How Does Kate Chopin Use Symbols In The Awakening

The story, The Awakening, is about Edna Pontellier’s internal conflict between her desire for independence and her need to remain a high-class member of society. When away on summer vacation Edna has the realization that she has control of her own life and begins to focus on her self and not what others think. During her awakening, Edna is faced with much resilience from her husband and friends and instead of becoming someone she is not, Edna Pontellier ends her own life as she sees it is her only option. The author, Kate Chopin, uses many characters to exemplify the conflicting ideals emerging in Edna; particularly Madame Ratignolle acts as a foil to Edna’s newfound persona, instead symbolizing the conservation of a traditional

Ranging from caged parrots to the meadow in Kentucky, symbols and settings in The Awakening are prominent and provide a deeper meaning than the text does alone. Throughout The Awakening by Kate Chopin, symbols and setting recur representing Edna’s current progress in her awakening. The reader can interpret these and see a timeline of Edna’s changes and turmoil as she undergoes her changes and awakening.

"I lay thinking , 'I am safe. There is the corner of the bedroom door and the friendly furniture. There is the tree of life in the garden and the wall with the green moss. The barrier of the cliffs and the high mountains. And the barrier of the sea. I am safe. I am safe from strangers" (16).

Kate Chopin uses dynamic characters to help create Edna Pontillier. By using Mr. Pontillier, Edna’s children, and Madame Ratignolle to contrast Edna; and Robert, Madame Raisz, and Arobin as supporting characters to Edna’s untraditional ambitions Kate Chopin produces an independent, unconventional woman. While some characters contrast to Edna all of the characters in The Awakening help to illuminate Edna’s opposition to Creole tradition. Without the use of supporting and contrasting characters Edna would have never been able to fly above tradition.

In the story when Armand first laid his eyes on her, he fell in love. So he orders her very fine clothes and ladies’ accessories from Paris in hopes to win her affection and marring Desiree. These objects that Armand bought for Desiree are symbols that shows how very wealthy he is.

Chopin, by including Apollonian and Dionysian symbols throughout the novel, and by detailing the pull Edna feels between the two lifestyle, depicts Edna as having a choice in living an Apollonian or a Dionysian life, and, thereby, depicts that all women of her time have this choice as well. The overarching theme of The Awakening is that women in society must make one of two distinct choices—the choice to live according to society or the choice to live with individuality. Edna is constantly presented with two opposing choices and feels the conflict created from the pull of both within her; eventually, she makes her choice. Edna’s distinct choice leads to a distinct path. Therefore, not only is every woman presented with two distinct choices, but those two choices lead to two distinct paths of life. If a woman is brave enough to defy societal expectations, then she will be known as Mademoiselle Reisz is known, as “the most disagreeable and unpopular woman who ever lived in Bienville Street” (59). Chopin, additionally, makes the remark that woman who make the bold choice to live for themselves will ultimately experience “a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual”, as Edna does (94). Life is not guaranteed to be beautiful when one chooses

She tries to encourage Edna by offering, “The bird that would soar above the level of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth” (Chopin 138). She is trying to portray to Edna that her goals are possible but only with hard work. Although Edna finds support in Mademoiselle Reisz, that is not enough, and she still cannot escape the norm of

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is a classic novel that depicts the story of a woman’s struggle to understand who she really is and become who she really wants to be. Edna Pontellier experiences a battle with herself over whether she should conform to societal standards and be the person that everyone else wants her to be, or if she should listen to her heart and change her life to make herself happy, risking the happiness of everyone around her in the process. Birds are used as a strong form of symbolism throughout the story, depicting her change in character and the struggle that Edna goes through in the process of changing who she is. This contributes greatly to the work’s overall meaning that if you want to change your life, you have to be

Kate Chopin is viewed as a woman ahead of her time, who explored themes that were unconventional to her era such as freedom and individuality, sexuality, and the role of women in society. In the novel “The Awakening,” published in 1899, Chopin uses protagonist Edna Pontellier to confront the social conventions that women faced in the Victorian Era, and the strict rules by the Creole society that limited women to the primary role of wife and mother. Chopin uses symbolism to express these ideas, and emotions as Edna awakens to a world of new possibilities. In this analysis, we will examine two primary symbols of the story, being birds and houses that Kate Chopin masterfully uses to illustrate Edna’s confinement and her journey toward liberation and independence.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a truly enlightening novel about a young woman who begins to really live her life for herself, breaking out of the various barriers of society and family. Chopin uses symbolism as an excellent tool to slip her ideas to readers, causing them to think, giving readers a glimpse into the life of this young woman at a time when women were harnessed by many restraints. The birds that appear throughout the novel are the most intriguing symbols; they are used many different ways, to mean many different things, and to portray various emotions and situations.

Not only does the character foil between Edna and Madame Ratignolle exhibit the constraining relationship between a woman and nature, but the natural symbolism Chopin utilizes throughout the novel further develops this concept. In various instances, birds were strategically mentioned, and they symbolically represented Edna’s attempt to escape the restraints in her life. For example, in a moment of pity, Mademoiselle Reisz declared to Edna that a bird needs increasingly robust wings to fly above tradition and prejudice, and that it is a “sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to Earth (Chopin 112).” Simply, this bird intrinsically depicts Edna’s own aims to escape from her responsibilities as a mother and wife. At this point in the

“She could only realize that she herself – her present self – was in some way different from the other self” (Chopin 67). The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a compelling story of a woman who is awakened from the miserable duties of a housewife and mother to a woman who falls in love and finds herself. This story is not to judge a woman for having an affair with her husband, but it is to make the reader fall in love with this woman named Edna and go with her on her journey of finding herself. Edna is an extraordinary character in The Awakening, and it makes the reader see the basis of independence, and also giving the reader his or her own journey and reflection of their own life throughout the novel. The

The novel’s locations of Grand Isle and New Orleans in the novel have a significant impact on Edna’s mental awakening. Grand Isle represents freedom from traditional norms. Edna finds herself in a relationship with Robert, a younger man who leads her to discover her inner self. Robert and the free spirit in the air on the island sparks an awakening in Edna. The ocean plays a significant role in Edna’s self realization, symbolizing freedom and strength. Chopin uses the ocean to provide Edna with opportunities and essentially rebirth, as it calls her towards its seaside. In Chapter 6 the reader learns the ocean’s impact on Edna, “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander

Analytical Essay THE AWAKENING Throughout Kate Chopin’s, The Awakening, numerous scenes of birth and renewal are depicted. Various symbols placed throughout the book show Edna Pontellier’s awakenings. For instance, many references are made to oceans and water. It is in the water that Edna has her first rebirth, but it is also the place where she chooses to die. Water symbolizes life, which is the reason that Edna’s renewal takes place there, but it also symbolizes darkness and death. Birds, which are featured frequently in the story, symbolize Edna, and in many cases they foreshadow what’s to become of her, or they show her renewal of life. The imagery of birds throughout the book is used to symbolize freedom, which is

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a powerful story of a woman named Edna Pontellier who does not harmonize well with the Creole environment around her. The story explores Edna’s desire to stay true to herself; even if it means disregarding societal rules and causing friction between friends and family. Kate Chopin uses a variety of symbols to help the reader get a deeper understanding of the story. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of the term symbol is “an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality”. Symbol is derived from the Greek word meaning “to throw together”; it creates an equation between a specific object, scene, character or action and an idea. Throughout the