... complex, and often problematic, sexual awakening is accompanied by the presence of several other transformations which further complicate her plight. The evolution of Edna's spirit and demeanor is fueled by many changes, including the emergence of her artistic nature, the realization of her unusual attitude towards her children, and the deterioration of her social inhibitions. The awakening of Mrs. Pontellier's sexual disposition causes the rousing of many feelings, previously ... you would call unwomanly; but I have got into a habit of expressing myself" (114). Edna realizes that there...

• Word Count: 980
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... tradition and prejudice must have strong wings."" (Chopin 110) Another very popular symbol in The Awakening is the idea of water. There are many different accounts in the book when water is significant, from the Gulf which Edna learned to swim to her final demise in the Sea. The use of water in the book is said to symbolize both freedom and escape. As a child she used her ... was higher than her waist. She threw out her arms as if swimming when she walked, beating the tall grass as one strikes out in the water. Oh, I see the connection now!" (Chopin 21) The water in The Awakening could ...

• Word Count: 946
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Andrew Peyton 5th hour 2-19 The Awakening The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a buildungsroman. It shows the growth and development of Edna Pontellier. Through the novel, she grows from a normal and typical mother to a spiritually awakened woman. However, during this process, the transition is anything but smooth. She is constantly contemplating between conforming to society and becoming totally independent. As the novel progresses, each character plays a ... to begin painting again, which is one of her true passions. This open expression of her feelings through art continues her awakening and i...

• Word Count: 820
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and wives were viewed as "mother-women" and housewives. Women were expected to conform to the role that society depicted for them rather than to behave as persons with individual needs and desires. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist of Chopin's The Awakening seeks to defy convention by transforming from the wife and mother society expects her to be to a self-sufficient woman that follows her own ... ambitions and desires. In the beginning of the novel, Edna is a mother and a wife who is trying to conform to ... to whomever she wishes. Edna's affair with these men is a way of acting out a...

• Word Count: 1097
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... successful writer, creating opportunities on her own. Although she had no political career, she was instrumental in the push for suffrage. Her book, The Awakening deals with the condition of women in marriages during the late nineteenth century. Edna Pontellier is the focal point in the book for feminism. Throughout the book, she struggles in her quest for personal fulfillment. Her independence begins to shine through as she ... in her search for independence. She displays her new found hobby in front of her friends. Everyone watches her swim into new, unknown area in the water and also...

• Word Count: 507
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel The Awakening, the author Kate Chopin explains the social norms of the women in Victorian society. Edna Pontellier is the main in The Awakening. She advances the theme of the corruption of the Victorian society in the scene where she learns how to swim at the Grand Isle by herself. After that the reader can observe Edna's social change. Edna dusts off her pre-marriage self-expression, sexual desire, and ... independency. Edna is considered to be a Victorian kind of woman. However, deep inside she feels different and later has The Awakening. Even though Edna has children, she's no...

• Word Count: 380
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... towards autonomy, a direct violation of the mother-woman image. Throughout The Awakening, Edna increasingly distances herself from the image of the mother-woman, until her suicide, which serves as the total opposite of the mother-woman image. Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, the two important female subsidary characters, provide the two different identities Edna associates with. Adele serves as the perfect "mother-woman in The Awakening, being both married and pregnant, but ... warmth. What Edna chooses for her identity is a combination of Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz...

• Word Count: 789
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... . The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace'"'(p. 477). The sea is a strong symbol in The Awakening. Throughout the book it seems to symbolize freedom and escape. These two paragraphs show what the ocean did to Edna all through the book. Edna was seduced by the sound and the touch of the waves. This shows her sexual nature. The way the ... voice of the ... ...

• Word Count: 1045
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... The Awakening written by Kate Chopin was considered very shocking when it was first published because of the main character's unconventional behavior. The novel discusses the changing roles of women in the early 1900's and has raised many different questions throughout the years. One of the most controversial discussions of all has been about the ending of the novel where the ... awakened from a dream. As Edna "awakens", her options are limited. She learns that she cannot be "herself" and be a good mother at the same time. She also learns that her actions will affect her children deeply. ...

• Word Count: 499
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... discuss how does Kate Chopin present the question of gender in The Awakening, I think I have to give a little background of the story. The story took place in the late 1800's, while women's liberation was never be concerned about. At this time women were supposed to find happiness in serving their husbands and also taking care of the children. The setting was in the society of Grand Isle, and it ... to abandon her former convention lifestyle, Edna realizes that independent ideas cannot always translate into all together self-sufficient and social acceptable way. In the beginning of The ...

• Word Count: 664
• Approx Pages: 3

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 into the story to provide an insight to the condition of Edna and her struggle. At each of the three stages of her transformation, birds foreshadow her actions and emphasize the actions' importance while the ... of freedom by using a rising bird. She speaks of two lovers who could feel "the beating of the birds' wings, rising startled from among the reeds in the salt-wa...

• Word Count: 1017
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is a novel which introduced new and unacceptable ideas to the readers of its time. The novel describes a woman's struggle to defy the rules of her society and follow her heart. The novel has many significant characters, as well as objects- one being the sea. The sea is mentioned rather frequently throughout the novel. The sea seems to represent Edna Pontellier's sexuality. For example, the words used ... to describe the sea are not ones which are commonly used to describe a sea, rather, the author describes the sea as, "The voice of the sea is seductive the voic...

• Word Count: 793
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... The Awakening, the protagonist Edna Pontellier learns to think of herself as an autonomous human being and rebels against social norms by leaving her husband Leonce and having an affair. In Seventeen Syllables, Tome Hayashi, the mother in the story, becomes a writer of haiku. Her art opens a gulf between her and her husband, isolating him from his wife. In my opinion, the ... to composing haiku. When she makes efforts to write haiku or talks about haiku with other people, she can lays the housework aside and even forget the existence of her family members. Tome sees writing haiku as a wa...

• Word Count: 672
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... her life, never really enjoying it, but not hating it either. Suddenly, she begins to feel for the first time in her life, partly due to her experience in the ocean. Each time she is in the presence of water, the freedom it offers beckons her. In The Awakening, the sea is a symbol of freedom and release for Edna when she takes her first swim, leaves Grande ... Isle for Cheniere Caminada, and when she walks to the beach for the final time. Edna's emotions begin to stir the first time she is able ... to swim. Following a particularly moving musical performance by Mademoiselle Reisz, the ...

• Word Count: 734
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

As with many stories and novels of the late 18th century, the class of the characters plays a big part in how the characters act and what tragedies and positive events befall them. In the novel "The Awakening- by Kate Chopin, the struggle to act a part of a certain class plays a strain on not only the main character, Edna Pontellier, but also her husband Léonce Pontellier, who is trying to keep ... up the image that himself and Edna portray in the community. Just as Edna starts to open her eyes as ... are acting when she beings to associate with an individual who is not of the same class as...

• Word Count: 809
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School