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symbolism in kate chopin's the awakening
what is the awakening about
symbolism in kate chopin's the awakening
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Rebirth in The Awakening
The time Edna spends in water is a suspension of space and time; this is her first attempt at realizing Robert's impermanence. In a strange way, Edna is taking her self as an object of meditation, where at the extremity of self absorption, she should be able to see through her own selflessness. "As she swam she seemed to be reaching for the unlimited in which to lose herself[emphasis added]" (Chopin 74). Edna has left her earthly existence on the shore and looked forward to a new existence, with the "unlimited", or nirvana as a tantalizing prize on the other shore. Her mistake lies in looking back.
When Edna looked back toward the shore, she notices the people she left there. She also notices that she has not covered a great distance. Then a "quick vision of death smote her soul" (Chopin 74), a sense of death that reaffirms her selfhood and reminds her of her clinging to Robert. Her meditation is broken by the wavering of her mind to other objects and senses. Her struggle to regain the shore becomes a kind of near-death experience, at the end of which comes an utter physical exhaustion, a stretching of her self's physical boundary. Edna's intellectual self, the mind, another creation of ignorance, awakens as well. She begins to "feel like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing into her soul" (Chopin 78).
As Edna's fortified ego emerges ashore, her attachment to Robert is strengthened. The intimate moment they share at the end of the chapter bespeaks an "acme of bliss," where "no multitude of words could have been more significant than those moments of silence, or more pregnant with the first-felt throbbings of desire" (Chopin 63, 77).
After Edna's rebirth from the sea, her sense of self blossoms. She pulls away from the crowd and begins to do as she pleases. Léonce Pontellier's stern command for her to come inside after the swim goes unheeded. Edna realizes that her will has "blazed up, stubborn and resistant." In Buddhist philosophy, the concept of the will is one of the five aggregate that forms the self. Edna's recognition of her will is a good indication that her ego is fully formed, and that in a sense she has moved farther away from achieving nirvana.
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.
... of Florida, under the Electoral College, electoral votes for the candidate running for office receive a plurality of their popular vote. Therefore, whoever gets the majority of the national electoral votes wins the election. Bush won by a narrow margin of these votes resulting in a mandatory machine recount, which afterwards concluded that Bush’s victory margin, was even narrower. This allowed Al Gore to request a recount in the counties of his choice, so naturally he chose the counties whose votes were historically democratic. The uncertainty continued through the circuit courts all the way to The Florida Supreme Court who ruled in Bush v. Gore that there was not enough time to recount the popular vote ballots without violating the United States constitution. The recounting of the ballots would have violated the Fourteenth Amendments “Equal Protection Clause”.
The discoveries that Edna Pontellier made in the water that night represent her true “awakening.” The scene demonstrates her awareness of herself as an individual, as well as her realization that she is connected to a larger, greater universe. Whether this epiphany brings her happiness and a greater understanding of the world around her, or only abject misery, isolation and a sense that her life is without worth, is still being debated.
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.
“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” implies the tremendous joy that encourages her to shout, as well as underscores the significance of the experience in terms of the greater awakening, for the experience actually does provide Edna with the ability to control her own body and soul for the first time. Her “daring and reckless” behavior, her overestimation of strength, and the desire to “swim far out, where no woman had swum before” all suggest the tragic conclusion that awaits Edna. Whether her awakening leads her to want too much, or her desires are not fully compatible with the society in which she lives, she goes too far in her awakening. Amazed at the ease of her new power, she specifically does not join the other groups of people in the water, but rather goes off to swim alone. Indeed, her own awakening ultimately ends up being solitary, particularly in her refusals to join in social expectations. Here, the water presents her with space and solitude, with the “unlimited in which to lose herself.
...pport of Mr. Pontellier, her children, Madame Ratignolle, Robert, Madame Reisz, and her father. While Edna sees support for herself in these roles the way the other characters see them, she does not believe that she has their support for herself as an individual, apart from these roles, or as a person defining these roles for herself. As she takes her final walk down to the beach, the sea continues to call to her soul: “The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude” (654). The sea has helped Edna see into her innermost being and the transformational journey has helped her realize that she wants to fulfill her roles in life as an autonomous individual. But because Edna feels that she cannot achieve her goals, she succumbs to that which is closest to her innermost being, the sea.
The election took place on Nov 7, 2000. Under our electoral college system each state votes for our new president separately, a winner is then declared in each state and is awarded “electoral votes” that is equal to the states number of representatives in the House and Senate. Gore led Bush 266-246 and 270 votes are required for victory. Florida with 25 electoral votes did not have an official winner because the result was inside of the margin of error for machine counting.
Edna feared nothing when forced to make major decisions. She attempted to rise above society and the conditions forced upon her to act as the proper housewife who tended to her husband's every command. Edna often visited the ocean because it provided her with the strength and power to stand up to her husband and her society. Edna stated, "How few of us even emerge from such a beginning" (Chopin 17), which clearly demonstrated that she felt vast changes with her emotions and ideas, which allowed her to begin a new life. The sea, which Chopin described during the novel represented Edna's chance to break free and start over; "The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude" (Chopin 152). The ocean water symbolized of cleanliness and re-birth which provided Edna a new sense of freedom, strength and bravery.
In this final passage, Chopin seems to emphasize words describing the ecstacy of solitude that Edna encounters in her final visit to the sea. When Edna speaks of there being “[…] no living thing in sight” (Chopin 139) around her, her thoughts never stray to a memory of her past experiences, acquaintances, or even emotions. Even when Edna sees her bathing suit from the past summer, her thoughts remain fixated on solely the unending sea that lies before her.
...o the Electra complex. Eventually, this complex derives a sense of spurn of any kind of control from Edna. Lastly, the title The Awakening suggests that, at some point, Edna had to have gone through a period of “dreaming” that enables Edna to live her fantastic caprices. This period of dreaming begins and ends at the ocean which is symbolic for re-birth and the womb. By successfully completing her swim, Edna is beginning her dream and living her edacities. By striping her clothes off and descending into the depths of the sea Edna, as a new-born creature, is seeking to return to the sanctity of the womb. Edna Pontellier is a subject of psychology all her own, however far is up to the reader. The psychology of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is not tangibly obvious, however in regards to the story is incredibly significant in understanding the nature of Edna Pontellier.
to an image of cleansing and rebirth. Edna is starting over and becoming a new person, a
Like the current beneath its surface, it pulls and tugs at her soul, inviting her to its depths. Edna was attracted to the water, just the same as she was her changes. When she first begins to transition, she was chary and distant, hesitant of its mysterious qualities- she felt the same way towards the ocean. She was not sure why, but she could not resist the temptations of this new fantasy, and she could not stop herself from finding her way back to the water. In her eyes, “the voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation,” (Chopin 33). Edna felt connected to the water; in it, she reached self-actualization and encountered a side of her no one else knew existed...even herself. It was only once its potent seductions drew her in did Edna begin to see and feel the alterations swelling inside her. The true turning point and catalyst in her awakening was her ability to swim on her own. While Edna did attempt to swim before, she was never truly free- she depended on
During the summer of Edna's awakening, the sea's influence increases as she learns how to swim, an event which holds much more significance that her fellow vacationers realize. “To her friends, she has accomplished a simple feat; to Edna, she has accomplished a miracle” (Showalter 114). She has found a peace and tranquility in swimming which gives her the feeling of freedom. The narrator tells us that as she swims, "she seem[s] to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (Chopin 74). She sees the freedom t...
What core competencies do you think the company has and what is needed to exploit opportunity and counter threats.
Selecting a business strategy that details valuable resources and distinctive competencies, strategizing all resources and capabilities and ensuring they are all employed and exploited, and building and regenerating valuable resources and distinctive competencies is key. The analysis of resources, capabilities and core competencies describes the external environment which is subject to change quickly. Based off this information a firm has to be prepared and know its internal resources and capabilities and offer a more secure strategy. Furthermore, resources and capabilities are the primary source of profitability. Resources entail intangible, tangible, and human resources. Capabilities describe environment and strategic environment. Core competencies include knowledge and technical capability. In this section we will attempt to describe in detail the three segments which are resources, capabilities, and core competencies.