The+Awakening

=**Title of the Work**= __The Awakening__ =Author= Kate Chopin =Nationality/Ethnic Background= Irish-French-American. She grew up speaking French and English. = = =Genre and Sub-genres= Realistic, Bildungsroman, and Kunstlerroman (novel of artistic realization or development). =Pertinent Biographical Information= Kate Chopin was born to a mother of French decent and an Irish father. She was raised in Louisiana. In 1870, she married Oscar Chopin. During their marriage, the couple lived in New Orleans, but would often vacation at Grand Isle, a Creole resort on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. =Literary Historical Period/Movement and Pertinent Background= The novel was written during the Industrial Period and during the beginning of the feminist movement. __The Awakening__ is also a realistic work of literature. =Major Characters, Their Relationships, Their Conflicts= =Brief Plot Summary= Married couple, Léonce and Edna Pontellier go to Grand Isle on a vacation with their two children. The Creole resort, owned and run by Madame Lebrun, is a place of relaxation for the young family. Léonce's demanding job allows Edna befriends the idealistic Creole wife, Adéle Ratignolle during his absences. Adéle is free-spirited and friendly. Adéle inspires Edna, unknowingly, to embrace her inner desires for satisfaction and other desires. Edna's friendship with Adéle begins her "awakening," the two women spend their time together and that is how Edna comes to know Robert Lebrun. Robert is the son of Madame Lebrun, he is a young man, who choses a woman to devote his time to every summer. The friendship between Edna and Robert is, at first, an innocent one. The two spend time together reclining and strolling on the seashore, and engaging in conversation. Robert often hints at his true feelings toward Edna, but she deflects them. Robert teaches Edna how to swim and Edna starts painting again. Painting, during this time period was deemed and idle thing for women to participate in, helps Edna to reveal the expression inside of her that has long been suppressed. Edna's reinvigorated spirits make her dread her duties as a wife and mother, straining her relationship with Léonce. Edna enjoys the time she spends with Robert immensely. However, the two never voice their love for one another. The Pontellier family returns from their vacation to their home in New Orleans. Back at home, Edna continues to paint, as she did in Grand Isle with Robert, and begins to shirk on her familial responsibilities. Léonce becomes concerned about Edna's lack of interest in the family and worries about how the community will react to her change of attitude. He enlists the help of a family friend and physician Doctor Mandelet, who suspects that Edna's change is directly related to an extramarital affair, but that Léonce's interjection could only egg on her behavior. So, with her husband away on business and her children away too, Edna moves out of their home into her own. This new house is comparable to a declaration of independence for Edna. With her new found independence, Edna pursues an affair with the community seducer, Alcée Arobin to satiate the yearning in her heart for young Robert. Alcée fulfills her sexual desires, but she is in no way emotionally attached to him. Edna also visits Mademoiselle Reisz, a pianist who was at Grand Isle the same time. Reisz, as a fellow artist forewarns Edna of the sacrifices one must make for the sake of your work. Reisz is also the only other person who knows of Edna and Robert's love for each other. Robert sends letters to Reisz, which Edna reads. Unable to stay away from Edna, Robert comes to New Orleans to clearly express his love for Edna. When Edna explains her new lifestyle and independence from her husband and family, Robert still refuses to join Edna in another affair. During this conversation, Adéle, another Edna's acquaintances from Grand Isle, goes into labor and Edna promised to be there with her. Edna begs Robert to wait for her return. Robert decides that he will not stay to wait for Edna, and instead leaves her a note of farewell. Edna, although upset, comes to terms with the fact that eventually would not have been able to fulfill her desires either and she becomes lonely. Alone in the world, Edna returns to the site of her "awakening," Grand Isle, and walks deep into the ocean during deep contemplation, leaving the reader to assume that she has committed suicide. =Motifs (Recurring Images, Ideas, Figures of Speech, Symbols, Colors) & Their Thematic Significance= __Music__ - Music plays a large part in Edna's awakening. She first realizes how powerful music can be through Mademoiselle Reisz, who plays the piano as a way to express her emotions. The Farival twins play strictly to entertain, which is how Victorian women "should" be.
 * __Edna Pontellier__, the protagonist, is married to Léonce Pontellier. She has two children--Etienne and Raoul. Edna struggles to deal with the expectations of a wife and the sacrifices that she must make to be a good mother. She longs for freedom and happiness within herself. The novel's title refers to the awakening of her emotions. During her awakening, Edna distances herself from the trap her marriage has become. She experiences new emotional and sexual freedom, which helps her to find true happiness. Ulitmately, her affair with Robert Lebrun and friendship with Adèle Ratignolle do not satisfy her and lead to her demise at the conclusion of the novel.
 * __Léonce Pontellier__, the husband of Edna Pontellier, is a wealthy businessman who loves his family. However, because of the sucess of his business and his obsession with social popularity, he is unable to spend much time with him. He expects his wife to uphold the family's wealthy New Orleans appearance, though she dislikes playing the obediant housewife and hostess. He is oblivious to Edna's unhappiness.
 * __Robert Lebrun__, a young man of twenty-six, befriends Edna. His summer ritual is to adopt a new married woman to woo with his charm. Robert and Edna begin their relationship as friends, while he occassionally jokes about feeling more toward her he tends be secretive about his true feelings. Eventually, the love he has for Edna is apparent and this complicates their relationship. Things are further strained when Robert leaves for Mexico, does not write letters to Edna during his absence, and returns with another girl. Toward the end of the book, the couple shares a passionate kiss and confess their love for each other. Robert then leaves her, leaving only a note saying "I love you. Good-by--because I love you." Edna commits suicide shortly thereafter.
 * __Adèle Ratignolle__, Edna's friend, is protective and motherly. She is the epitome of a traditional Creole hostess, mother, and wife. However, the care free manner, which Edna yearns for, leads Edna to seek out a more expressive and satisfying lifestyle. Adèle's influence on Edna's transformation is unintentional, however, very powerful.
 * __Mademoiselle Reisz__, a pianist and social outcast, was the greatest influence in Edna's awakening. As a pianist, Mademoiselle Reisz devotes her time and life to her music. She has no husband or children, music is her biggest passion. Edna's desire to paint pushes her to befriend Mademoiselle Reisz, who also acts as a mentor. Their friendship becomes more intense after Robert's departure. Edna visits Mademoiselle Reisz often and becomes distraught when she learns that Robert has been sending Mademoiselle Reisz letters, but not her.
 * __Alcée Arobin__, seduces Edna with incesent, soft caresses. Although, Edna does not truly care for him, she strings him along because he satifies her sexual desires. He takes her to the races and other exotic social outings.

__Children__ - Edna, herself, is a very childlike character in her selfishness and disregard for the consequences that come with her actions. Her children play a large part in her demise, as she is extremely concious of how society's view of their mother will effect the rest of their lives.

__The Sea__ - To Edna, the sea stands for freedom, because of its vastness and its strength. Ultimately, Edna ends her life by drowning in the sea. "The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude," (p. 159).

__Birds__ - Caged birds are a recurring image that symbolize the trap that is Edna's life, and the trap of Victorian women's lives. She is a bird with clipped wings, never able to fly far. Even Edna's "escape" to her "pigeon house" is only a reminder that she cannot completely remove herself from the life that she dispises, as it is located only "two steps away" from her former house. The use of birds is repeated right up until the second to last page of the book, where it states "A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water" (p. 159). Edna is like this bird in that her heart has been broken, and she decides that death must be the only escape from the life that she knows will never be full. =Other Significant Thematic Elements (Significant Character's Names, Significant Quotations, Significant Actions/Events)=
 * __The Lady in Black__: The Lady in Black represents the typical Creole woman. She wears black and mourns her husbands' death. This shows her sustaining obedience to her husband even after his death. If Edna had never awakened, she could have one day ended up like this woman.
 * __The Two Lovers__: They represent the stage in a young people's lives when it socially acceptable to stray from traditional ways because it is expected. However, once they grow up they must learn to conform to the social aspects and responsibilities of their culture.
 * "Edna began to feel like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing against her; the exuberance which had sustained and exalted her spirit left her helpless and yielding to the conditions which crowded her in." (p. 52) Edna begins to realize the joys that she dreams of are impossible to fulfill in reality.
 * "She wondered if her husband had ever spoken to her like that before, and if she had submitted to his command. Of course she had; she remembered that she had. But she could not realize why or how she should have yielded, feeling as she then did." (p.52) Edna has awakened to the fact that her husband does not allow her any freedom; she is constantly subjected to his needs and wants, instead of her own.
 * “The years that are gone seem like dreams—if one might go on sleeping and dreaming—but to wake up and find—oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life" (p. 154) Edna realizes that it is better to live for herself than to attempt to please everyone else.
 * "I love you. Good-by--because I love you." (p.155) This was the message that Robert left for Edna. Sometimes, even though one loves someone else, love is not meant to last forever, and one should leave before things turn out badly.

=Major Themes=

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__Isolation as a consequence of independence__ - Edna believes that to be truly independent, isolation is necessary. As a Victorian housewife, she is expected to care for her family and the household, with little time for herself. During her awakening, she gradually learns more about herself and the things she needs in life, one of which is time for herself. This becomes an important factor in her ultimate demise. Edna learns to swim, which holds great pleasure for her, however she only realizes her strength when she is able to swim alone. She also loves to paint. Through this and through music she realizes the power that one person can have. Unfortunately, when Edna tries to tell people of her newfound independence, her husband and society restrain her. Once again she finds herself on her own, just as she is in her choice of death over an unhappy life.=====