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. Throughout the novel, the ocean is implement on several different occasions. From the beginning of the novel to the end of Edna’s life, the ocean symbolizes the same concept, which is freedom. When in the ocean, Edna can feel the depth of the universe and she begins to realize the opportunities that the world has to offer. Once Edna learns how to swim, she gains a …show more content…
One of which that is independent and free but requires more responsibility. It also becomes evident that the ocean awakens Edna to realize the possibilities within the universe and her individuality. “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 reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no women had swum before (31).” The feeling of exultation which she feels while swimming, is her realizing the depth and possibilities of the universe and feeling a sense of freedom. She discovers her independence when she feels like some power gave her the ability to control her body and soul. Her newly developing sense of individuality allows her to see the possibilities of the universe, giving her motivation to swim to where no woman has swum before, which was the beginning of her awakening. Being twenty-eight years old, this is the first time that Edna feels as if her body and soul belong herself, she is not property of her husband’s, and this is the first time that realizes how many opportunities the world has to offer her. Society …show more content…
Society has expectations and those who do not uphold those expectations are judged. Chopin hopes to show readers that it is okay to defy these traditions and become an individual. She hopes to emphasize that women are not property, they are individuals who can and should live how they wish and that being a wife does not mean being submissive or giving up ones individuality. In the year 1899, the year which The Awakening was published, it was unheard of for women to disobey her husband or society. Women were expected to uphold their appearance and follow their husband’s commands. Therefore, this novel was very controversial, making Kate Chopin very brave and bold to write of such. Over the years, feminism has evolved dramatically and women have gained independence. However, the fight for women’s individuality and equality is ongoing. Women are still fighting for equal pay, rights, and opportunities. Chopin inspires women, with her bravery, audacity, and courage, to keep fighting for
Nature, in the works of Chopin and Hughes serves as a powerful symbol that represents the struggle of the human soul towards freedom, the anguish of that struggle, and the joy when that freedom is finally reached. In The Awakening, the protagonist Edna Pontellier undergoes a metamorphosis. She lives in Creole society, a society that restricts sexuality, especially for women of the time. Edna is bound by the confines of a loveless marriage, unfulfilled, unhappy, and closed in like a caged bird. During her summer at Grand Isle she is confronted with herself in her truest nature, and finds herself swept away by passion and love for someone she cannot have, Robert Lebrun.
From a mother, wife, and society woman, Edna progresses to a unique woman of her own, free and independent. By deciding to choose her own paths to take in life, breaking the rules and expectations of the people around her, Edna achieves total control of her destiny. The backdrop of Edna's journey of her awakening is the tantalizing whisper of the ocean. The ocean awakens Edna's senses, teaches her the thrill of taking a risk and offers her inspiration to "dare and defy" (109).
Also, the empowering force of the ocean allows Edna to be a dictator of her fate. She ultimately decides to take her life and be free from other’s wants and expectations. The water was the catalyst that allowed Edna to be liberated and obtain her desires.
Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” is wrought with symbolism, foreshadowing and careful diction choices. Many of the passages throughout the novel embody Edna’s awakening sense of self-reliance, independence and sexuality. These are sy...
“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.
In Creole society, women are dominated by men, but at least the freer attitude toward sexuality allows a woman opportunities for romance which are lacking in Anglo-Saxon culture. But sexual freedom is of little interest to Edna unless it can be used as a means of asserting her overall freedom as a human being. Learning to swim is thus important to her, because it allows her to have more control over the circumstances of her own life through the overcoming of the dread of water and the fear of death which it symbolizes. Again, the process through which Edna attains liberation and, in the author's words, begins to "do as she likes and to feel as she likes," is a gradual one. From stat...
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)
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.
This short quotation from the end of chapter 6 of Kate Chopin’s the Awakening is crucial to understanding the text as a whole and is also a vital example of foreshadowing. In this part in the novel, Edna, the protagonist, has just refused to go for a swim with Robert. However, the very sight and sound of the sea entices her. The sea here is depicted as an invigorating object that gives Edna life. At the time of this novel, women were not viewed highly by their husbands. They were expected to conform to societal norms and remain subservient. They were not to question their husbands and were always expected to do as they were told. Thus, women of this time were not free. In this novel, it is the sea that makes Edna free. In the sea she loses all restraints and all reservations when she finally goes for a swim later in the novel. Being free in the sea and going for a swim is liberating to her, just like seeking out another man since she isn’t happy in her current marriage. In her marriage she can’t be the woman that all women want to be. While her husband is a good man, she still has to conform to his wishes. Thus she cannot be the person she truly wants to be. In order to be this person, Edna seeks out the company of Robert. By giving the sea these life-giving qualities, Chopin shows the sea as an emancipating force in Edna’s life. It sustains her and seduces her with the offers of freedom. The sea speaks to the soul because of what it offers and enfolds the body in its soft embrace for these same reasons.
The book begins and ends with Edna and her attraction to the water. Throughout the story, water plays a symbolic part in the unfolding of Edna and her relationship to Robert and also her awakening to a new outlook on life along with an independence that takes her away from her family and the socially constraining life in which she no longer can see herself a part of. Edna and Robert are at the beach enjoying each others company. They quickly return to the cottage where Leonce is, and he talks to them. They have had a good time down by the water and Leonce, being the proper business man that he is, does not understand why Robert would rather spend his time chatting with his wife than attending to other things.
In the novel, “the ocean symbolizes Edna's "awakening" to a life filled with freedom and independence” (Nickerson). On a hot summer evening Robert and Edna go bathing. Although Edna does not wish to go and initially declines his offer, something inside is compelling her to go down to the water. It is there in the seductive ocean that Edna's awakening begins.
In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, the protagonist Enda Pontellier experiences internal conflict as she journeys to her self-discovery. As she becomes aware of her supressed being within society and distances herself away in solitude, Enda is able to discover her essential self. Symbols and imagery such as the sea and the birds along with the physical setting of the novel, are constantly repeated in Chopin’s novel in order to demonstrate Enda’s progression to discovering her essential self and ultimately her spiritual awakening.
The 19th and 20th centuries were a time period of change. The world saw many changes from gender roles to racial treatment. Many books written during these time periods reflect these changes. Some caused mass outrage while others helped to bring about change. In the book The Awakening by Kate Chopin, gender roles can be seen throughout the novel. Some of the characters follow society’s “rules” on what a gender is suppose to do while others challenge it. Feminist Lens can be used to help infer and interpret the gender roles that the characters follow or rebel against. Madame Ratignolle and Leonce Pontellier follow eaches respective gender, while Alcee Arobin follows and rebels the male gender expectations during the time period.
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...
Bryfonski, Dedria, ed. Women's Issues in Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2012. Print.