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Opposing Forces In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

1228 Words5 Pages

Megan Brochetti
Mrs. Schroeder
AP Literature and Composition
December 28, 2017
1991 Prompt
Kate Chopin, author of The Awakening, uses two contrasting places to represent opposing forces in her novel. The protagonist of the novel, Edna Pontellier, faces an internal struggle of attempting to balance her responsibilities as a woman in high society while pursuing her personal passions and desires. Throughout the novel, this conflict causes Edna to be pulled in two different directions, which are represented by the two major settings. The setting of Grand Isle, especially the sea itself, is used to symbolize Edna’s individuality and her growing sense of identity as an independent woman. On the other hand, the city of New Orleans embodies the …show more content…

After spending time with some of the residents, Edna realizes “a characteristic which distinguished them and which impressed Mrs. Pontellier most forcibly was their entire absence of prudery.” While on the island, Edna witnesses a freedom of expression she had never experienced before. The intimate relationships Enda develops on the island, for instance her friendships with Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, help her come to many personal realizations that spark change within her. The relaxed atmosphere of Grand Isle fosters Edna’s awakening and offers her lots of leisure time to reflect on her life. This directly contrasts with the hectic domestic life that Edna and Leonce have back at their home on Esplanade Street in New Orleans. This house and lifestyle perfectly fits society’s expectations for what married life should be like. Here, Edna is faced with her domestic responsibilities like her marriage and children. At Grand Isle, the sea provided Edna with a sense of freedom and escape. While swimming, Edna was able to contemplate her life and realize her true passions and desires. It becomes evident that she no longer cares about abiding by the rules of society, and longs …show more content…

While in the ocean, she experiences “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 soul.” Learning to swim teaches Edna to gain control over her own body and see herself as more than just a possession of her husband. One night, Edna becomes intoxicated with her newfound power and overestimates her skill by swimming too far out into the sea. The “vision of death” Edna experiences foreshadows the danger of her reckless decisions she makes that rebel against societal norms. The sea is also symbolic of Edna’s isolation from the rest of her community. While reflecting on her life, Edna reveals that “Even as a child, she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life- the outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” As a reaction to the oppression of gender roles that Edna grew up with, she developed an outward persona that conforms with societal expectations for women. While at Grand Isle, Edna begins the quest to find her true self, or “inner life” as she puts

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“Intoxicated with her newly conquered power, she swam out alone. She turned her face seaward to gather an impression of space and solitude,” (Page 31). This quote supports the theme of Edna’s personal freedom by showing Edna’s happiness and willingness to swim out on her own

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Albert D. Saba Mr. Amoroso AP Literature Period: 3AP Topic: 1 LAP The Awakening A novel by Kate Chopin Will the chains and the unspoken pain unshackle through one’s heroic individualism? In the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier becomes a heroic figure to herself as well as for women through the search of her self-identity.

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She is initially confined in an impassive marriage to her husband, Léonce Pontellier, and feels withdrawn from individuality due to her role as a mother. Her constraints are never explicit, yet a green and yellow parrot entrapped in its cage and telling its owner to leave the area, symbolize Edna’s constrictions in her current conditions. Madame Lebrun, the owner of the bird, never pays attention to her parrot, establishing how it is silenced and will never truly achieve what it wants. Similarly, Edna’s surrounding companions and family never acknowledge the discontent she feels and believe her cage of confinement is where she should remain. However, Edna breaks traditional expectations as she diverges from her role as a compliant wife and mother, only to fall into a larger facade of independence.

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When Edna is going to the beach with Madame Ratignolle, she starts getting lost in her thoughts about the time she “was running away from prayers” and how she was a “little unthinking child in those days” (20). The fact that Edna was thinking about her past, gives the story a sense of suspense because she is thinking about the time when she was free to do anything and she had no

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This daring, adventurous desire stemmed from her husband, Mr. Pontellier, and his overbearing, possessive nature. This rebirth occurs, and over time Edna feels like herself, able to make her own decisions. Feeling alone, the “space and solitude” of the ocean emphasizes how Edna is different from the others in her society and seems rebellious to her husband (55). The freedom that

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Bursting from emotions, but not allowed to show it, Mrs. Edna Pontellier learns to dislike the societal standards. The Awakening by Kate Chopin portrays the struggle of finding a trustworthy confidant for the women in 1899. Many women in Edna’s society live life by strict regulations. Not finding a friend to confine in wholly, Edna turns to the sea which calms racked nerves, listens, and protects the beautiful Mrs. Edna Pontellier. Slowing the raging pulse in behind Edna’s ears, the “never ceasing, whispering” (13) voice of the sea soothed and relaxed Edna after quarreling with one of her colleagues.

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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.

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Before the start of Edna’s awakening, she was different from other women at Grand Isle; she held a sense of a deep internal life, one that did not revolve around expected domestic

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Edna broke free from the mold of her society. She was trying to find her purpose and her worth in a world where she did not have many rights or individual stability. Edna Pontellier worked to disregard the influence and power of men and society as a whole to discover more about herself and what she really wanted out of life (Bommarito). She gave up the “unessential” such as her home, possessions, and reputation to do things for

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When she comes back from the island, this new outlook on life clashes with her husband’s old world values, and he endeavors to stop what he sees as utter madness. At one point, a family doctor recommends to Léonce that Edna spend time at her ancestral home, far away from the water, to return her behavior to what he knows as normal. Edna expresses a dislike of and actively avoids certain parts of society, but cannot fully separate herself from the motherly duties forced onto her by traditional gender roles, unlike her muse Mademoiselle Reisz. These duties, ultimately, prove to be the fetters that cause Edna to sink downward, and lead her to end her life in the same ocean where it truly

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Throughout The Awakening Kate Chopin contradicts the socially acceptable role that women are supposed to play in society. For the nineteenth century Chopin had very radical feminist views and her writing was considered very progressive at the time. While today we may not see it that way Chopin ventured into virtually unexplored literary modus operandi. Chopin addresses the underlying generalizations of women in religious, social, and cultural aspects through Edna the main character of the novella, as she uses her to break down traditional gender roles for women at this time while simultaneously propagating early feminist ideology. Edna was a rarity for the time.

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Edna’s realization is that she is not a typical woman. She has specific wants and needs for herself that will be impossible to be met if she continues with the lifestyle she is currently living. She knows she can not support Leonce or their children in the ways society feels she should, so she decides mutually with Leonce to move out of the family house and live on her own… away from the kids, and away from Leonce. It is a time that she will really get to try to figure herself out. While she is away she starts experimenting sexually, not only with other men, but even with other women.

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