“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 Leonce comes back from his night of enjoyment and tries to wake Enda up to be his audience. Leonce gets annoyed when she does not give him her attention and here the voice of the story refers to Edna as him “sole object of his existence”. “He thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence, evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so little his conversation.” (Chopin 1)This is ironic because in a way, Leonce has a double standard of the roles of his wife Edna in the marriage. He does not always want to be there for her, but in return always expects her to be there for him. The main irony of the story is that Edna Pontellier finally finds herself, when she does this she comes to the conclusion that she cannot attain her desired true freedom in her present life situation. She knows the world is not ready to accept her for who she is so she concludes that death is her only escape to freedom.
“Symbolism the particular idea or quality that is expressed by a symbol” (Merriam-Webster). The story presents numerous examples of symbolism. Concrete examples and also ideas were mentioned to symbolize different things throughout the story. The sea, birds, cigars, and people represented something important in relation to Edna Pontellier’s life situations. The symbol of the sea in this story was empowerment. It was in the sea that Edna learned how to swim which meant that she was finally beginning to take control of her body. In “The Awakening”, Chopin says “The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace." This statement also proves that the sea also symbolizes a lover; something close and dear to her heart. The next example of symbolism in the story is the birds. There were two types of birds mentioned in the story; the mockingbird, and the limping bird. The caged mockingbird represents Edna’s caged life. She is trapped in a life that she does not want but is forced to accept because of society. The limping bird represents Edna herself. She finds herself and then realizes that she still will not be accepted by the society. Just as a limping bird with a broken wing. "A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water" (Chopin 50). Mademoiselle Reisz is an artistic free woman who Edna longed to be like. She told Edna that “the bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings." This meant that if Edna wanted to overcome the hold society had on her she had to be strong.