...A Journey for the Lost Soul The Awakening by Kate Chopin was written during the 1800’s and was published in the year of 1899. During this time, the novel struck controversial subjects using a strong feminist tone, which underlined Chopin’s views on sex, marriage, and women of that period. In this novel, it is evident that freedom and feminism are used as interrelations of each other to express her feelings towards each subject. Some characters in The Awakening served as an encouraging force pushing Edna to go forth with her self-discoveries. In her journey, Edna travels through many stages of freedom to find herself; from exploring her creativity, to being freely aware of her sexually desires in the novel. Chopin uses the self-defining journey of Edna Pontellier to reveal her views of freedom as it relates to women, through a feminist lens during the 1800’s. According to Annetta Kelley, author of The Sparkle of Diamonds: Kate Chopin's Usage of Subtext in Stories and Novels, "The novel's most stirring poetic semblance is its continuous subliminal whispering of "the seductive, murmuring sea" (Kelley 334). Chopin uses Edna Pontellier to represent independence and free will, and the sea to represent Edna. She uses this character as a tool to exemplify her own thoughts on subjects such as sex, marriage, and what it is to be a free woman. The freedom Edna Pontellier desires so much throughout the novel becomes apparent to her primarily when she is at the beach with her...
Words: 1600 - Pages: 7
...“The Awakening” Symbolism, Irony In Kate Chopin's short story “The Awakening”, the voice of the story portrays a woman with sexual aspirations, and moral female social rules in search for independence and self discovery. The story is based on the 19th century woman. During this time women barely had any freedom, were not recognized within the society and had no choice but to me submissive to their husbands. The main character of the story named Edna is portrayed to be a happy woman because she has everything; a wealthy, attentive husband, and two children. Thoughtout the story the truth about Edna’s unhappiness is revealed. The voice of the story uses symbolism, irony, and figurative language to express Edna Pontellier’s feelings as she found her way to her happiness and freedom. Throughout the text, Chopin encourages readers to think but using situational irony. “Irony- the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.” (Merriam-Webster). While reading, readers are made to think the opposite of what actually happened at the end of the story. In the beginning of the story, Edna’s husband Leonce tells his wife to send his friend Robert away when he starts to bore her. Unknown to Leonce that he was actually the one who was boring Edna. “"Well, send him about his business when he bores you, Edna," instructed her husband as he prepared to leave.” (Chopin 1). Another example of irony is when...
Words: 713 - Pages: 3
...Why was Edna’s first attempt to swim successfully symbolic to the way she was in the novel? The symbolism in this moment is the maturation and rebirth of Edna; from being a clutching, tottering and stumbling child to being able to walk alone to the beach. The sea for edna was a seductive, never ceasing abyss that draws in the soul into solitude; with entering the sea Edna was able to face her fear and enter it while knowing what she was told about the ocean. This swim in the ocean shows that she is no longer dependent on the others, as what many thought of women, but she found strength within herself. The rebirth of Edna included that she will no longer be treated as a child, so becoming reckless and very confident, she wants to swim “where no woman had swum before,” and she reaches the...
Words: 1136 - Pages: 5
...Like the tide, the sensual pull of the ocean attracts Edna to freedom. The novella The Awakening is set around the ocean. Chopin sets her main character Edna, in New Orleans and the Grand Isle to constantly entice Edna with the ocean and the freedom that it represents. At the beginning of the book Edna’s connection to the ocean is weak due to her inability to swim. After Edna swims for the first time and continues to practice the ocean’s sensuality starts to pull her in. Chopin relates Edna to the ocean in a parallel way to help express Edna’s crave for freedom. The last chapter in The Awakening Edna takes her life in the ocean that has been enticing her throughout the novella through sensualism and sets herself free. The ocean is a symbol...
Words: 1150 - Pages: 5
...Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, was originally published in 1899. At the time, society expected a woman’s life to revolve around her husband and children, and few women looked for fulfillment outside their family. The novel was banned from the St. Louis Mercantile Library, where Chopin lived, because the story was about a young woman, Edna Pontellier, who is awakened to her own desires and longing for fulfillment outside her family. She discovers she wishes for more than being her husband, Léonce Pontellier’s, possession. She wants to be independent and discover her sexuality. On summer vacation, Edna discovers her true love, Robert Lebrun, and despite the strict morals of the late 1800s, she explores that love. Chopin’s novel was considered,...
Words: 765 - Pages: 4
...before” (27). This is a symbol of her awakening beginning, for she desires to swim out of the confines of society and find freedom when most woman were called insane for desiring so. As she swims out, she begins to see the expanse of sea between her and the shore as a barrier, which signifies the separation between her and society. However, she must return to the shore or else loose her strength. The sudden terror and “encounter with death” (28) she experiences when she realizes that she’s swum out too far, could foreshadow her eventual suicide in the Gulf. It would be fitting for her to end her life in the place where her awakening began. Alternatively, it could be a warning for her to be careful for the farther out she swims from society and what is expected of a woman, the harder it would be to keep her strength and easier it would be to drown. She describes this experience as being dreamlike and all the people were “like some uncanny, half-human beings” (28). She is the one that has awaken up and seen a future where she is in control, not any man, while they others are still sleeping. When she recounts this feeling to Robert, he tells her a story about the spirit who searches for a companion and found her. Edna has been found by the spirit of freedom and won’t ever be able to go back to her previous life again. Edna cannot return to the moment of her life where she didn’t know how to swim. The first step after learning to swim in her awakening is when she disobeys her husband...
Words: 1432 - Pages: 6
...Thoughts and emotions are often expressed through poetry. Gary Soto wrote “Oranges” in 1985, which was apart of his poetry collection Black Hair. In “Oranges”, Gary Soto uses symbolism and imagery to convey a young boy’s emotions on a first date. Gary Anthony Soto was born on April 12, 1952 in Fresno, California. Soto’s family were Mexican-American, therefor it was hard to find jobs besides labor. Soto’s father worked in the Sunmaid Raisin Company.When Soto was five, his father was killed in a tragic industrial accident while at work. His death had traumatic effects on Soto. His mother was forced to raise three children on her own. Trying to live was already hard with her husband, and his death made it significantly more difficult. In Gary...
Words: 384 - Pages: 2
...The Awakening The Awakening explores different details of a woman living life through the 1800's. The main character that is discussed is Edna Pontellier. She is married to Leonce Pontellier and they have two children together, Etienne and Raoul. The story behind Edna is her desire and struggles to be an independent woman and live fully within her true self. She has struggles learning this about herself and the purpose of a happy life that in turn it causes friction with her friends and family. There are many symbols and perspectives in the story that will help decide whether or not Edna did the right thing in the end. Although Edna's ultimate suicide is a waste of her struggles against an oppressive society, The Awakening supports and encourages feminism as a way for women to obtain sexual freedom, financial independence, and individual identity. A critical analysis consists of choosing a certain lens that would point out certain characteristics of a book and summarize the findings. From the weekly reading “When you analyze a piece of literature or portion of it, it is important to look at various parts of the work—characters, setting, figurative language, and symbolism” (South University, Lecture, wk.2). There are three perspectives that were included in The Awakening, Feminist, Psychoanalytical and Historical. While writing this paper from a feminist perspective there will also be comparisons from the other two. As Sigmund Freud stated “the mind has two parts,...
Words: 1649 - Pages: 7
...“Araby” by James Joyce In his short but complex story, “Araby”, James Joyce, with the use of symbolism and metaphors, reveals the journey of a young boy. “Araby” is a story of the differences between the innocent ideal and the knowledge of real life. Joyce presents us with the idea of the boy’s journey, which ends with a failure but results in the discovery of adulthood. However, looking closer, it is a story of a grown man looking back on his earlier experiences as a young boy. The boy's journey is no longer limited to his youthful encounter with first love but to a representation of a conflict of the ideal: the dream as he wishes it to be, with the harsh reality that it is. This depiction, of the boy’s experiences allows for the dramatic evolution of a story of a first love told by a narrator who, (with the adult vision), applies the sophisticated use of irony and symbolism needed to reveal the story's deeper meaning. In the beginning we learn about the boy’s character through the atmospheric setting of North Richmond Street in Dublin. He grew up in a dismal, dark, dead-end street. “An uninhabited house of two stories stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours in a square ground.” Gloominess seems to be setting the mood “dark dripping gardens,” “brown imperturbable faces” and “the dark muddy lanes”. Joyce paints a picture of a somber and hopeless presence with no happiness or anything to look forward to. The young boy’s character is revealed through these...
Words: 835 - Pages: 4
...Lucy Character Lucy is a young girl whose wealthy parents send her to camp every summer. She is adventurous and free thinker, not caring what others think about her, unlike her friend Lois. She becomes unhappy with her life in Chicago because of problems with her parents. We never know why or how she disappears when the campers go on the canoe trip. The similarities Lucy and Mrs. Das share with each other is that they are both female who lives in US. As the story begins to grow more intense we find out that these two females aren’t honest. For example, Mrs. Das lied about her affair that happened eight years ago that she cheated on her husband with his friend. Mrs. Das became pregnant with a child and hide this secret from her husband. Setting Araby Setting and story are closely integrated in "Araby." The alleyway, the busy commercial street, the open door of Mangan’s house, the room in back where the priest died, the way to school—all are parts of the locations which shape the life and consciousness of the narrator. Before the narrator goes to Araby, it is his thoughts about this exotic, mysterious location that crystallize for him his adoration of Mangan’s sister, who is somehow locked into his "Eastern enchantment" (paragraph 12) of devotion and unfulfilled love. At the end the lights are out, the place is closing down for the night, and the narrator recognizes Araby as a symbol of his own lack of reality and unreachable hopes. Seemingly, all his aims are dashed by his...
Words: 1760 - Pages: 8
...Kate Chopin's The Awakening is a literary work full of symbolism. Birds, clothes, houses and other narrative elements are powerful symbols which add meaning to the novel and to the characters. I will analyze the most relevant symbols presented in Chopin's literary work. BIRDS The images related to birds are the major symbolic images in the narrative from the very beginning of the novel: "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!'" (pp3) In The Awakening, caged birds serve as reminders of Edna's entrapment. She is caged in the roles as wife and mother; she is never expected to think for herself. Moreover, the caged birds symbolize the entrapment of the Victorian women in general. Like the parrot, the women's movements are limited by the rules of society. In this first chapter, the parrot speaks in "a language which nobody understood" (pp3). The parrot is not able to communicate its feelings just like Edna whose feelings are difficult to understand, incomprehensible to the members of Creole society. In contrast to caged birds, Chopin uses wild birds and the idea of flight as symbols of freedom. This symbol is shown in a vision of a bird experienced by Edna while Mademoiselle Reisz is playing the piano. "When she heard it there came before her imagination the figure of a man standing beside a desolate rock...
Words: 694 - Pages: 3
...Edna’s “awakening” begins to take form inside of her as a light. Chopin describes this evolution in this way because it depicts Edna as an individual who decides for herself, which we, the audience, observe as she makes the decision to go onto the beach with someone else. The character is unsure about this new personality growing inside of her that allows her to have her own opinions. Chopin then goes on to narrate from a 3rd person point of view about how most people do not make their way through this experience, suggesting the idea that Edna is a potential symbol for female empowerment/courage in the text. This passage is more of a big technique used by Chopin as the author alternates between using Edna’s husbands m=name and her simplistic...
Words: 890 - Pages: 4
...primitive times and believed to portend the future. As of what I red, Freud states that every dream is consequential and that the meanings of these dreams will be brought to light, lending information into understanding the individual’s make up. I believe that everyone should give a certain amount of attention to his or her dreams. People should learn from Freud’s belief in the significance of dreams if one were to keep a dream journal and write it daily, it could provide some useful insights to the individual. I have a great belief in dreams and their symbolism, but I do not believe that all dreams have meaning Dream analysis has two (2) types; The Latent Content and The Manifestation Content. Whereof the Manifest Content precedes that dream that we remember upon awakening or remembers the actual happenings and thoughts. While the Latent Content has an underlying meaning to the dreamer in this case this has its called “Symbolism.” There are people who don’t usually dream of their wish fulfillments but the repetition compulsion. Mostly found to a people with “Post Traumatic Stress Order” or “PTSD” A mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic event either witnessing it or experiencing it. . Sigmund Freud believed that the function of dreaming was to...
Words: 425 - Pages: 2
...Activism is nexessary for survival of democracy freedom after a long struggle and formed a great constitution for making the country a welfare state bringing liberty, equality, fraternity with a view to make its citizens feel free and safe. It has to be ensured that the said values are not dying and the necessity of their healthy growth is being monitored for the survival of a free and vibrant society. Law and practice are different Our constitution clearly mentions that every citizen- regardless of gender, caste, creed- shall be equal before law and no discrimination shall be made on such grounds. But the daunting realities have contradictory stories to unfold. India – with its thousands of sub-castes stands divided on the basis of social divisions at every nook and corner. People, children, women are suppressed. MBA Essay topics: Need of Activism The need of social uprising arises here. These are the activists who raise a voice against the atrocities and let the world know about the same. They educate the people, garner their support and try to get the wrong doings rectified. This is the fear of activists that corruption and corrupt practices are catching the attention of people at large. The irregularities committed are being highlighted. Those who are under the watchful eye of activists – which can be media, social networking, NGOs etc. will think twice to go for any corrupt practices. Activism in fact is the activity that awakens the sleeping people about something...
Words: 511 - Pages: 3
...ENGL 1102 26 November 2013 The Birds In Kate Chopin’s book, The Awakening, she expresses the account of a youthful woman who begins to live her life for herself, breaking out of the numerous obstacles set by humanity and her family during the Victorian Era. When Chopin wrote The Awakening in the 1890s, a variety of social differences and tensions, which brought women’s rights into public conversation that prompted Chopin’s narrative. In Louisiana, which is the setting for The Awakening, most women at the time were their husbands' legitimate property. In addition, this was a prominently Catholic state meaning divorce was tremendously uncommon, and women expected to stay loyal and faithful to their husbands. This explains some reactions The Awakening received in after its publication in 1899. Chopin uses symbolism as an excellent device to insert her personal views to the reader giving them a foretaste into the life of this young woman at a time when women had no political rights and many restraints. In Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening,” she uses a variety of birds as symbols to illuminate Edna’s journey through life. The essential significance throughout the story is the desire to break away from the traditional views of women during the Victorian Era. However, Edna struggles with the backlash she would receive if she chose to fulfill her own desires, signifying what she...
Words: 2008 - Pages: 9
