Finding Freedom in The Awakening
In her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin shows Edna Pontellier¹s confrontations with society, her imprisonment in marriage and Edna¹s exploration of her own sexuality. Chopin also portrays Edna as a rebel, who after her experiences at Grand Isle wants to live a full and a free life and not to follow the rules of society. Edna¹s life ends in her suicide, but her death does not come as a surprise. Chopin foreshadows Edna¹s death by the use of nature and Edna¹s connection to it; also by the use of symbols, especially the symbolic meaning of a bird; and by the use of many different characters in the novel, such as Robert Lebrun, Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle.
Edna is a very romantic character, who turns to nature for comfort. She "seeks herself" in nature (508). But her surroundings are not comforting to her. She hears voices "from the darkness and the sky above and the stars" that are "not soothing"; the voices "jeered and sounded mournful notes without promise, devoid even of hope" (508). Edna wants to feel the embrace of nature upon her but instead she doesn¹t feel "uplifted" and hears a "mournful lullaby"(471). This gloomy presentation of nature foreshadows the future events in Edna¹s life.
Kate Chopin uses the symbolic meaning of a bird to deepen the meaning of the story and to foreshadow the upcoming events. In "The Awakening" a bird symbolizes Edna Pontilier herself. In the beginning of the novel, Edna is the "green and yellow parrot" caged "outside the door", saying, "Go away! Go away! For God¹s sake!"(467). Edna feels trapped in her marriage just like a bird in a cage and after she meets Robert she wants to "go away". Edna, the bird, decides to flee her m...
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...out Robert and a purpose in life, Edna chooses not to live. Edna¹s decision to end her life is the only way for her to escape reality.
"The Awakening" has a tragic end, but it¹s the only possible end for Edna Pontellier. Edna feels trapped in the "cage" of society, it¹s rules and standards, and she can¹t find happiness if she follows the rules. She cannot be happy without Robert, but Robert cannot be with her. Edna feels like a trapped bird. She sets herself free, only to find that her wings are not strong enough. As Edna takes her last swim she feels like a happy child, running through the "blue-grass meadow" that has "no beginning and no end" (558). For Edna it¹s the beginning of her freedom from all.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening". The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Fifth Edition, Vol 2:W.W.Norton & Company Inc, 1998.
Tics are the most common symptom of Tourette syndrome. A tic is an involuntary, repetitive movement of muscles usually in the face, neck, shoulders, trunk and hands (Diane, 2011, p.662). Symptoms of Tourette syndrome is often first noticed during childhood, between ages 7 and 10. Most children with Tourette syndrome also have other medical problems such as ADHD and OCD Tourette syndrome exhibit multiple behavioral symptoms including ADHD and OCD, which, like Tourette syndrome, are clinically diagnosed without testing (Chiu, 2013, p.406). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, motor and vocal tics are classified as simple or complex (Diane, 2011, p.663). Simple motor tics include eye blinking, neck jerking, shoulder shrugging, head banging, head turning, tongue protrusion, nail biting, hair pulling, and facial grimacing (Diane, 2011, p.663). Some examples of complex motor tics are facial gestures, grooming behaviors, hitting or biting oneself, jumping, hopping, touching, squatting, retracing steps, smelling an object, and imitating the movements of ...
There are two varieties of tics: motor and vocal. Either type may be classified as simple or complex. Simple tics involve just a few parts of the body, such as squinting or sniffling. Whereas complex tics usually indicate several parts of the body, and may have patterns. Bobbing the head while jerking an arm, and then jumping would be a great representation of a complex tic.
The novel The Awakening is written by Kate Chopin in 1899 which shocked the readers with its honest treatment of female infidelity. Edna Pontellier is a married woman that is trapped in a stifling marriage. She then seeks to find the love and freedom that she desires with Robert Lebrun and Alcee Arobin. She broke her role of an ideal “mother woman” in her society and discover her true identity as being independent and passionate about what she desires.
Throughout The Awakening, a novel by Kate Chopin, the main character, Edna Pontellier showed signs of a growing depression. There are certain events that hasten this, events which eventually lead her to suicide.
In the late 1800s, the excessive limitations placed on women took away much of their freedom and individuality. In this time period, inequality among genders was prominent, resulting in an expected obligation for women to obey the commands of men. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin shapes the main character, Edna Pontellier, to represent the common woman at the time, who struggles to gain back the rights she deserves. As Edna finds self empowerment with the ocean as her inspiration, she battles resistance from the people who have constrained her all along.
Through different events that occur, or better yet, through an “awakenings,” Edna turns into an upsettingly free woman, who lives separate from her significant other and children. Edna is also liable only to her own impulses and desires. Unfortunately, Edna’s awakening isolates her from others and eventually leads nowhere; she is left in complete loneliness.
In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier is a married woman with children. However many of her actions seem like those of a child. In fact, Edna Pontelliers’ life is an irony, in that her immaturity allows her to mature. Throughout this novel, there are many examples of this because Edna is continuously searching for herself in the novel.
In Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening, written approximately one hundred years ago, the protagonist Edna Pontellier's fate is resolved when she 'deliberately swims out to her death in the gulf'(Public Opinion, np). Her own suicide is indeed considered as a small, almost nonexistent victory by many, nevertheless there are those who consider her death anything but insignificant. Taking into consideration that 'her inability to articulate her feelings and analyze her situation [unattainable happiness] results in her act of suicide...'(Muirhead, np) portrays Edna as being incapable of achieving a release from her restricted womanhood as imposed by society. Others state that the final scene of the novel entirely symbolizes and realizes Edna's victory on a 'society that sees their [women's] primary value in their biological functions as wives and mothers?(Kate Chopin, np).
quire medical attention. Some cases aren't inherited and are called sporadic TS. There are no absolute figures that exist as far as the number of people in the world suffering from Tourette's because many people living with Tourette's have yet to be d
In the Awakening by Kate Chopin the main character, Edna Pontellier, represents individual freedom for everyone, especially women, who at the time were expected to do many things that are looked upon as old fashioned and are uncommon today. Edna Pontellier starts out as a trophy wife to an older, wealthy businessman, Léonce Pontellier, who like many husbands of the time tries to control his wife. As the story goes on Edna begins to question the ways of society and her place in the world.
Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder where the affected individual will consistently exhibit “tics”. In the majority of cases these ticks are minor in character, it may just be the urge to blink, or make certain facial gestures. Less than 15% of individuals exhibit coprolalia, which is the unwarranted exclamations of profanities or other socially forbidden remarks. Perhaps those in our generation who are aware of Tourette’s syndrome have learned its symptoms through pop culture, which has glamorized (to some extent) the more severe cases of Tourette’s syndrome in YouTube videos or the animated satire of South Park. Most with Tourette’s syndrome have been diagnosed 5-8 years in childhood and experience the waning of the number and severity of tics by the time the graduate high school. For the most part, Tourette’s syndrome alone will not prevent an individual from success in the institutions of society, as it doesn’t affect the intelligence or capability of individuals. These cases, often called pure TS cases, are usually the exception. More often than not, sufferers of Tourette’s syndrome are more limited socially by common comorbid conditions like obsessive compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.
Reese revealed that meditation techniques “proved to be a feasible and acceptable intervention. It resulted in significant improvement in tic severity and tic-related impairment” within patients suffering from TS and CTD (Reese). Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder that causes repetitive and involuntary physical movements or vocalization known as tics that severely impacts around 200,000 Americans as well as a small percentage of others who exhibit minor symptoms. Though it is not known what exactly causes TS, a current understanding of the cause has to do with ¨abnormalities in certain brain regions (including the basal ganglia, frontal lobes, and cortex), the circuits that interconnect these regions, and the neurotransmitters responsible for communication¨ (ninds.nih.gov). Tics and involuntary movements are urges or discomforts that an individual feels who then wants to get rid of it, like having an itchy spot one wants to itch. Though symptoms can worsen with internal factors, such as stress, and external factors, such as social attention and dietary habits. Meditation allows the frontal cortex to undergo a deep relaxation that is beneficial for stress relief and deep physical healing associated with the strain put on by Tourette Syndrome. Likewise, hormones, such as serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine, are released during meditation accounting for increased happiness, pleasure, and a sense of well-being.
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.
In The Awakening Chopin seems to tell her story through the main character Edna Pontellier. Her breaking away from the conventions of literary domesticity is shown through Edna breaking away from the conventional feminine roles of wife and mother (Showalter 170). Kate Chopin shows boldness by taking the main characters and having them completely change their views on life. Edna is a young woman who discovers that her pampered married life is not what she wants. ...
One of the most essential things for tourism to be successful in a particular place is a quality of the environment both natural and man-made. However the tourism industry involves doing many activities that have a negative effect on the environment.