire to protect her (or himself) from society’s judgment. Yet this love is not Robert’s, but rather her own. The love has “awakened within her toward him” - and thus appears the title of the novel. She has been awakened to her love of him.
Liesel Meminger, the protagonist of the story is an adopted girl with blonde hair and a frightening pair of chocolate brown eyes. She is fostered by the Hubermanns when her father abandons her family and her mother is forced to give her up for adoption. She is very close to her foster father, Hans Hubermann, and has a rough but loving relationship with her foster mother, Rosa. She befriends Max and the mayor's wife. The mayor’s wife allows Liesel to read, borrow, and "steal" books from her home library. Liesel also befriends other children of Himmel Street. Liesel eventually marries Max and moves to Australia. She has several children and grandchildren. Liesel dies in Sydney.
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.
Liesel Meminger was a very bright girl that didn’t have the resources to flourish. Her mother must hide from the Nazis because she is a communist and sends Liesel ...
Most striking in this passage are the last two sentences. It is in these phrases that Edna begins to demonstrate something important about herself. She feels “relief” when the children are gone. She feels “free” of the “responsibility.” One “which she had blindly assumed.” Edna had simply accepted the role of motherhood. It was expected, and so she had asked no questions. She is now realizing, however, that she feels this is a position in life “for which fate had not fitted her.
Liesel’s mom leaves her with foster parents because she wishes to protect her from the fate she is enduring. The words Paula, Liesel’s mom, uses go against Hitler because she is a communist which resulted in her being taken away and Liesel to lose her mother and experience the loss of her. This shows Liesel experiences unhappiness because of her mother’s disappearance which is caused by the words she openly uses that contradicts Hitler.
Tolkien, J.R.R.. “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” In TheBeowulf Poet, edited byDonald K. fry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
Liesel steals the books she is ,at the same time, liberating them from destruction. The whole idea of stealing as a horrible thing to do comes into question. Liesel risks death or torture in doing this as well. Her theft is also a self-education and an act of rebellion against the Nazis. Lie...
Liesel Meminger is a hard character to pick ugliness out of because from the beginning of the book she comes off as a quiet and shy young girl who is unsure of what is happening in the world. She is afraid of the new home she has to live in and doesn’t talk much at first to her new parents, Rosa and Hans, yet Hans is the one who is able to get Liesel to open up. Liesel is not very nice to Rudy, always denying him the kiss he is always asking for from Liesel. While Liesel’s actions towards Rudy may seem a bit ugly and unkind, she truly cares for him and doesn’t even realize that she has loved him the whole time until his death at the end of the book. Liesel is still at an age where she doesn’t know the full effects that her actions have on herself and her family. She becomes fascinated with books and maybe even more so with the thrill that comes with stealing them. Liesel is told many times that it is dangero...
It was on a train with Liesel’s mother and brother where they were travelling when death made his first appearance in the book thief’s life. He took the soul of her brother and only glanced at the girl truly, not taking real note of her as he did his job. She knew that her brother was dead at that point, but the shock wouldn’t truly take her until she snatched a book from where it had fallen near her brother’s hastily made grave. After he was buried, Liesel and her mother continued on their way, arriving at the town of Molching, where she met Hans and Rosa Hubermann. In the first few months that she had arrived, nightmares plagued her mind, haunting her with images of Werner, her brother, and his cold dead eyes. Hans is the one to comfort her, and because of this she grows to trust in him and truly view him as her father. She enjoys his company as well, for he can play the accordion and is always smiling and winking at her in a joyous way. He also begins to teach her how to read the book that she picked up on the day d...
...tionship she had until she was left with literally no reason to live. Throughout the novella, she breaks social conventions, which damages her reputation and her relationships with her friends, husband, and children. Through Edna’s thoughts and actions, numerous gender issues and expectations are displayed within The Awakening because she serves as a direct representation of feminist ideals, social changes, and a revolution to come.
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.
In The Awakening, Chopin sets up two characters main characters and a subsidiary female character to serve as foils to Edna. The main characters are Adele Ratignolle, "the bygone heroine of romance" (888), and Mademoiselle Reisz, the musician who devoted her life to music, rather than a man. Edna falls somewhere in between the two, but distinctly recoils with disgust from the type of life her friend Adele leads: "In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman." Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, the two important female principle characters, provide the two different identities Edna associates with. Adele serves as the perfect "mother-woman" in The Awakening, being both married and pregnant, but Edna does not follow Adele's footsteps. For Edna, Adele appears unable to perceive herself as an individual human being. She possesses no sense of herself beyond her role as wife and mother, and therefore Adele exists only in relation to her family, not in relation to herself or the world. Edna desires individuality, and the identity of a mother-woman does not provide that. In contrast to Adele Ratignolle, Mademoiselle Reisz offers Edna an alternative to the role of being yet another mother-woman. Mademoiselle Reisz has in abundance the autonomy that Adele completely lacks. However, Reisz's life lacks love, while Adele abounds in it. Mademoiselle Reisz's loneliness makes clear that an adequate life cannot build altogether upon autonomy. Although she has a secure sense of her own individuality and autonomy, her life lacks love, friendship, or warmth. Later in the novel we are introduced to another character, her name is Mariequita. Mariequita is described as an exotic black-eyed Spanish girl, whom Edna looks upon with affectionate curiosity. Unlike the finely polished heroine, Mariequita walks on "broad and coarse" bare feet, which she does not "strive to hide". This strikes Edna with a refreshing sense of admiration. To her, the girl's soiled feet symbolize naked freedom, unconstrained by the apparel of civilization. Thus, Edna finds her rather beautiful. Mariequita is more like an unrefined version of Edna, that is, her instinctual self. At times, Mariequita ventures to express the thoughts that are secretly buried in Edna's unconscious.
Each time I read The Awakening, I am drawn to the passage on page 69 where Edna and Madame Ratignolle argue about “the essential” and “the unessential.” Edna tries to explain, “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself.” What most would see as essential—money (you need it for food, clothing, shelter, etc) and life—Edna sees as “unessential.” Edna is speaking of more than that which one needs for physical survival; she would not hesitate to give her life to save the life of one of her children. On the other hand, Edna’s being, her “self,” is something quite different from her physical form.
Damrosch, David, and David L. Pike. “Beowulf.” The Longman Anthology of World Literature, Compact Edition. New York: Pearson, Longman, 2008. 929-970. Print.
Beowulf was written between the eighth and tenth centuries by the Anglo-Saxon’s. Throughout the long poem, many digressions were used across the text. Beowulf, after he returned home from Heorot and greeted his King and Queen, the author wrote of a Queen by the name of Queen Modryth. The author created a digression while writing of Queen Modryth to present the correct etiquette of a Queen, establish a parallel with Queen Hygd and provide a better understanding of how digressions are used.