Art In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

“She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world” (Chopin, p. 57). A novel written by Kate Chopin, The Awakening shares the story of Edna Pontellier’s journey of self-discovery. Readers of the day were shocked by the content of the novel. Published in 1899, Kate Chopin’s controversial novel portrays a woman liberating herself from society’s expectations for a lady. Edna changes from a bored, obedient wife in the beginning of The Awakening to a liberated woman who can freely express her feelings.

Chopin is widely known for the support of female independence and self-fulfillment, and in her most influential and famous work, The Awakening, she depicts Edna’s desire to explore and find her true self, which was often condemned in Chopin's time period as it was against societal standards. In Chopin’s writing, she incorporates plentiful amounts of figurative languages to portray Edna’s rebellion which include symbolism, foreshadowing, and juxtaposition. Out of the many methods Chopin used to depict Edna’s rebellion, the sea was a very prominent allegory to represent her freedom, rebirth, and her escape from expectations in society. The sea helps Edna achieve her desires and pushes her to see the potential to fill her life with excitement

Adele has her sewing and Madame Reisz has her piano playing. One day, Edna agrees to go swimming with Robert. This experience awakens something inside her. She realizes swimming in the sea is some kind of escape for her. She can forget about all her responsibilities as a wife and a mother for a little while and just focus on herself.

Keir Nason AP English Literature and Composition Mrs. Schroeder January 3, 2018 Politics and literature are far from strange bedfellows. Social commentary and allegory have been tools in the literary toolbox since Ancient Greece, with Plato’s Allegory of The Cave being one of the earliest forms of the device. Science fiction is an entire genre that, at least to a degree, is based upon the premise of looking at the problems of today through the eyes of tomorrow. Oftentime, authors seek to tackle the issues of their time within their writing, and Kate Chopin was no different when she published her final work The Awakening in 1899. At the time of The Awakening’s release, many works strived to address the rights of women, with the Suffragette

Edna developed a yearning for the pursuit of passion and sensuality, two major qualities that were absent in her marriage and home. She became enchanted with the idea of passionate love. This is shown by her relationship with Robert and with Alcée. These relationships resulted in a sexual awakening in Edna’s life. Mademoiselle Reisz 's piano performances brought an emotional awakening in Edna and fed her need for some drama in her life.

This novel, The Awakening, is about a woman named Edna Pontellier learns to think of herself as an independent human being. Also, Edna Pontellier refuses to obey against the social norms by leaving her husband Leónce Pontellier and having an affair with Robert Lebrun. Kate Chopin describes societal expectations and the battle of fitting the mold of motherhood in the Awakening by how Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle contribute to their family in different ways. Edna Pontellier’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is not a perfect mother-women. Adele Ratignolle’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is a perfect mother-women.

It is common for people in everyday society to conform to society’s expectations while also questioning their true desires. In the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess, "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In other words, Edna outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Kate Chopin, uses this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning to build the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period. Edna outwardly conforms to society’s expectations by marriage.

In the 1800’s, the societal niche of married women was clearly defined: they were meant to devote every aspect of their lives to their husbands and children. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, struggles to adhere to these standards, and eventually rebels against them. The harsh standards placed on Edna and other women in the novel are like the cages around the metaphorical birds Chopin uses to represent them. Edna's unhappiness in her societal role is realized in the ocean, which symbolizes this awakening and her attempt to escape the gender roles of the nineteenth century.

“If you love something you must set it free, and if it returns then it was meant to be”. This quote is fewer or more words demonstrates the beauty in releasing something for the greater good, which is exactly what took place in the story “The Awakening”. In the story “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin the author uses symbols and motifs through her main character, Edna, to illuminate her feelings and define her actions. In “The Awakening” the author uses her main character Edna to illuminate independence and coming to her personal realization or “an awakening”, through the use of motifs.

She was “no longer [...] content to “feed upon opinion” when her own soul had invited her” (Chopin 103), summoning her to experience the rich and complex world that inhabited her being. However, as Edna’s ability for self-expression grows, the amount of people who can truly empathize with her gets increasingly smaller. The fact that solitude becomes a direct result of Edna’s independence is clear evidence of her awakening. Since the societal expectations of the late 1800s gave Victorian women very limited opportunities for individual expression, they preventing them from tending to their own wants and needs. For this reason, as Edna acknowledges her desire for freedom and verbalizes her emotions, she is met with disappointing resistance from the world surrounding her.

The Awakening written by Kate Chopin, is a novella about a woman named Edna, who desires to be an independent woman and break free from the typical 1800’s mold of society. Allusions are used to show how the characters behave and are affected by their surroundings and emotions. Throughout the story, Chopin uses them to connect the characters to the plot and make each scenario recognizable to the reader. “The foamy wavelets curled up to her white feet, and coiled like serpents about her ankles. She walked out.

In Kate Chopin’ s novel, The Awakening, there are three identities inside of the female leading role, Edna Pontellier, being a wife, mother and own self. Edna was born in 19th century at the Vitoria period, a patriarchy society, women have low freedom to achieve personal goal. She married with Léonce Pontellier, a wealthy man with Creole descent. After having a child, her life is still unchangeable and as bored as before. Until she encountered Robert Leburn, Mademoiselle Reisz, and Alcée Arobin, her value of self-cognition has changed.

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was written at the end of the nineteenth century, where many roles for women began to change; therefore, the it appears to have been a turning point for females (“The Role of the Wife and Mother”). These changes in female roles were mostly due to the actions of women themselves, motivated by their desires to break away from the limits imposed on their gender The nineteenth century was a critical point in time for women, in regards to their roles in society (“The Role of the Wife and Mother”). In The Awakening, Edna goes through noteworthy changes in the course of the novel, which reconstructs her into a woman who goes against societal ideals regarding motherhood and marriage . In the 1890s, motherhood was viewed

The Awakening; a Woman's Fight Women’s rights have drastically improved since the 1800’s. The model of patriarchy was widely accepted as a social norm in America and many other countries until the early to mid 1900’s. Today women are still fighting the belittlement that the patriarchal model deemed acceptable. The character of the rebellious strong women is still one today that many women look up to; especially women in very oppressive middle east countries. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Chopin strives to argue social emancipation for women

There are few stories of Chopins which do not foreground language. Language makes the main body of a text. When used correctly it can be manipulated to present certain themes. Throughout the novel, ‘The Awakening’ by Kate Chopin, the language used in the text conveys the struggles of the main character to find her own identity. The way Chopin uses dialogue, a secret language and the narrator’s descriptions relate to the theme of identity, and often places it subtly at the centre of the reader’s consciousness.