The Awakening by Kate Chopin, is a book telling the story of Edna Pontellier, a woman seeking freedom and excitement and in the meantime, rebels against her role in society. “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. I can’t make it more clear; it’s only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me” (62). While Edna feels trapped by her role as a wife and mother, she feels freed by Robert Lebrun. People believe that even though she sees Robert as her savior, he is ultimately her downfall. Kate Chopin uses many images to understand the demise of Edna and to show that maybe she was her own savior and ultimately, her “downfall” was …show more content…
The sea symbols a couple different things. The first is empowerment because in the sea is where Edna learns to swim, which gives her the sense of accomplishment and power over her own body. The sea also plays the role of a lover. "The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace" (108). "The ocean is currently the only place in which Edna feels pure comfort and solace. She goes to it when in need of happiness and support. It is here in the water and on the beach with Robert that she opens her soul and walks openly into new waves. She does not understand why the ocean makes her feel as it does, but she goes to it nonetheless” (14). In the end, Edna drowns herself in the …show more content…
Edna feels helpless when it come to her children and even though she loves them, she thinks of herself and her soul separate from them. She struggles giving all of her to her children. In the novel, when speaking about children, they are often connected to Edna in some way. In The Awakening, Edna is, in a way, trying to be re-born as a different woman. The children also have a different role in the novel because Edna is viewing the world now from a child’s perspective which causes Edna to become self-absorbed, doesn’t think thoroughly or realistically, and does not care about the feelings of other, like a child. In the end, it is the thoughts of her children that push her to suicide. Edna realizes that no matter how much she depends on others, she will always have them depending on her. Society’s opinions of her will forever affect her children. Edna knew she was not “meant to be” a mother. Her children were something that she couldn’t reverse but she knew they didn't deserve a mother like her and in the end, she literally, did the very best she
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
The Awakening is a novel about the growth of a woman becoming her own person; in spite of the expectations society has for her. The book follows Edna Pontellier as she struggles to find her identity. Edna knows that she cannot be happy filling the role that society has created for her. She did not believe that she could break from this pattern because of the pressures of society. As a result she ends up taking her own life. However, readers should not sympathize with her for taking her own life.
Danger and beauty serve as Edna's first outlook on the ocean. Early in her development, Edna observes the ocean only from a distance. Although intrigued by the sea's beauty and enchantment, Edna shows her discomfort in experiencing the water. She felt a "certain ungovernable dread...when in the water, unless there was a hand near by that might reach out and reassure her." (27) Edna does not really understand her `dread' and totally depends on other people to encourage her to get into the water. At this stage of Edna's awakening, she feels insecure not only about the water, but concerning her life in general.
Also, the empowering force of the ocean allows Edna to be a dictator of her fate. She ultimately decides to take her life and be free from other’s wants and expectations. The water was the catalyst that allowed Edna to be liberated and obtain her desires.
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening takes place in the late 19th century, in Grande Isle off the coast of Louisiana. The author writes about the main character, Edna Pontellier, to express her empowering quality of life. Edna is a working housewife,and yearns for social freedom. On a quest of self discovery, Edna meets Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, falls in and out of love,and eventually ends up taking her own life. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening shows how the main character Edna Pontellier has been trapped for so many years and has no freedom, yet Edna finally “awakens” after so long to her own power and her ability to be free.
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
As Edna swims further and further out, the water behind her “assumed the aspect of a barrier which her unaided strength would never be able to overcome.” The vision of a barrier symbolizes Edna’s growing sense of a blockade between herself and the world. She is the only entity on the other side because she feels isolated and alone with herself. Furthermore, the words “her unaided strength would never be able to overcome” foreshadow Edna’s death. Foreshadowing frequently occurs through this passage. When Mrs. Pontellier reaches out for the unlimited “in which to lose herself,” it is hinted that she will bring about her own demise. Perhaps the most obvious indication is in the last paragraph when “a quick vision of death smote her soul.” Edna manages to regain land, but only with a struggle. Perhaps the next time she will not be so lucky.
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.
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)
This short quotation from the end of chapter 6 of Kate Chopin’s the Awakening is crucial to understanding the text as a whole and is also a vital example of foreshadowing. In this part in the novel, Edna, the protagonist, has just refused to go for a swim with Robert. However, the very sight and sound of the sea entices her. The sea here is depicted as an invigorating object that gives Edna life. At the time of this novel, women were not viewed highly by their husbands. They were expected to conform to societal norms and remain subservient. They were not to question their husbands and were always expected to do as they were told. Thus, women of this time were not free. In this novel, it is the sea that makes Edna free. In the sea she loses all restraints and all reservations when she finally goes for a swim later in the novel. Being free in the sea and going for a swim is liberating to her, just like seeking out another man since she isn’t happy in her current marriage. In her marriage she can’t be the woman that all women want to be. While her husband is a good man, she still has to conform to his wishes. Thus she cannot be the person she truly wants to be. In order to be this person, Edna seeks out the company of Robert. By giving the sea these life-giving qualities, Chopin shows the sea as an emancipating force in Edna’s life. It sustains her and seduces her with the offers of freedom. The sea speaks to the soul because of what it offers and enfolds the body in its soft embrace for these same reasons.
Edna’s Fall from Grace in The Awakening. In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin tells of Edna Pontellier's struggle with fate. Edna Pontellier awakens from a slumber only to find that her life is displeasing, but these displeasing thoughts are not new to Edna. The actions taken by Edna Pontellier in the novel The Awakening clearly determine that she is not stable.
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.
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.
...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.
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.