...Ryan Cottle Professor Shapoff English 102 29 May 2012 Analysis of Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” In Kate Chopin’s short story “The Storm” she uses symbolism and imagery in her writing techniques to mirror the events of the storm set in the story’s plot with her characters and their actions.Through her use of symbolism and her use of vivid imagery she is able to convey the themes of adultery, marriage, and new life in her characters. Her use of imagery and the symbolic meaning of the storm strongly convey her personal feelings on each of these themes. The first major theme in the story is adultery, which is represented by two of the main characters in her story, Calixta and Alcee. The story depicts them as having an old flame from years before the storm that brought them together again. The storm drives Alcee to take shelter in Calixta’s house, which leads to adulterous actions by both of them. In the story they passionately make love while Calixta’s husband and son are lost in the storm. In part II of the story, Calixta is shown sitting at home completely unaware of the storm’s approach. This scene can be seen as symbolic of her also being oblivious to the adulterous events that are coming in her very near future. It can also be seen as Calixta having no prior intentions to commit adultery in the story. Chopin uses her mastery of imagery at the climax of the storm to lustfully describe Calixta’s features to the reader to intensify the moment and her adulterous deed. Chopin...
Words: 1035 - Pages: 5
... 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 actually wants in life. In Chopin’s text, she portrays this struggle vividly by using a caged...
Words: 2008 - Pages: 9
...Schiller Datum der Abgabe: 16.04.2011 Female Empowerment in Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” Anjana Dhir BA Englisch KF, Geschichte NF 3. Semester Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. The French – Creole society of Louisiana 4 2.1 Cultural background 4 2.2 French-Creole women 5 3. The Role of Women 6 4.1 Edna vs. Madame Ratignolle 7 3.1.1 “A Valuable Piece of Property” 7 3.1.2 Edna – The Unusual Woman 9 3.1.3 Adèle Ratignolle – The Archetype Woman 14 3.2 “Mother Woman” – The Patriarchal Ideology 16 4. Chopin’s Imagery 18 5. Conclusion - Edna’s Suicide 19 6. Bibliography 21 1. Introduction A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in the water, unless there was a hand nearby that might reach out and reassure her. But that night she was like a little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over confidence. […] 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 and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before. This scene in Kate Chopin’s novel describes the moment in which the lead character Edna Pontellier...
Words: 7915 - Pages: 32
...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
...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
...“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
...In the book The Awakening, the author Kate Chopin uses symbolism to show the significance of the world and how the world looks at women. What is symbolism? Symbolism means that the author uses a person, place, or thing to represent a bigger, more abstract idea. Quotes from Kate Chopin’s book show that the sea represents freedom and an open space, and that it acts as a barrier. It also shows that it is a place where Mrs.Pontellier loses herself and just lets everything and herself go. Kate Chopin uses the sea as a symbol to, “symbolize freedom, escape, independence” (Liz Breazeale). When the author says this about the main character Mrs. Edna Pontellier, “A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given...
Words: 842 - Pages: 4
...passage above is an example of a. Puritanism * * 8. Thomas Pain’s Common Sense had a direct influence on which of the following Revolutionary era works? * c. Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence * 9. The passage above is from * a. William Bradford’s The History of Plimouth Plantation 10. All of the following are writers of the Colonial era EXCEPT b. Margaret Fuller 11. The passage would best be described as an example of d. Sentimentalism 12. The first paragraph of the passage provides an example of which of the following figures of speech ? c. Apostrophe 13. Which of the following best describes a theme of Whitman’s poem “ Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking’’? e. The awakening of the poet to his vocation 14. Which of the following did NOT write a slave narrative? d. Charles Brockden Brown 15. The sentences are taken from the opening pages of e. Henry David Thoreau’s Walden 16. The phrase “the furniture of my mind was all undusted...
Words: 1633 - Pages: 7
...critical theory today critical theory today A Us e r - F r i e n d l y G u i d e S E C O N D E D I T I O N L O I S T Y S O N New York London Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2006 by Lois Tyson Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Printed in the United States of America on acid‑free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number‑10: 0‑415‑97410‑0 (Softcover) 0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑415‑97410‑3 (Softcover) 978‑0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Tyson, Lois, 1950‑ Critical theory today : a user‑friendly guide / Lois Tyson.‑‑ 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0‑415‑97409‑7 (hb) ‑‑ ISBN 0‑415‑97410‑0 (pb) 1. Criticism...
Words: 221284 - Pages: 886
...RESEARCH and WRITING CUSTOM EDITION Taken from: Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide, Eleventh Edition by James D. Lester and James D. Lester, Jr. To the Point: Reading and Writing Short Arguments by Gilbert H. Muller and Harvey S. Wiener ISBN 0-558-55519-5 Research and Writing, Custom Edition. Published by Pearson Custom Publishing. Copyright © 2006 by Pearson Custom Publishing. Taken from: Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide, Eleventh Edition by James D. Lester and James D. Lester, Jr. Copyright © 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc. Published by Pearson Longman, Inc. New York, New York 10036 To the Point: Reading and Writing Short Arguments by Gilbert H. Muller and Harvey S. Wiener Copyright © 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc. Published by Pearson Longman, Inc. Copyright © 2006 by Pearson Custom Publishing All rights reserved. Permission in writing must be obtained from the publisher before any part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 0-536-97722-4 2005240359 AP Please visit our web site at www.pearsoncustom.com ISBN 0-558-55519-5 PEARSON CUSTOM PUBLISHING ...
Words: 70562 - Pages: 283
