Awakening1 Essay examples -- essays papers

Awakening1THE AWAKENINGThe contrast between an urban and a tropical setting represents the awakening that the protagonist experiences in Kate Chopins classic novel, The Awakening. At Grand Isle Edna becomes conscious of her restrictive marriage in a male dominated society. Her awakening originates with her experiences at Grand Isle tho fully develops upon her return to the city, where she completes her transformation from her roles as wife and mother to an self-supporting woman.The setting at the beginning of the novel is the Grand Isle, a touristy Creole island resort. The reader first sees Edna returning from the beach, with the sea disappearing on the horizon, and the mood of a lazy summer day permeating the scene. This idyllic environment is soon interrupted by her husband Leonces eventistically stodgy and disapproving reaction to his wifes activities You be burnt beyond recognition. Leonce views his wife as a valuable piece of own(prenominal) property which has suffered some damage. Swimming at mid-day, Edna has endangered her respectability in a society where women may be judged by the twist of their complexion. Yet Edna does not seem ruffled by societys expectations or by her husbands callous remark. Instead she foc theatrical roles on the summer warmth, her companion, Robert Lebrun, and swimming, where she is waive both physically and emotionally. Ednas habit of removing her wedding rings in advance entering the water underscores and symbolizes her temporary escape from the ties of matrimony and the bonds of convention.While holiday at Grand Isle, Edna is surrounded by mother-women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels. Unlike these women, Edna does not wish to submerge her own identity and immunity in her role as a wife and mother. At integrity point, her husband claims that she is a negligent and irresponsible mothe r and orders Edna to tend to their low child, believing this duty to be a mothers place. Uncharacteristically, Edna appears bewildered and distraught after(prenominal) her husbands outburst. An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, fill her whole being with a vague anguish. She begins to suspect that a deeper relationship is possible between a man and a w... .....got into her credit line and into her brain like an intoxicant (124). As Edna continues to separate herself from the traditional roles of women in her time, Chopin distinguishes the main character from those around her through the use of symbolism. At her dinner party, Edna reigns as the confident, self-assured hostess, described by the author as a jeweled goddess emerging from the sea. Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs. Pontellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the indicate of the board . Kat e Chopins utilization of the setting in The Awakening is essential to the character development of Edna as she escapes the restrictions of Creole society to become an independent woman. Symbols and images are mirrored and intertwined in the two settings. This repetitive pattern underscores and expands the readers understanding of Ednas enlightenment. But in fact, the most dramatic change in the novel occurs during the transition from Grand Isle to New Orleans. In this story, Chopins use of setting proves to be an effective complement to her vivid imagery passim the novel, and to the symbolism of renewal and rediscovery.