AwakeningEssay Preview: AwakeningReport this essayKate Chopins novel The Awakening expresses the difficulty of finding a womans place in society. Edna learns of new ideas such as freedom and independence while vacationing in Grand Isle. Faced with a choice to conform to societys expectations or to obey personal desires for independence, Edna Pontellier realizes that either option will result in dissatisfaction. Thus, Ednas awakening in Grand Isle leads to her suicide.
Ednas awakening occurs during her familys vacation in Grand Isle. It is here that she learns to freely express herself and be unreserved in her behavior and speech. Through the Creole women, Edna becomes free from the chains that bind her to societal expectations. Adele initiates Ednas arousing as does the local flirtatious man, Robert Lebrun. It is at Grand Isle that Edna feels most alive: engaging in idle talk, flirting unabashedly, receiving loving attention from a man, paints, learning to swim, an awareness of independence, and becoming conscious of her sexuality.
Ednas awakening and transformational journey leads to her death because she cannot be the wife, mother, lover, artist, and daughter she wants to be without the support of Mr. Pontellier, her children, Madame Ratignolle, Robert, Madame Reisz, and her father. While Edna sees support for herself in these roles the way the other characters see them, she does not believe that she has their support for herself as an individual, apart from these roles, or as a person defining these roles for herself. As she takes her final walk down to the beach, the sea continues to call to her soul: “The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude” (654). The sea has helped Edna see into her innermost being and the transformational journey has helped her realize that she wants to fulfill her roles in life as an autonomous individual. But because Edna
wakes from deep in the shadows of the ocean, her own transformation is not as rapid as it appears. Through an intense journey, she has reached a point that she cannot reach for without it, as she understands that, despite the pressures of the day to pass and the challenges to do so and to take responsibility and to share with all the others, she has no sense of purpose and no purpose in life because she has never felt that the world was ever any different from what it is now. By the midpoint of her journey, she has arrived at a place where she has changed, made a complete decision about her own life, and has started living again.
With the departure of Mr. Pontellier, Edna joins his organization, the American Society of Artists, and his organization, the American Women of Art, together to seek their own solutions to the “poisonous legacy of the social injustice of the 1970s”„ (653), a conflict that seems to be at odds with a deep social and moral divide in art history, and a deep moral conflict about the relationship between individuals and the power and privilege of the wealthy while also defining the social, moral, and economic problems of art in this unique era. But to her, this rupture isn’t about politics; it’s more about a deeper moral and ethical conflict which can be ignored with all honesty.
She takes a long, steep but sobering walk on the waters of the ocean ‟.; (653)
Edna is the only artist whose life will never be the same again.
(4-5) I’m a very hard worker. I need someone to keep my mouth shut.
As I speak, I lose hope to be able to see her: She’s so tired and her eyes are wide and there’s no time for words. When my eyes return to the beach, they were completely useless and I was in a trance; I had no idea what she was saying when I put a hand on her forehead. They’re in such an intense state of shock you can almost hear the screams for air before they burst forth.
The world around me is so far away that this time, I could easily see her, she was a baby, I could also see her. I can feel her burning within me: she’s my love, my savior, her beauty. This is not the future I want. I don’t need her anymore: I have to be here now.
The future will be different, no longer just for me — for all art, no matter its origins, but also for art in itself.
(7-9) It’s been fifteen years since I saw your face. Will it ever stop?
Edna: I hope not.
(9-20) I see that he is still crying.
(29-37) Let’s start over. Let’s move on. My last moment was at the beach. I can’t stand this. There would have been better places to be, so I sat down with him for a while, then started singing. He loved opera so much that, when he came to my room, he put a big “M” note in my pocket. He couldn’t take the rest of his time and then kept walking around the place singing. They were laughing so hard I swear, I really felt it. His face was just warm and happy. They had a lot to talk about right now, the family, the schoolwork, and the health of the
wakes from deep in the shadows of the ocean, her own transformation is not as rapid as it appears. Through an intense journey, she has reached a point that she cannot reach for without it, as she understands that, despite the pressures of the day to pass and the challenges to do so and to take responsibility and to share with all the others, she has no sense of purpose and no purpose in life because she has never felt that the world was ever any different from what it is now. By the midpoint of her journey, she has arrived at a place where she has changed, made a complete decision about her own life, and has started living again.
With the departure of Mr. Pontellier, Edna joins his organization, the American Society of Artists, and his organization, the American Women of Art, together to seek their own solutions to the “poisonous legacy of the social injustice of the 1970s”„ (653), a conflict that seems to be at odds with a deep social and moral divide in art history, and a deep moral conflict about the relationship between individuals and the power and privilege of the wealthy while also defining the social, moral, and economic problems of art in this unique era. But to her, this rupture isn’t about politics; it’s more about a deeper moral and ethical conflict which can be ignored with all honesty.
She takes a long, steep but sobering walk on the waters of the ocean ‟.; (653)
Edna is the only artist whose life will never be the same again.
(4-5) I’m a very hard worker. I need someone to keep my mouth shut.
As I speak, I lose hope to be able to see her: She’s so tired and her eyes are wide and there’s no time for words. When my eyes return to the beach, they were completely useless and I was in a trance; I had no idea what she was saying when I put a hand on her forehead. They’re in such an intense state of shock you can almost hear the screams for air before they burst forth.
The world around me is so far away that this time, I could easily see her, she was a baby, I could also see her. I can feel her burning within me: she’s my love, my savior, her beauty. This is not the future I want. I don’t need her anymore: I have to be here now.
The future will be different, no longer just for me — for all art, no matter its origins, but also for art in itself.
(7-9) It’s been fifteen years since I saw your face. Will it ever stop?
Edna: I hope not.
(9-20) I see that he is still crying.
(29-37) Let’s start over. Let’s move on. My last moment was at the beach. I can’t stand this. There would have been better places to be, so I sat down with him for a while, then started singing. He loved opera so much that, when he came to my room, he put a big “M” note in my pocket. He couldn’t take the rest of his time and then kept walking around the place singing. They were laughing so hard I swear, I really felt it. His face was just warm and happy. They had a lot to talk about right now, the family, the schoolwork, and the health of the