The Great Awakening By Mary Osborn Analysis

In The Awakening, Kate Chopin creates a protagonist that clearly demonstrates a feminist. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier seeks more from life than what she is living and starts to refuse the standards of the society she lives in. Edna has many moments of awakening resulting in creating a new person for herself. She starts to see the life of freedom and individuality she wants to live. The Awakening encourages feminism as a way for women to obtain freedom and choose individuality over conformity. Chopin creates a feminist story that shows a transformation from an obedient “mother-woman” to a woman who is willing to sacrifice her old life to become independent and make an identity for herself.

A product of the religious revival in Western Europe from late 17th century to early 18th century, the First Great Awakening was a period of religious growth throughout the British American colonies from approximately 1720 to the 1740s. This awakening was led by many religious figures such as John Wesley - a founder of Methodism in the Church of England, George Whitefield - an Anglican who preached throughout the colonies from 1739 to 1740, and Jonathan Edwards - an Apologist of the Great Awakening who led the revival in Northampton, Massachusetts. Although this period of religious high is referred to as “The First Great Awakening,” historians still debate whether or not this grandiose title is deserved.

Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield had an indirect impact on the American Revolution due the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening was a revival of a person’s personal spirituality sparked by Whitefield and Edwards; which de-emphasized the church. The revolution preached similar messages regarding criticism and tensions of authority. Without these two men, the American Revolution would not have happened as early as it did, if it all.

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is the story of a woman who is seeking freedom. Edna Pontellier feels confined in her role as mother and wife and finds freedom in her romantic interest, Robert Lebrun. Although she views Robert as her liberator, he is the ultimate cause of her demise. Edna sees Robert as an image of freedom, which brings her to rebel against her role in society. This pursuit of freedom, however, causes her death. Chopin uses many images to clarify the relationship between Robert and Edna and to show that Robert is the cause of both her freedom and her destruction.

The great awakening was a devoted religious revival movement in the 1720s through the 1740s that was spread throughout the colonies by ministers. It inspired ordinary citizen to assert their right to independent judgment by allowing them to make their own decisions about their religion and personal lives. The great awakening sparked people to stand up for what they believed in; their religion. It inspired ordinary citizens to stand up against the authority so that they could basically have freedom of religion.

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.

During the Second great Awakening, new ethics and morals in the U.S were formed which molded the changes in our government and beliefs in the Antebellum Period. The Second Great Awakening created Protestant based religions that were the main influences that shaped the Antebellum Period. Slavery reforms, sobriety, women's rights, and Temperance in the Antebellum Period, between the War of 1812 in the Civil War, all descended from the Second Great Awakening.

By the beginning of the 18th century, there was an unmistakable feeling in the American Colonies that its intemperate society had become too comfortable and assertive, and had forgotten its original intentions of religious prosperity. The result was a revitalization of religious piety that swept through the American colonies between the 1730s and the 1770s, a movement known as "The Great Awakening". This revival was part of an evangelical upsurge occurring simultaneously in England, Scotland, Germany, and other inhabitants on the other side of the Atlantic. In all these Protestant cultures, a new Age of Faith had arisen contrasting the currents of the Age of Enlightenment, advocating the belief that being truly religious meant relying on

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

In this passage from Chapter 3 of The Awakening, the author’s message is to explore the relationship of a married couple in order to identify the circumstances of each character, and the discrimination of women as a whole. Upon doing this, the author establishes their attitude of one of the characters, Mr. Pontellier, through the use of multiple rhetoric appeals. Chiefly, the author dispenses ethical appeal when evaluating the character of Mr. Pontellier. Paragraph one introduces Mr. Pontellier as he enters his home, evidently seen to be full of vitality, and hardly caring of his actions (2-6).

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

Social expectations have affected people throughout the years, however, they have changed as time has progressed. Today, women specifically may be labeled by their body size or the way they speak, being cast out of society and even being subjected to physical and/or emotional abuse. In the nineteenth century, women faced harsh discrimination by white men that objectified them and forced them to submit to their husbands and tend to their every need. Today, more women would not subject themselves to this sort of traditionalism, however, many found themselves fulfilling the role without protest and enjoying the simplicity of such a life back in the 1800s. Edna Pontellier refused to be one of these obedient women, deciding to instead follow a path of discovery that allowed her to find herself by being independent of her husband and of society. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier expresses a woman who refuses to bow down to societal expectations, rather freeing herself from those chains and becoming the embodiment of her true identity. Chopin is able to illustrate this theme through an exquisite use of symbolism, sensory imagery, and juxtaposition.

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.

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.

In the novel The Awakening, we see the issue of woman trying to survive in a judgmental society. Most woman are expected to live up to certain expectations that are very unfair and unjust. Not only do woman have to live with the idea that they must be wives, mothers, and care for those around them, they also are expected to live what one can say, a perfect life. Most are placed with the expectations that a woman cannot make a mistake and has to be the best out of all. In the novel, we see that image and expectations in the character Edna Pontellier. She not only was forced to be what a woman should be, but she was forced to live up to certain expectations that she chose to go against. Edna Pontellier's experience in the novel is still relevant to today's audience because women are still challenged and expected to act a certain way in today's society.