Archive: The Awakening

An American classic of sexual expression that paved the way for the modern novel, The Awakening is both a remarkable novel in its own right and a startling reminder of how far women in this century have come. The story of a married woman who pursues love outside a stuffy, middle-class marriage, the novel portrays the mind of a woman seeking fulfillment of her essential nature. .

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/awakening-kate-chopin/1100216063?ean=9780486277868&itm=2&usri=the%2bawakening



Plot Summary
Edna Pontellier is vacationing with her husband, Léonce, and their two sons at the cottages of Madame Lebrun, which house affluent Creoles from the French Quarter. Although Edna is married to Leonce, she doesn't feel passionate about her mariage. While Edna is on vacation she befriends Adele and this jumpstarts her journey of being "awakened". Along the way she meets a young man names Robert Lebrun. In the beginning their relationship is innocent, then feelings start getting deeper and things get a little more serious. Robert leaves for mexico at the end of the summer to try to ecape his feelings for Edna because she is a married women and the affair would be very frowned upon in the creole community. This breaks Edna'a heart and she goes back to New Orleans a new woman. When Edna gets back to New Orleans she ignores all her duties as a wife and mother and decides to paint and fulfill her own needs. Leonce is worried about Edna's behavior and decides to have her see the family physician, Dr. Mandelet. Dr. Mandelet suspects Edna is having an affair but decides its better to keep his mouth shut and tells Leonce that Edna's behavior is simply a phase and will run its course. While Leonce is gone on a business trip, Edna declares herself independent and moves into her own small house alone. Even though her heart is still with Robert, she has an affair with a local seducer, Alcee. She constantly rejects the control of any male figure and develops no feelings for Alcee.At this point, the self-sufficient and unconventional old pianist Mademoiselle Reisz adopts Edna as a sort of protégé, warning Edna of the sacrifices required of an artist.Mademoiselle Reisz is the only person who knows of Robert and Edna’s secret love for one another and she encourages Edna to admit to, and act upon, her feelings.Unable to stay away, Robert returns to New Orleans, finally expressing openly his feelings for Edna. He admits his love but reminds her that they cannot possibly be together, since she is the wife of another man. Edna explains to him her newly established independence, denying the rights of her husband over her and explaining how she and Robert can live together happily, ignoring everything extraneous to their relationship. But despite his love for Edna, Robert feels unable to enter into the adulterous affair.When Adèle undergoes a difficult and dangerous childbirth, she encourages Edna to think of her children and advocates the socially acceptable lifestyle Edna abandoned so long ago. Doctor Mandelet urges her to come see him because he is worried about the outcome of her passionate but confused actions. Already reeling under the weight of Adèle’s admonition, Edna begins to perceive herself as having acted selfishly. Edna returns to her house to find Robert gone, a note of farewell left in his place. Robert’s inability to escape the ties of society now prompts Edna’s most devastating awakening. Haunted by thoughts of her children and realizing that she would have eventually found even Robert unable to fulfill her desires and dreams, Edna feels an overwhelming sense of solitude. Alone in a world in which she has found no feeling of belonging, she can find only one answer to the inescapable and heartbreaking limitations of society. She returns to Grand Isle, the site of her first moments of emotional, sexual, and intellectual awareness, and, in a final escape, gives herself to the sea. As she swims through the soft, embracing water, she thinks about her freedom from her husband and children, as well as Robert’s failure to understand her, Doctor Mandelet’s words of wisdom, and Mademoiselle Reisz’s courage. The text leaves open the question of whether the suicide constitutes a cowardly surrender or a liberating triumph.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/awakening/summary.html

Characters

 * Edna Pontellier
 * protagonist
 * Robert Lebrun
 * Edna's true love
 * Leonce Pontellier
 * Edna's distant husband
 * Alcee Arobin
 * Edna uses arbin while robert is in mexico, but nevr lets him control her
 * Adele Ratignolle
 * Friend of Pontellier family
 * Mademoiselle Reisz
 * a pianist and acts as Edna's mentor while she is on her journey of being independent

Themes
1.	Identity: One of Edna’s main problems in the novella is her identity. She’s not happy with her role as a wife and a mother and strives for an independence that is rare for a Victorian woman. 2.	Society and Class: During the novella Edna struggles on whether to conform to society’s expectations of her, or to follow her dreams as being independent. 3.	Respect and Reputation: To have a good reputation in The Awakening is not necessarily viewed as being congruent to having a good character.

Motifs
1.Music: Edna's interpretations of music allows her spiritual, intellectual, and feminine way of thinking to flouish 2.children: Edna often relates herself to a child. During her awakening she expericences rebirth and sees the world as a new child who is expericing the world for the first time 3.HousesEdna stays in many houses throughout the novella. All of these houses represent the different stages Edna goes through during her rebirth.

Symbols
1.	Bird with the broken wing: This bird symbolizes Edna’s failure to find freedom and her failure to soar above the plainness of society. 2.	The Sea: The Sea represents the endless potential Edna has but also the damage that can be done with too much power. 3.	Cigars: Cigars symbolize masculinity and manhood.

Significant Quotes
'''1.Even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions''': There are two Ednas, inner Edna and outer Edna. Outer Edna conforms to society and Inner Edna questions her actions. Eventually, Inner Edna takes over Outer Edna 2.In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her:This is the point of Edna’s true awakening. '''3.She is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the Unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously.''': Adele thinks that Edna is likely to take her male attention seriously, At this point; Edna is still a very traditional woman