The Awakening Key Themes

Anne Ziegler

Dr. Hatwalkar

EN 222

8 May 2017

Writing Project 2

During this Introduction to literature class we read the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. This novel explored many themes including; identity, life, consciousness, and love. The reason I mention these themes specifically is because the final two paragraphs of the novel contradict them. The last few lines of the story say this,

"Good-bye--because I love you." He did not know; he did not understand. He would never understand. Perhaps Doctor Mandelet would have understood if she had seen him--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. Edna heard her father's

As previously mentioned in chapter ten Edna takes her first swim, while that is important in her quest to find her identity it also deals with the theme of life and consciousness. As Chopin writes “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clearing, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in the abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.” (Chopin pg. 17). This passage refers to life and consciousness by the way it describes the sea calling to the soul to wander, basically giving life to the soul. Edna’s first swim also brings up another instance of this theme, “A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before.” (Chopin pg. 36). This speaks volumes about the theme of life because the sea has given her a new outlook on life. She feels alive and has been jolted by the sea to be daring and reckless and to strive to reach new heights in life. After her life changing swim, Edna starts to try new things and grasps a new perspective on life. As can be seen in chapter sixteen, when she says, “I would give up the

Edna loves her children but it isn’t until she begins her “relationship” with Robert that we see the depth of her love. As she proclaims in chapter fifteen, “For the first time, she recognized the symptoms of infatuation which she had felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her early teens, and later as a young woman… The present alone was significant; was hers, to torture her as it was doing then with the biting conviction that she had lost that which she held, she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded.” (Chopin pg. 59). Here we see Edna’s passion reignited in her feelings for Robert. Yes, this means she doesn’t love her husband to the same extent but her love has been rekindled she now has a seed of love planted and as the novel progresses we see this love flourish. Though Edna and Robert are never on the same page throughout most of the novel regarding their relationship, that doesn’t change the love they share for each other. They finally get to act on this love in chapter thirty-six when Edna leans over Robert to kiss him as Chopin writes, “She put her hand up to his face and pressed his cheek against her own. The action was full of love and tenderness. He sought her lips again. Then he drew her down upon the sofa beside him and held her hand in both of his.” (Chopin pg. 142). Though it is a subtle act, Edna and Robert are