Throughout history and literature women are often referred to as birds, especially those of domesticated species. Women being referred to as a pet corresponded to the rise of patriarchal society, “… from this point, civilization has seemed to trap women in stereotypes related to nature which are domesticated, like caged birds” (Clark 342). Women had to fit into the roles society formed for them, trapping them in a lifestyle not appealing to all women. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin uses avian symbolism to emphasize Edna’s entrapment, so as to show the stages of Edna’s awakening. Chopin uses the parrot to symbolize Edna before her awakening. The parrot is caged, speaking a Spanish and language no one understood, “[a] green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over: ‘Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That's all right!’”. The parrot is trapped in its cage and says what it is trained to say. This symbolizes Edna before her awakening because she acts how women are expected to act, not realizing she has other options, “Edna moves from her parrot-like position as an accultured woman as her awareness and control of her situation unfolds” (Murihead). Before Edna’s awakening, she is expected to listen to Lèonce, her husband, and do what she is trained to do, be a mother and wife. The parrot is domesticated and used as a pet, expecting to follow the orders of a man and behave; it symbolizes Edna’s entrapment before her awakening. Edna believes she is trapped in her marriage, “[b]oth Edna’s body and mind remain inactive while she is living as a housewife in the private sphere of her home…like a caged bird, she does not see beyond her limits…” (Clark 337), but once she realizes she is not ... ... middle of paper ... ...k 345). Edna was not strong enough to fly above prejudice of her society, causing her to spiral down towards her death, but finally gaining the freedom she desired. Chopin’s The Awakening utilizes avian symbolism to show the stages of Edna’s awakening. Edna first starts out trapped, like the parrot, doing as she is trained to do, then awakens and speaks her opinions, like the mockingbird, and after her awakening she realizes she never obtained freedom and becomes the bird with the broken wing. Edna found herself in her awakening, learning to speak her opinion; however, she remained alone throughout it. Edna might have been able to fly strong if she had more support, “…let us bear that birds fly in flocks and not alone” (Clark 346), if Edna had more female characters that followed her to the mockingbird stage and did not remain as parrots, she might have survived.
Social expectations of women affected Edna and other individuals in Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier, struggles throughout the novel in order to become independent and avoid her roles as mother and housewife in American Victorian society in 1899. This was because women during the 19th century were limited by what society demanded of them, to be the ideal housewives who would take care of their families. However, Edna tries to overcome these obstacles by exploring other options, such as having secret relationships with Robert and Arobin. Although Edna seeks to be independent throughout the novel, in the end she has been awakened but has not achieved independence.
The “Awakening”, part of the “Eyes on the Prize” series, addresses civil rights, or lack thereof, in the 1950’s. The film highlights two individual’s choices to take a stand against the white supremacy, and the ripple effect that acts cause. The first person featured was Mose Wright. His nephew, Emmett Till, was murdered by two white men. They were angered over the fact that Emmett had spoken to two white women in a flirtatious manner. Mose Wright made the decision to testify in court against the white men. This was a very dangerous act on Mose’s behalf. Speaking to, let alone, against the other race could easily cost him his life. At the end of a very long and public trial, the men were found not guilty.
The tile of the poem “Bird” is simple and leads the reader smoothly into the body of the poem, which is contained in a single stanza of twenty lines. Laux immediately begins to describe a red-breasted bird trying to break into her home. She writes, “She tests a low branch, violet blossoms/swaying beside her” and it is interesting to note that Laux refers to the bird as being female (Laux 212). This is the first clue that the bird is a symbol for someone, or a group of people (women). The use of a bird in poetry often signifies freedom, and Laux’s use of the female bird implies female freedom and independence. She follows with an interesting image of the bird’s “beak and breast/held back, claws raking at the pan” and this conjures a mental picture of a bird who is flying not head first into a window, but almost holding herself back even as she flies forward (Laux 212). This makes the bird seem stubborn, and follows with the theme of the independent female.
The Second Great Awakening started the was a religious revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States, it sparked the building and reform of the education system, women's rights and the mental health system. It was also the start of many different denominations of churches such as the, Churches of Christ, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Evangelical Christian.
At first impression the parrot’s bold demeanor creates an image of eccentricity. His spirited exclamations give him an air of impertinence, defiance, and intelligence that one would not expect of such a bird. Chopin portrays Edna in the same light, showing that perhaps as the parrot may deviate from the norm, so does Edna, who digresses from the society in which she lives. She does not conform to the image of a typical woman in society, playing the roles of a devoted mother and wife. Edna ignores these standards by engaging in two extra-marital affairs and by placing her own life before those of her children. Her desire to live as she pleases lies in direct opposition to the duties she is expected to perform, and she refuses to put on this performance to satisfy society. As a result, Edna seems as brazen and audacious as the parrot that obviously does not mimic the sounds he hears and instead seems to create his own. Again squawking, "Go away! Go away!" at the bothersome piano playing of two girls, Chopin writes, "He was the only being present who possessed sufficient candor to admit that he was not listening to these gracious performances for the first time that summer." (23) Edna shows similar candor in her unwillingness to accept society’s burdening stereotypes. The seemingly intelligent bird "could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood..." (1) Though the parrot’s remarks appear to fall on deaf ears, Edna is one who can identify with his presumable wisdom, as her existence too is misjudged. Both Edna and the parrot are depicted as extraordinary and misunderstood in their surroundings, yet they are not free:as the parrot must exist in a cage, so Edna is caged by the restrictions society places upon her.
The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival. It influenced the entire country to do good things in society and do what was morally correct. The Second Great Awakening influenced the North more than it did the South and on a whole encouraged democratic ideas and a better standard for the common man and woman. The Second Great Awakening made people want to repent the sins they had made and find who they were. It influenced the end of slavery, abolitionism, and the ban of alcohol, temperance.
The Awakening was a very exciting and motivating story. It contains some of the key motivational themes that launched the women’s movement. It was incredible to see how women were not only oppressed, but how they had become so accustomed to it, that they were nearly oblivious to the oppression. The one woman, Edna Pontellier, who dared to have her own feelings was looked upon as being mentally ill. The pressure was so great, that in the end, the only way that she felt she could be truly free was to take her own life. In this paper I am going to concentrate on the characters central in Edna’s life and her relationships with them.
In the 1830's, 1840's, and beyond, There is a Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening had a decided impact on American society. In the following I will describe what the Great Awakening was and how it changed life in America.
Making her own decisions and living for herself was not accepted in society and she had every right to be afraid that she would be imprisoned to a greater extent by trying to break free from it. Edna was told by Mademoiselle Reisz that “The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.” Tradition is a huge part of why women have been oppressed for so long. Tradition also helps to breed prejudice as well. Tradition, added with prejudice and a group mentality, can cause a lot of stubbornness and anger. Edna’s desire to be herself entirely was dangerous because of this stubbornness of tradition. The strength it would take to accept being ostracized by an entire society would be very difficult to have and no one could blame Edna for being unable to deal with
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.
“Edna began to feel like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities oppressing into her soul.” (Pg. 42) In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening the constant boundaries and restrictions placed on Edna Pontellier by society will lead to her struggle for freedom and her ultimate suicide. Her husband Leonce Pontellier, the current women of society, and the Grand Isle make it evident that Edna is trapped in a patriarchal society.
The novel begins with the “green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door”. She is trapped in what society wants from her and what her husband Leonce expects of her. As Edna continues to stray farther and farther away from her constraints, others begin to notice a difference. Mademoiselle Reisz was one who took notice. Edna tells Arobin “She put her arms around Edna and felt her shoulder blades to see if her wings were strong, she said, The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.” (83) Mademoiselle Reisz was asking Edna if she was ready to take on the consequences of going against tradition and expectations. Just before her death Edna sees “a bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water.” The bird finally gives up and with a broken wing is not strong enough to fly anymore so instead it falls into the water, just as Edna will do in the
Edna’s societal awakening first begins when she almost drowns when she swims too far out into the ocean, and returns to land, chich represents society. This allegorical scene serves the purpose of showing that Edna is still early in her awakening and needs to experience more in order to become fully awakened. The notion; however, that the path to awakening is tumultuous and difficult is reinforced when Mademoiselle Reisz states “‘ The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth,’” (89) displaying how becoming independent from society is hard and is often met with failure. Edna does not fully recognize what is required to become free, but it becomes more clear when Madame Ratignolle tells Edna, while she is giving birth, to “‘Think of the children, Edna. Oh think of the children! Remember them,’” (120) which reminds Edna that society is still constraining her individuality by utilizing her kids. Edna’s realization that society will not allow her to become a independent being is seen when Robert writes “‘ I love you. Good-by--because I love you,” (122) which exemplifies that even Edna’s lover is still constrained by society, and therefore will not have an affair with Edna because as Robert states “you were not free; you were Leonce Pontellier’s wife,” (116) displaying to Edna that Robert still views her as Leonce’s possession, due to their marriage. Edna due to these events progresses through her societal awakening by having the revelation that society in its current state does not allow for women to become individuals, and so she returns to grand isle to go on a swim where, without fear or intention of returning, she
Within Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Chopin includes symbols such as the ocean, a wedding ring, and a bird in order to illustrate how women are oppressed by societies expectations and how marriage has become symbolic of control instead of love. Each of these symbols represent different parts of Edna’s life that either subjugate her or how she finds her freedom and individuality.
In comparison to other works such as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn wherein the title succinctly tells what the story shall contain, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening represents a work whose title can only be fully understood after the incorporation of the themes and content into the reader’s mind, which can only be incorporated by reading the novel itself. The title, The Awakening, paints a vague mental picture for the reader at first and does not fully portray what content the novel will possess. After thorough reading of the novel, one can understand that the title represents the main character, Edna Pontellier’s, sexual awakening and metaphorical resurrection that takes place in the plot as opposed to not having a clue on what the plot will be about.