The Awakening Literary Analysis

Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, resembles the time period of the late nineteenth century where women are constrained to being house wives because of the norms in society in that time. So, during this time it was prevalent for women to lack independence or even freedom to that matter. In this novel the protagonist faces the reality of confinement to being that ideal woman. Edna Pontellier, a young woman, feels disconsolate because of her unhappy marriage and being a mother because it restricts her from her desires. However, throughout the novel Edna experiences awakenings and trials causing her to gain courage and try to change her life which makes her seem rebellious to the creole society. Chopin uses many symbols throughout the book to

connect and represent Edna’s life. Chopin uses these symbols so the readers can have a more in depth understanding of her life but one symbol that truly stands out is the sea. In the awakening, Chopin uses the sea to symbolize Edna’s hidden sexual and freedom desires, which ultimately leads her to solitude and death.
Chopin specifically uses the sea throughout the novel to connect to Edna’s sexual desires.

Although, she is married her marriage is very unstable. Her life has an absence of love and comfort she wants. Chopin says, “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 17). In this quote, Chopin gives the sea personal qualities portraying it to be flirtatious, in a way, and inviting Edna to lose herself in it. Chopin continues to say, “The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace” (17). The sea is is representative of that significant other Edna is craving for and it can be seen she has a strong attraction for. She starts to realize her sexual need and begin to embrace them. Embracing this new feeling and confidence she is able to accept that she wants to find love. She is able to find this love through one of the characters named Robert lebrun and the narrator says, “The sentiment which she entertained for Robert in no way resembled that which she felt for her husband, or had ever felt, or ever expected to feel” (55). Edna expresses her sexual desires are starting to portray her more and she feels something new which she thoroughly enjoys, Eventually, Edna begins to explore and find herself more which then leads her to find more connections with the

sea.
Edna’s desire for freedom is very important to her awakening and has a huge connection to the sea. In the novel it says, “Mrs.Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her” (17). She is starting to realize her innermost desire to be free from her marriage and anything that is interfering with her happiness. In the novel Edna reaches this feeling of freedom and being content when she swims for the first time. The narrator says, “A feeling of exultation overtook her body and soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (33). Edna lets go of her fears of the sea and finally swims which is the key point in the novel in order for her to reach her desires. She feels that she is in control of herself and not being set back by her troubles on shore. While Edna continues to swim the narrator says, “As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself” (33). Furthermore, proving she reaches that sense of freedom with the guidance and significance of the sea. Although, Edna’s first time swimming is her first time feeling freedom and achieving her desires it puts in the position of feeling solitude while in the sea.
Edna’s desires lead her to her feelings of solitude. An example is during her first swim and it says, “Once she turned and looked toward the shore, and looked toward the people she had left here...Stretch of water water behind her assumed the aspect of a barrier which her unaided strength would never be able to overcome” (33). Edna realizes while looking at the people during her awakening in the sea that she will never truly have that freedom she desires. Society will constantly hinder her from reaching that desire because she is so different and they will never understand her because it is against their standards. Similarly, her sexual desires cause Edna to succumb to solitude. Edna falls in love with Robert Lebrun which aids her in her sexual needs but their relationships ceases when the narrator says,“Good-by because I love you.” (129). Robert decides to end their relationship because he could not handle Edna being different and wanting an affair but he does not understand because of his mindset due to society. Robert is the last thing Edna really has to fulfill her desires she recognizes with the help of the sea. The feeling of being alone overwhelms Edna and consumes her thoughts and being as a whole. The narrator says, “There was no one thing in the world that she desired. there was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert; and she even realize that the day would come when he ,too, and the thought of him would melt out of her existence, leaving her alone” (132). Consequently, Edna completely loses hope in her desires and comes to the conclusion that she will always be alone. This event is her final trigger to make the decision to commit suicide.
The final scene of Edna’s life, the three main points of her freedom and sexual desires likewise her solitude is present. It can be seen how they all connect to the sea and her life in her last moments.First is the solitude she experiences and the narrator says, “But when she was there beside the sea, absolutely alone, she cast the unpleasant, pricking garments...and the waves that invited her” (132). Solitude is present but this time this loneliness she feels with connections of the sea is giving her comfort as she prepares to enter it. Second, is her sexual desires and the narrator says, “The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace” (133). As she walks into the sea it is “Embracing” her body giving her that satisfaction and fulfilling her needs of that part of her life she is struggling with. Lastly, is Edna’s desire for that freedom she has been yearning for and the novel says, “She went on and on. She remembered the nights she swam far out, and recalled the terror that seized her at the fear of being unable to regain the shore. She did not look back now, but went on and on...She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again” (133). Edna becomes aware that the only desire she was truly able to fulfill was her desire for freedom and that was by swimming. This is what encourages her to keep swimming far out to feel that freedom again because her awakening is started by simply by feeling free in the sea and ultimately ends her life in the same manner.