As Edna is walking into the sea, Kate Chopin expands on the setting and states, “The water was chill, but she walked on. The water was deep, but she lifted her white body and reached out with a long sweeping stroke” (176). The emphasis is placed on the water, explaining how it affected Edna. Kate Chopin utilizes anaphora to accentuate the choices Edna makes and how it defines the meaning of becoming aware and conscious of one’s self wellbeing over others. Furthermore, Kate Chopin continues with, “She went on and on.
Her family was not like the other families on the street. They would stay up all night laughing and talking. Clarisse’s uncle would tell her of how things used to be. They meet for a second time on a rainy night. She says she loves walking in the rain and tasting it.
When undergoing socially oppressive conditions, many individuals are hesitant to invoke changes in their lifestyle. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening exemplifies how an individual rejects societal restrictions through Edna Pontellier, a nineteenth century woman who is in a passionless marriage with her Creole husband. Being a part of an upper-middle class family, she vacations in Grand Isle, but primarily lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. Edna initially submits to the Creole expectations that limit her freedom, but realizes her current status in life is not enough for her and begins to implement changes in her lifestyle. She pursues independence in various ways and defies the typical housewife role she has been playing for her entire life.
Throughout this book there are many moments that can be related to other works. In this situation the perfect comparison is Kate Chopin’s “The Story Of An Hour”. The protagonist shares a similar moment where her spouse dies from a tragic event and she has a realization: There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.
These long-suffering and self-sacrificial comparisons have demeaning connotations, ultimately projecting subservience and tractability onto women. One of the avian images concerns the mother-woman archetype, referenced on page 12. Chopin writes Edna's bitter soliloquy with descriptions of "[mother-women] fluttering around with extended, protecting wings [to guard] their precious brood" (12). The birdlike description of the ideal mother reinforces the feminine stereotype that Chopin presents through birds. Because Edna perceives mother-womanhood as a lonely, all-encompassing task, her train of thought is indubitably bitter.
Ward’s intention for creating such a book to not only explain the significance of the Laveau’s in New Orleans Voodoo History but to also educate the mainstream American audience about the alternative narrative regarding this religion. Because of the author’s personal admiration for the city of New Orleans, by way of the Laveau’s biographies, she is able to convey the rich culture that has been built on and around creole culture. In the introduction specifically, Ward explains she has been confronted with questions by her peers that discuss voodoo in a negative light, such as: “Isn’t Voodoo dangerous? What happens to you if you tell its secrets?” Ward accomplished her goal demystifying the religion by explaining the significance behind its rituals and traditions that have often been misinterpreted by popular culture and used to demonize voodoo as a whole.
Edna experiences the hardships of striving to break as a “ [feeling] like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing into her soul … the exuberance which had sustained and exalted her spirit left her helpless and yielding to the conditions which crowded her in … clutching feebly at the post before passing into the house.” (79). Through the imagery of a weight on her mind and feeble body, Chopin conveys her inability to find the strength to break the chains of the archetypal female identity. Extremely fleeting, her momentary empowerment clearly validates her circular growth rather than a building of personal development.
The freeing sense of a bird’s flight and the vast expanse of the ocean’s opportunity are both liberating concepts for someone who feels trapped. Edna Pontellier in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening over time starts to feel trapped in her marriage and the social standards that come along with being a mother during the late 1800s. She starts to gain more freedom and independence as she searches for love with other men, particularly Robert Lebrun. Along with this journey for love and freedom, symbols of flight and water are presented to represent her evolution as a woman.
Individuals all around the world today face obstacles that challenge their strength and integrity. Someone’s ability to persevere through obstacles ultimately builds their moral character. Moreover, an individual’s capability to turn themselves into the person they have always desired to be can be life-changing. Human beings can discover who they genuinely are in a variety of ways. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the main character Edna Pontellier awakens in life with bravery and a sense of exploration, which, in due course, alters her perspective on life and grants her independence.
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.
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
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” demonstrates the personal growth of the dynamic protagonist Louise Mallard, after hearing news of her husband’s death. The third-person narrator telling the story uses deep insight into Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions as she sorts through her feelings after her sister informs her of her husband’s death. During a Character analysis of Louise Mallard, a reader will understand that the delicate Mrs. Mallard transforms her grief into excitement over her newly discovered freedom that leads to her death. As Mrs. Mallard sorts through her grief she realizes the importance of this freedom and the strength that she will be able to do it alone.
Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”
The story also argues that freedom is a very powerful force that affects the mental or emotional state of a person. Chopin argues that only through death can one be finally freed. The author makes strong, yet subtle statements towards humanity and women’s rights. Through subtle symbolism, Kate Chopin demonstrates how marriage is more like a confining role of servitude rather than a
The first theme that Kate Chopin provides an image of is patience. One way Chopin show’s patience in her writing is through her usage of comparing Maman-Nainaine to Babette. When she says, “Maman-Nainaine was as patient as the statue of La Madone, and Babette as restless as a hummingbird,” Kate Chopin is providing a visual image of what patience looks like, and how Babette’s character is at an impatient point in her maturity (26). Also, this image contrasts the impatience of youth with the desireable patience that comes with time. Another way Chopin represents Babette’s patience in the story is through time perception.
