The Awakening Essay

The major changes in American religion that occurred in the early nineteenth century were the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a Christian Revival movement during the early nineteenth century. The movement began around 1800, it had begun to gain momentum from the 1820. With the Second Great Awakening; new religions were established, there were different academic curriculums, a change from the trinity to just one deity and they would touch on American culture and reform.

To start, many comparisons can be drawn between Edna and an imprisoned bird. The first lines of the novel describe “[a] green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door” (Chopin 5). Starting at the bird’s physical description, the brightly colored feathers of this creature strongly represent the power and

This is represented by Madame Lebrun's parrot and mocking-bird. Mr. Pontellier is annoyed by the birds' incessant chatter. However, "they had the right to make all the noise they wished" (43). Edna is caged, and she is doing what ever she can to be free within her limits. Mr. Pontellier is upset by his wife's struggles for freedom. She allows herself to fall in love with Robert, and purchases her own house, despite the wishes of her husband. Just as the birds have no concern that their singing may bother those outside their cage, so Edna does not care that her actions may negatively affect others. Just before Edna kills herself, she sees a "bird with a broken wing...beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water" (175). Edna is this bird; disabled and heading to her death in the water. Her freedom is not total, and causes her death.

A cannot be correct, because the Great Awakening did affect all 13 colonies. In the colonies, the Great Awakening created a sense that the old religious hierarchy was not as powerful as they once thought. In our book “America: A Narrative History” it says that “Every social class, ethnic group, and religion…” were effected during the Great Awakening.

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

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is full of symbolism and metaphors. Most of the metaphors in The Awakening are about the change in Edna Pontellier and about the way she feels in society. In The Awakening, symbolism is often used to describe the current state of mind of Edna, some of these symbols include art, houses, music, the sea, and birds. Throughout the story, the way Edna feels in society is often shown in the form of a bird. At the beginning of the story she is like a bird in a cage, but at the end she is shown to now be a free pigeon.

Several passages in The Awakening struck me because of their similar imagery—a bird, wings, and nudity. The first passage I looked at is in Chapter 9 where Edna Pontellier has a vision of a naked man “standing beside a desolate rock” (47) on a beach who is watching a bird fly away. This image was evoked by a one particular piece that Mme Ratignolle plays which Edna significantly calls “Solitude. ” Apparently Edna frequently envisions certain images while listening to music: “Musical strains, well rendered, had a way of evoking pictures in her mind” (47). Listening to this piece Edna envisions a solitary, naked man with an “attitude […] of hopeless resignation” (47). This scene presents solitude

Sacrifices can define one’s character; the definition can either be the highest dignity or the lowest degradation of the value of one’s life. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin implicitly conveys the sacrifice Edna Pontellier makes in the life which provides insight of her character and attributions to her “awakening.” She sacrificed her past of a lively and youthful life and compressed it to a domestic and reserved lifestyle of housewife picturesque. However, she meets multiple acquaintances who help her express her dreams and true identity. Mrs. Pontellier’s sacrifice established her awakening to be defiant and drift away from the societal role of an obedient mother, as well as, highlighting the difference between society’s expectations of

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 by Kate Chopin introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier, a woman with an independent nature searching for her true identity in a patriarchal society that expects women to be nothing more than devoted wives and nurturing mothers.

Malala Youfaszai represents the epitome of the fight for women’s rights as she took a stand against extreme violence in order for women to receive an equal amount of education as men did. She opened the pathway for herself and other women to have equal rights with men in a society where education for women was unacceptable. Just like Malala fights for the rights of women, Edna Pontellier exemplifies the definition of a true feminist in an unaccepting society. Throughout the novella, “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, the protagonist Edna Pontellier, exhibits the aspects of a feminist during the Victorian Era by disobeying the responsibilities of a wife and mother, making her actions socially unacceptable. Similar to many feminists, Edna Pontellier chooses individuality over conformity by

Chopin mentions birds several times in The Awakening to signify women during the late 1800’s. Chopin states “The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings (138).” Chopin does this to assert how women’s need to have the strength to overcome what is ideal upon the society in order to develop one’s own identity. This employs how the cage for the birds also serves for the purpose of the entrapment that the women are in. The symbolization of birds also acts as reminder to the readers of how women are still entrapped by the society though one was able to achieve their own independence, similarly to Edna Pontellier’s situation. Furthermore, Chopin implements the usage of birds to further add how women similarly are entrapped by the society when growing self-awareness.

In the beginning of Chopin's novel the setting starts in Grand Isle, Louisiana and gradually changes to New Orleans, Louisiana. During the time Chopin wrote the novel women were suppose to be motherly and submissive to their husbands. Edna did not posses either of those characteristics and was not considered a "mother-woman"(Chopin 9) and she longed for a life that she would struggle to have. Edna went through many stages to reach the freedom she wanted. Chopin used symbols such as the "Caged Bird" in the beginning of the novel to represent Edna. "A Green and Yellow Parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door,… He could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood," the caged bird symbolizes Edna's encouragement and how she longed

The Awakening was a very exciting and motivating story. It contains some of the key motivational themes that launched the women’s movement. It was incredible to see how women were not only oppressed, but how they had become so accustomed to it, that they were nearly oblivious to the oppression. The one woman, Edna Pontellier, who dared to have her own feelings was looked upon as being mentally ill. The pressure was so great, that in the end, the only way that she felt she could be truly free was to take her own life.  In this paper I am going to concentrate on the characters central in Edna’s life and her relationships with them.

    The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, is full of ideas and understanding about human nature. In Chopin's time, writing a story with such great attention to sensual details in both men and women caused skepticism among readers and critics. However, many critics have different views with deeper thought given to The Awakening. Symbolism, the interpretation of Edna's suicide, and awakenings play important roles in the analysis of all critics.