Essay on The Awakening

Edna reassesses her spirit more and more as the novel proceeds, with her finally reaching the maxim when committing suicide. At the beginning of the novel she is completely

The Awakening by Kate Chopin, is a story of a woman who breaks free from the restraints put on her by society. During the first part of the story, Edna was a normal wife and mother; she was restricted to her stereotype and expected to stay at home, be loyal to her husband, and care for her children. As the story progresses and Edna redefines herself, we eventually are reading about a new character entirely. She ignores the internalized concept of being a mother and wife and becomes a new woman. She cheats on her husband, disregards her children, and defies her societal expectations. At the end of the story, Edna Pontellier commits suicide to free herself from her confusing and scandalous life.

Edna’s awakening was the beginning to her suicide. As Edna realized her capacity to be honest with herself, the old Edna began to die. Edna slowly started to realize she did not want to be like other women, whom “idolized their children, worshiped their

of religon. More people came to church for the worship of god from their heart.

Throughout The Awakening, a novel by Kate Chopin, the main character, Edna Pontellier showed signs of a growing depression. There are certain events that hasten this, events which eventually lead her to suicide.

The Awakening begins in the vacation spot of Grand Isle. At first we believe that Grand Isle is a utopia, wealthy families relaxing at oceanside, but it is here where Edna first begins to realize her unhappiness. The first sign of dissatisfaction is when Edna allows herself to feel that her marriage is unsatisfying, yet she must agree with the other women that Leonce Pontellier is the perfect husband. Edna asks herself that if she has a good husband

In the novel, The Awakening Edna Pontellier sacrifices herself because of many problems she faces through her life. Edna valued her happiness more than she did her family. Edna throws her life away of a sign of freedom. She drowns herself without thinking twice about her children because she wanted to have freedom and thought her kids were better off without her.

As Edna undergoes an evolutionary journey of transformation she examines the reality and fantasy of her life. This quote evidences her morbid conclusion that life is unfair and chaotic. Like a teenager, she is full of emotional highs and lows as she discovers that she has other choices she can make in her life and recklessly leaps into it; sacrificing motherhood and the sanctity of marriage with a failure that resonates the hopeless she feels life offers. Edna’s depiction was extremely indecisive and restless. She develops a resentment toward life as if it has rob her of some imaginary happiness.

The journey of Edna’s awakened self mirrors the narrative of her first swim in the ocean. The experience begins suddenly, and Edna is swept up in the joy of it. She continues, oblivious to her direction or position. She loses track of those around her, and is lost in the sensation. Suddenly, she realizes that she cannot sustain herself; she is out too far, and does not know what to do. This is the point Edna is at after Robert’s rejection. This feeling is what leads her to go back to the ocean at the end, and swim out until her physical condition mirrors her spiritual

Books, unlike movies, have been around since the beginning of time. For the most part, they are more meaningful than the movies that are made from these books. This is due to the fact that an author is able to convey his/her message clearer and include things in the book that cannot be exhibited in a movie. For this reason, the reader of the book is much more effected than the viewer of the film. In the novella, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, there is much more evidence of symbolism as well as deeper meaning than in the movie version of the book, Grand Isle. Chopin conveys her symbolic messages through the main character’s newly acquired ability to swim, through the birds, through sleep, and through images of the moon.

Throughout The Awakening, Kate Chopin conveys her ideas by using carefully crafted symbols that reflect her characters' thoughts and futures. One of the most important of these symbols, the bird, appears constantly, interwoven in the story to provide an insight to the condition of Edna's and her struggle. At each of the three stages of her struggle, birds foreshadow her actions and emphasize the actions' importance while the birds' physical state provides an accurate measure of that of Edna's.

She then pushes herself into believing that life is boring with a steady stream of disappointing setbacks that will never change, and believes there is nothing she can do to help bring anymore changes to her life. She also uncovers that no language can clear her awakening, which is misleading to herself by thinking that eventually she cannot explain her actions. They are foolish actions of which she wants to protect, but cannot necessarily support. Throughout The Awakening Edna grows increasingly depressed toward her life because of failure

While Edna’s circumstances and situation portray her as a character who is easily sympathized with, there are some some key plot and character points that result in The Awakening detaching itself from the feminist cause and becoming less credible.

In her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin shows Edna Pontellier¹s confrontations with society, her imprisonment in marriage and Edna¹s exploration of her own sexuality. Chopin also portrays Edna as a rebel, who after her experiences at Grand Isle wants to live a full and a free life and not to follow the rules of society. Edna¹s life ends in her suicide, but her death does not come as a surprise. Chopin foreshadows Edna¹s death by the use of nature and Edna¹s connection to it; also by the use of symbols, especially the symbolic meaning of a bird; and by the use of many different characters in the novel, such as Robert Lebrun, Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle.

As Edna experiences her awakening, she feels as if she is becoming a new person.