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Symbolism In The Awakening

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The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Title
The Awakening is related to Edna’s internal awakening that she has over the period of the book
The Awakening was originally titled The Solitary Soul
Setting New Orleans and The Grand Isle
Genre Spiritual / artistic realization, romantic style
Historical Information
Kate Chopin 1850-1904
Father was Irish, Mother was French-American
Bilingual- spoke both French and English
Grew up in St.Louis Missouri
Developed a passion for music at a young age
Met and married Oscar Chopin
Themes
Identity: Edna suffers a sort of identity crisis throughout the novel. She no longer wants to be the perfect “mother woman” and decides to try and find her independence
Repression and woman / femininity: I feel like these two are …show more content…

Pontellier, "she hasn't been associating with any one. She has abandoned her Tuesdays at home, has thrown over all her acquaintances, and goes tramping about by herself, moping in the street-cars, getting in after dark. I tell you she's peculiar. I don't like it; I feel a little worried over it."
“In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman.“

Symbols
Brids
The parrot in the beginning and the mockingbird are symbolic of communication (between Edna and Reisz) and the birds ability to understand each other
Edna moves out of her house with Leonce into the pigeon house as a way to gain more freedom
Reisz tells Edna if she wants to fly she will need strong wings, or else she will plummet to the ground
The Sea
The ocean is a symbol for freedom and escape
Edna learns to swim for the first time which is one of the first steps toward her desire for independence then she also decides to end her life in the ocean, a place / thing that is completely free
Music
The piano playing of Reisz and Adele symbolize both of these women's roles in the novel. Reisz plays gorgeously and flowingly with strong emotion, that hits Edna, representing her freedom while Adele plays very technically correct, representing her role as the perfect “mother

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The author uses a comparison and contrast between Madame Ratignolle and Edna Pontellier to show how these two ladies are different from one another. Chopin emphasizes how feminine Madame Ratignolle is to demonstrate how Edna seems to be an outcast from the Creole society. Chopin chooses to incorporate the appearance of the two ladies to support the fact that Edna feels like she does not fit in, especially when Leonce refers to Madame Ratignolle in some parts of the novel. How Conventionality is Being Challenged “She was blindly following whatever impulse moved her, as if she had placed herself in alien hands for direction, and freed her soul of responsibility.”

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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.

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