Free Awakening Essays: Reader Response Chopin Awakening Essays

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Reader Response to The Awakening I very much enjoyed this story, almost hard to believe that it was written in 1899! I can imagine that it was very shocking to read of a womans sexual awakening. I found the opening imagery very interesting, could this beautiful bird in the cage symbolize Edna? Very interesting that in the opening lines Chopin is having a beautiful and caged creature telling satin to go away, to get out. And in French yet, the language of love. And a mocking bird on the other side of the door with his maddening persistence. A mocking bird only repeats sounds --not words-- what does this represent? The Farival twins play a duet from Zampa in which a lover dies in the sea not only in the opening scene but later in the story as well --Chopin likes to give us a glimpse of what is to happen later in the story. I found this footnote very interesting because the last time I read the story I did not know what Zampa was about --there was no such footnote. And what is the deal with the woman in black who is constantly folllowing the young lovers around and saying the rosary? I could not help but think that perhaps she was saying prayers for Edna and Robert more than for the two she follows. Imagry of the sea is every where, and always seems to be calling out to Edna, is it the Gulf-Spirit that she joins in the end? One of the interesting things that I found was the symbolism of Edna learning to swim, it had stuck out in my mind when I initially read the piece as I felt that it was symbolic of her emerging sense of freedom, her awakening and then the fear that she has because of this. Her learning to swim was symbolic of her empowerment. Was it the fear of her own power that caused this panic that she felt, if for only a second of time (on p.68) when she feels that she swam out to far? When I had read the text I thought of the references to the moonlight as illuminating how she was beginning to feel about Robert as she watched his figure pass in and out of the strips of moonlight --this happens twice at the end of chapter ten. This is symbolic of Ednas struggle with the concept of romantic versus sexual love. Is that why his figure passes IN and OUT of the strips of moonlight? Its almost as if Chopin conveys this struggle within a single line and repeats that line for emphasis!

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  • Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chopin mentions birds in a subtle way at many points in the plot and if looked at closely enough they are always linked back to Edna and her journey of her awakening. In the first pages of the novella, Chopin reveals Madame Lebrun's "green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage" (Chopin 1). The caged bird at the beginning of the novella points out Edna's subconscious feeling of being entrapped as a woman in the ideal of a mother-woman in Creole society. The parrot "could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood" (1). The parrot's lack of a way to communicate because of the unknown language depicts Edna's inability to speak her true feelings and thoughts. It is for this reason that nobody understands her and what she is going through. A little further into the story, Madame Reisz plays a ballad on the piano. The name of which "was something else, but [Edna] called it ‘Solitude.' When she heard it there came before her imagination the figure of a man standing on a desolate rock on the seashore…His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him" (25). The bird in the distance symbolizes Edna's desire of freedom and the man in the vision shows the longing for the freedom that is so far out of reach. At the end of the story, Chopin shows "a bird with a broken wing…beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water" while Edna is swimming in the ocean at the Grand Isle shortly before she drowns (115). The bird stands for the inability to stray from the norms of society and become independent without inevitably falling from being incapable of doing everything by herself. The different birds all have different meanings for Edna but they all show the progression of her awakening.

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  • Symbols of Oppression in the First and Final Passages of Chopin’s The Awakening

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    The presence of birds in the first passage of The Awakening seems to foreshadow some of the characteristics of the protagonist. It is rather interesting that the parrot is outdoors, while the mockingbird is inside. Perhaps this would represent the presence of opposites in this novel. The parrot seems to be provoking the mockingbird in order to get some sort of response. This seems to point to the presence of loneliness which the protagonist feels. However he is being rather anti social by stating “Allez vous-en! Alez Vous! Saprisit! That’s all right!” I may be wrong, but I believe that means “Go Away! Go Away! Damn it” in French. This altercation between the parrot and the mockingbird could point to the presence of a jealous conflict within the characters. On the surface it seems that the parrot is rather agitated that the mockingbird, a bird that is generally found outdoors, is inside while the parrot, a domesticated pet is kept outside. Ironically though both birds are actually trapped with the parrot being held in the cage and the mockingbird being trapped indoors. The cage symbolizes being trapped whether literally or figuratively. Also the presence of characters that are not understood by their surroundings might shed some light on the inner conflict of the novel. It is also useful to point out that the parrot, a bird which mimics it’s surroundings is being mimicked by a bird which also mimics, such as a mockingbird. The may point to the possible presence of a theme of mimicry in this novel.

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  • Edna’s Symbolic Swim in The Awakening

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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.

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  • Kate Chopin's The Awakening

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    have realized that Edna, because of her different upbringings, would not know how to deal with Robert's actions. In one way or another he was the one that helped start their feeling towards each other.

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  • The Awakening

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    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)

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  • The Significance of Art in Chopin's The Awakening

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...instead, she chooses to succumb to death (Boren 181). On the other hand, choosing the solitude of the sea is a triumph of Edna’s artistic soul. In life, there is no real solitude; Edna fearlessly swims out to face the solitude of death.

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  • The Voice of the Sea in The Awakening

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the story the ocean represented Edna's constant struggle for self-realization and independence.  From her first flow of emotion on the beach to her last breath of life in the sea, the ocean beckons her.  The voice of the sea lures her onward in her journey toward liberation and empowerment.

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  • Naked and Free in The Awakening

    491 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Awakening, by Kate Chopin seems to fit neatly into twentieth century ideals.  Chopin addresses psychological issues that must have been difficult for people of the late nineteenth century to grasp.  Just as Edna died a premature death, Chopin's book died too.  The rejection of this book, at the time, ironically demonstrates the pressure many women must have felt to conform to society.  Chopin shows the reader, through Edna Pontellier, that society restricts women the right to individuality.  This restriction by society can be seen in the clothing Victorian women wore during the time.

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  • Comparison of Kate Chopin's Story of an Hour and William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    The background of both authors, which was from the South, we can conclude how they could described the situations that they faced such as political and social presumptions problems especially for women at that time. The story explains how Chopin wrote how women were to be "seen but not heard". "The wife cannot plead in her own name, without the authority of her husband, even though she should be a public

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  • Internal Conflict In The Awakening

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    In her first awakening, Enda discovers her position within society, “She would not join the groups in their sports and bouts, but intoxicated with her newly conquered power, she swam out alone. She turned her face seaward to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which the vast expanse of water, metting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy. As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself” (Chopin 48). Water is often associated with cleansing and baptism. As the sea serves as the setting for Edna’s suicide, it offers the promise and glory of independence as she defies society.

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  • The Importance of the Sea in The Awakening

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

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  • Symbolism of an Hour

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin with the first display of symbolism in the story is Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble representing her dissatisfaction with her marriage and unhappiness. Chopin lets the reader know in the beginning that Mrs. Mallard is ill. “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (57). ...

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  • The Symbolism Of The Sea In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    The sea is the place where Edna is able to explore her true desires, and it allows her to realize the depth of the universe and the significance of human life. Chopin writes “The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace” (13). The sea comforts Edna and allows her to access her innermost thoughts. It constantly calls out to her, seducing her into diving deeper into seeking independence. Serving as a catalyst in Edna’s awakening, the sea allows her to see what she wants and needs in her

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  • Ocean Symbolism In Huckleberry Finn

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  • What Are The Types Of Movies Essay

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

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