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Symbols In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

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In The Awakening, Kate Chopin includes an abundance of repeated symbols to emphasize the awakening of Edna throughout the novel. These symbols are used to represent Edna’s sorrow and grief of her circumstances and to allow the reader to understand that in the end, Edna’s situational outcome will become tragic. The first symbol that is introduced in the first lines of the book is, a bird or parrot. The parrot was hollering, “Go Away! Go Away! For God’s sake!” over and over again (Chopin 1). The parrot is in a cage hanging just outside the door. This is a representation of Edna’s feeling of her life as a housewife. Edna is the parrot and is trapped in the cage, which is the house. It is keeping her from becoming herself. Edna is not a woman …show more content…

While Edna is married (and living with Mr. Pontellier), they live in a mansion. The mansion, even though it is brobdingnagian, it feels as if it is a tiny cage. This is because Edna believes it is what she is confined to because of her husband. While Leonce and the children are away, Edna purchases a new house for herself. The pigeon house allows Edna to be both at home and an independent woman. Edna no longer subjects herself to being a proper lady for Leonce and the community, but rather, “There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale,” (144). She can behave as she likes, without regard to how others will view her actions. The pigeon house provided her with independence and isolation, allowing her with, “Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual,” progressing in her awakening (144). The reader can connect the fact that her house resembles one of pigeons signal well for Edna’s fate. This is another connection with the bird reference. It seems as if even though it feels for comfort, the house is actually destroying her. This is important for the reader to conclude as

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During the Holocaust, the yellow star badge was assigned to the Jews during Hitler’s reign. This badge is a good example of a symbol. To Hitler and the Nazis, the yellow star symbolized that whomever wore it was a Jew. To the Jews, whomever wore this badge were to be sent to the concentration camps. They either worked there, were cremated at the crematory, or both.

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After moving out of the home she shared with her husband, Edna downsizes and moves into a house she dubs, “the pigeon house” (87). Edna buys this house for herself and supports herself by selling her paintings as she relays to Mademoiselle Reisz that she “has sold a good many paintings through Laidpore” (76), her teacher. Edna’s decision to live on her own and financially support herself is contrary to the lifestyles of most women during this time. In consideration of the setting, most women were expected to live with their parents until they were married; once married, most women did not hold jobs outside of domestic housework and were financially supported by their husbands. Edna’s choice to financially support herself by selling her artwork gives her, “the felling of freedom and independence” (76) as Edna continues to define herself as an

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Millions of ashes obscure the bright stars in the night sky; ashes of death and vanished hope. The eerie night, as described in the novel Night by Ellie Wiesel, has many significant symbols. During the holocaust, darkness consumed individuals with fear of the unknown. Flames of infernos covered the sky in dark smoke and released a penetrating smell. In fact, death was one of the factors one feared during the night.

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The search for love is what inspires Janie’s epic journey through life. As a young girl Janie is already searching for her true love, but unfortunately her dreams are crushed by Nanny. Nanny tells Janie that she must marry now, despite not being in love. Her first marriage to an older man by the name of Logan Hillicks is where Janie first questions her role in society; Janie questions whether she belongs in the house or should be doing manual labor in the hot Florida sun. Janie soon grows unhappy in her first marriage and runs away with a man with big dreams, Jody Starks.

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In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, birds symbolize Edna Pontellier’s journey toward ultimate freedom. In the beginning, birds represent Edna feeling trapped and oppressed. For instance, the opening of the novel includes a parrot in a cage squawking at Leonce to ‘go away.’

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His life revolves around his work. To him, Edna is more of a possession than a human being. He expects Edna to take care of the children and everything around the house while he is off doing business. Although Leonce does not agree with Edna's parenting skills, he does not take it upon himself to do better for the children either. He

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In the context of the late 1800s, it was very unusual for a female of that time to be as courageous and rebellious as Edna Pontellier portrayed.  Edna Pontellier lived in a world where the free will of a woman was considered a fantasy. Thus, the dreamer Edna Pontellier began to uncover the possibilities of women after constant self-assessments initiating a spark to her awakening. A flying motif also conveys Edna Pontellier, as the feeling of being stripped of her freedom by society continues to broaden. " A GREEN AND YELLOW parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door," (Pg.1)

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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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“ 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

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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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(8) Three symbols - houses, birds, and the sea- assist the readers in understanding how Edna transformed from a docile female to a strong individual. Using the symbolism of houses, Chopin outlines the path Edna Pontellier took as well as how it affected her in a long run. Edna had experienced changes in four different houses. During Edna’s stay in these four houses, she explored different relationships between people and their beliefs. The novella starts off with Edna staying in one of the cottages at the Grand Isle.

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First, Edna is initially symbolized by the caged green-and-yellow parrot because like the bird she is confined. At the start of the book, the parrot shrieks and swears at Mr.Pontellier. Chopin writes, “A GREEN AND yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over: ‘Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en!

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Chopin’s focuses were to show through these objects and literary symbols, the social injustices that women were going through. “The Awakening” begins with a parrot in a cage, which is supposed to be a representation of women of that time period. Just like parrots, women were annoying and were only displayed for their beauty. Moreover, women were trapped in cages which caused them to not be free. Since women were not free they remained trapped and imposed to the roles that society had labeled and stereotyped them to be.

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And with Leonce and the children’s absence, Edna branches off even further buying her own house and sustaining herself with a small income from her paintings. This allows Edna to gain even more independence from her household, children, and spouse, to the point that she has gone against the female submission rule in societies conventions. On the other hand, Adele is obedient and submissive to her household, husband, and children, rarely leaving the premise of her house. Because of Adele being the “mother-woman”(p.8) and following societies conventions, she is granted very little freedom as she can’t leave her house because of the duties she is expected to complete on a day to day basis. Adele’s obedience and Edna’s defiance contraste each other, effectively highlighting the themes of female submission and female freedom within the

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Birds were always involved with any moment of significance, and they helped readers see what characters struggle with. The night of Edna’s awakening, an owl was depicted sitting in a tree. At a piano performance, where Edna awakens more, a parrot is mentioned in the text. All of these bird motifs pushed and stressed a specific theme. To distance oneself from expectation and societal norms one will sacrifice.

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