ipl-logo

Comparing Kate Chopin's The Storm And The Awakening

1811 Words8 Pages

Immoral. Sensual. Daring. These words reverberated into a woman’s world while society forcibly stamped their disapproval and rejected the Kate Chopin outright. Unconventional, intelligent, and gracious, she matched society with her quick Irish wit and charmed anyone who knew her. Not satisfied with the women’s role in society, she provocatively stirred emotions, thoughts, and ideas in her writings. Two such classic examples are “The Storm” and The Awakening. The idea for a women to have sexual desires, human connections, and forthright adultery shocked and revolted the society she lived. This unconventional, innovative poet did not deter away her own personal thoughts and feelings from her judgmental peers. She relied on and stayed …show more content…

Chopin used the nature and the natural surroundings to set the tone in the story. "The playing of the lightning was incessant. A bolt struck a tall chinaberry tree at the edge of the field. It filled all visible space with a blinding glare and the crash seemed to invade the very boards they stood upon." Calixta acted upon her sexual passions, and her ending turned into a happy, satisfactory one. She did not let her passion condemn her. She celebrated and embraced it to its full capacity. She did not abandon her own family. She accepted her responsibilities and duties with a renewed sense of commitment. This explosive, sexual affair is for her personal fulfillment. In addition, she still remains happy when returning to her submerged life. "So the storm passed and everyone was happy." Edna in The Awakening has her freedom for flirtatious behavior, love of art, and swimming. She feeds her selfish, obsessed need for drama in her life. She ignores the raging battle within her for a greater cause that is larger than herself. She opts not to submit herself to being a wife and mother. This ending leaves her in loneliness and depravation. Her solitude eventually led her to he own suicide. Both stories have an affair with a result in two extremes. Does either consequential end justify the means for adultery? Following one’s own passions will also have some type of effect on the individual and others around the individual. It is not always greener on the other side. A choice will not allow an individual to stay in the middle to satisfy both sides. This decision does choose a side even if the individual herself is not ready to make such a choice. Edna saw the only way out of her mundane life was to dramatically end it. She acted on own whims selfishly as well as ending her life selfishly with no thoughts or concerns of the affect it would have on her own family. While Calixta enjoyed her adulterous

Show More
Related

Edna Pontellier's Death In The Awakening

687 Words | 3 Pages

The Death of Edna Pontellier The struggles of Edna Pontellier throughout her everyday life in a society that she feels she doesn’t belong in, is developed through the writing of Kate Chopin. As her character develops, Edna’s final decision of suicide illustrates her defeat in the face of society. In, The Awakening, Kate Chopin employs poetic diction and anaphora to emphasize and illuminate Edna’s awakening and how her death positively affected her character development.

Read More

Edna Pontellier's Character In 'The Awakening'

1283 Words | 6 Pages

After swimming successfully, she develops feelings for Robert. After this awakening, Edna starts to step back and rethink her entire life; her marriage, her role, and even herself. She realizes she feels sort of imprisoned in this life she has had for so long. Edna finally starts doing things for her, she is letting herself feel an attraction for another man even though she is married and she also gets into art and has everyone in the house model for her. Rather than doing things to get the house ready for her husband or spending time playing with her children, she is distracted by all her newly found

Read More

What Is Edna's Allegory Of The Cave

1171 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More

Ocean Symbolism In The Awakening

925 Words | 4 Pages

As Edna becomes more comfortable in the water, she also becomes more in touch with her own emotions. One particular night, Edna is able to swim farther into the ocean than she ever had before - the same night when she realizes her own distaste with her marriage and her role in society. Chopin writes that while Edna was in the water, “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 (Chopin 27)”. This

Read More

Gender Roles In The Awakening

2005 Words | 9 Pages

She felt as if she was failing as a wife and mother, which to be fair, she was. She should've been there for her children and her husband who took care of her. After Edna went through all of these thoughts and emotions she decided to make a life changing decision which affected many people that loved her as a person and also loved her. She felt as if she failed to meet the requirements of a traditional woman and she took a swim in the ocean and drowned herself to death. That was the end of Enda Pontellier’s story.

Read More

The Role Of Individuality In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

425 Words | 2 Pages

The Awakening is a novel written by Kate Chopin that follows a woman named Edna Pontellier on her journey to self-awareness. Edna lived a comfortable lifestyle with her husband and two children in Louisiana during the 19th century. Despite obtaining all aspects to a perfect life, Edna became dissatisfied after meeting Robert Lebrun in Grand Isle. Robert sparked a desire for unlawful lust as well as a yearning for independence in a society full of conformed standards. Edna was unable to handle the pressures associated with achieving personal freedom which ultimately led to her death.

Read More

Allusions In The Awakening

566 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Oppression In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

1315 Words | 6 Pages

Edna Pontellier was only seen as a “valuable piece of property which [had] suffered some damaged” to her husband Mr. Pontellier (BOOK). One can also see that “The Awakening” also focused on the sexual desires of women, identity, and self-discovery Edna, a character in “The Awakening” experienced her awakening by discovering her identity in her own self. “The Awakening” attempts to tell the story a woman who wants to find herself while lusting. Later, at the end of the story, one discovers that since Edna Pontellier could not fully find her peace, and freedom she ultimately decides to commit suicide. Through this “The Awakening” shows that although women were oppressed, they also had empowerment.

Read More

Literary Techniques Used In Kate Chopin's 'The Storm'

955 Words | 4 Pages

Kate Chopin used the storm as a form of symbolism. “A bolt struck a tall chinaberry tree at the edge of the field.” In this sentence, Kate Chopin wrote this to describe the intense relationship that was going on in the story, leading to an affair that had been ignited between Alcee and Calixta. Kate Chopin then adds on, “They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar” and “The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.” Kate Chopin describes how the storm got progressively stronger and so did the intimate encounter between Alcee and Calixta.

Read More

Sexuality And Feminism In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

834 Words | 4 Pages

In the 19th century, a group of people launched the suffrage movement, and they cared about women’s political rights, their property and their body liberty. Born in that age, Kate Chopin was aware of the importance of setting an example for those who were taken in by the reality and poor women to be an inspiration. So we call her a forerunner of the feminist author for every effort she put in advocating women’s sexuality, their self-identity and women’s own strength. When people were ashamed of talking about sexuality, Kate Chopin stood out and call for women’s sexual autonomy.

Read More

Gender Roles In The Storm By Kate Chopin

85 Words | 1 Pages

Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” centers around a woman called Calixta; who has a sexual encounter with a former lover in midst of a storm. The storm centers on lost love and being in unwanted marriages. The raging storm outside the house unfolds simultaneously with the emotional and sexual passion between Calixta and Alcée. Throughout the story, Chopin inverts gender roles, specifically in terms of sexuality. Chopin presents that women should experience desire and act on it, just as men have been allowed to do

Read More

Internal Conflict In The Awakening

834 Words | 4 Pages

She feels revived and that is seen through the act of swimming and the water. The island she and her family live on is surrounded by water, at first Edna is afraid to go out and swim. Many of the other people on the island, including her friends tried to teach her how to swim. She tried, but stayed timid and unwilling. Once she gets the hang of going out and swimming, she feels as if the water is calling to her, she feels like “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 18).

Read More

Feminist Analysis Of Kate Chopin's The Storm

513 Words | 3 Pages

The mere presence of sexual desire in Calixta is a feminist statement itself, as sex was considered out of a woman’s metaknowledge, which is shown as the storm passes by. The thunderstorm is used to illustrate the time span of the sexual encounter between Calixta and Alcee. For example, Calixta’s hesitant behavior ends as the first lightning strikes, her sexual desire grows as the storms roars while progressing and the two depart as the storm ends. Chopin paints sensual images in our minds as she describes the experience along with Calixta’s honesty of enjoying it, making a feminist statement again. Chopin boldly reveals the truths about sexual relationships, targeting those not in a sacred marriage and empowers women to appreciate their bodies and

Read More

Desiree's Baby By Kate Chopin Essay

1294 Words | 6 Pages

In this story, Chopin uses irony, symbolism, and the element of surprise to demonstrate the bias and hypocrisy of society. She uses the character Armand to show these qualities as the story unfolds. She also delves into the difference between real love and conditional love as she describes Armand's and the Valmonde’s

Read More

Themes In Kate Chopin's The Storm

1043 Words | 5 Pages

One element being demonstrated in the story is the theme. The theme is important for setting an ambience within the story. An analysis on Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” demonstrates the theme of freedom, happiness, and adultery. The first theme Chopin demonstrates is the freedom of women in the nineteenth century. Many women

Read More

More about Comparing Kate Chopin's The Storm And The Awakening

Open Document