The Awakening

1. The Awakening By: Kate Chopin

2. Author’s Date and Cultural Perspective • Born: February 8, 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri • Historical Background: • written during the emergence of the feminist movement, not fully fledged just yet • The Awakening became the end of her literary career, though it is now regarded as a classic, as society was shocked by her portrayal and support of female independence and adultery • Victorian Era (1837-1901): • artistic styles, literary schools, as well as, social, political and religious movements flourished • scientific progress & ideas • upheaval of old hierarchal order, middle class growing • a time of prosperity, broad imperial expansion, and great political reform • Great change brought about in this period- Industrial revolution • Literature often concerned with social reform, strong sense of morality & supports the oppressed • Feminist Movement (1848-1920) • 1848, women gathered in New York State to begin addressing issues of equality • Women’s groups formed to educate women on social and political issues • The war challenged stereotypes in the home and workplace • Important places: Grand Isle (outside of New Orleans) & New Orleans

3. Symbols • Birds- remind Edna of being caged, trapped • (Parrot= Edna / Mockingbird=Madame Reisz) • Represent her “flight” to become a free individual, in her new home, the “pigeon house” which she purchased on her own, though this traps her all the more • Edna’s suicide paralleled with the depiction of the bird with “A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water” • The Sea- Edna’s freedom, the only time she is truly alone, when she swims out on her own, only to be stricken by fear, represents Edna’s rebirth/awakening • Art- Edna’s freedom, self expression, individuality; her awakening is characterized by her pursuit to become an “artist” • Clothes- throughout the novel, Edna gradually removes her clothes, a social statement about how she is similarly shedding society’s rules. In the end when she commits suicide, Edna is completely naked, discarding all that she has in her quest for selfhood • Houses- Grand Isle & New Orleans homes she is “caged”, expected to be the “mother woman”; Cheniere Caminada Edna can sleep and dream; & the pigeon house she can create a world of her own • Learning to swim- swim is empowerment and Edna struggles through out the novel. It evokes great joy, and then utter fear as she looks back to the shore at how fat our she’s swum

4. Conflicts • Conflict with self: Internal struggle of accepting her role as the “mother woman” versus challenging herself to be different and become a “true artist, the courageous soul” • Conflict with society: conflict with the expected “mother-woman” role of females; Edna wishes to break out and be more than just a woman slaving over her husband and children. Being a single and independent woman is ostracized by society, depicted through the character of Madame Reisz • Conflict with nature: perhaps learning to swim. The commits suicide by basically swimming out too far and drowning herself: a means of cleansing and a new birth, finally doing something on her own terms.

5. Influence of Setting • The cottage in Grande Isle is the site of her initial awakening, after she meets Robert and Madame Reisz • The house on Esplanade Street represents everything that is Leonce’s– including Edna. • Edna experiences a new, romantic, and foreign world at the cheniere caminada—the site of Edna’s transformation through a dream like slumber alluded to a fairytale. • At the pigeon house, she can create a world of her own, and act as she wishes without worrying about others’ opinions. Sexual awakening continues as her husband is not present.

6. Questions… • Anyone under an illusion: Edna is under the illusion that Robert will turn out to be more than a typical man of the time. In the end he disappoints her, when he wants to make Edna his wife and have kids, which would put her in the same cage as her current husband. • Anyone idealistic? Edna is idealistic about independence, marriage, and how life could be. She asserts her beliefs when she does not fawn over her children, like the expected “mother woman”, rather she goes after her passion, art. She wants to be more than just the housewife and is idealistic in this pursuit. • Anyone make an important mistake? Robert made the mistake of telling Edna he wanted her to be his wife, though he had no clue this was a mistake when he said it. This was the final straw, squashing her hopes, which set Edna over the edge before she committed suicide. • Anyone change? Edna undergoes a whole “awakening” throughout the novel. She awakes out of this trance like state she believes she has been in all her life, and realizes that she has potential to be more than just a “mother woman”. She transforms from a conforming, unhappy woman leading an unfulfilled life, into an “awakened” independent woman, putting her own needs above those of her family.

7. More Questions… • Is there a villain? The villain could possibly be Edna’s husband, Leonce. Though he loves his wife and kids dearly, he is very concerned with social appearances. He wishes Edna would behave like a typical woman of the day. But he serves more to highlight the stereotypes of the day. • Is friendship important? Edna’s friendships with Madame Reisz, Robert, and Adele Ratignolle are key to the story. • Madame Reisz is an unmarried, childless woman who chases her passion, music. She is an “artist” and Edna looks to her for advice and companionship (Reisz is foil to Ratignolle). • Adele Ratignolle is the stereotypical “mother woman” of the time; she idolizes her children and worships her husband. She aids in Edna’s transformation as Edna comes out of her shell after experiencing the free nature of Creole women. • Edna falls in love with Robert Lebrun. He eventually realizes he has fallen in love with Edna, but is torn over society’s view that Edna is her husband’s possession. Robert is the catalyst for Edna’s suicide, when he expresses to her his desire to make her his own “mother woman”.

8. Questions… • Is the narrator important? The narrator is anonymous, though she seems to share the same views as Edna. She often expresses sympathy and support for Edna. • Are family relationships important? Edna’s entire internal struggle is between her own desires versus the desires and needs of her family. Though the time period demands she place all needs of her own aside and sacrifice everything for her family, Edna sees things differently, which is her major internal conflict. As she awakens, Edna realizes her own needs and pursues them, despite the family demands. In the end she leaves her family in her ultimate act of self fulfillment where she finally has control over her own decisions. • Some human value asserted? Edna asserts her independence. Women during the time were expected to sacrifice everything for their families, and this did not agree with Edna. • Anyone lost or alienated? From the start Madame Reisz is alienated and ostracized for being unmarried, having no children, and living on her own. This was very strange for the time, and people saw her as an outcast because she did not conform to their ideals.

9. Last Few Questions… • Cultures at odds? At the brink of the feminist movement and the end of the Victorian era, the stereotypical “mother woman” ideal and the idea of independent women is beginning to clash. Edna is merely one of the thousands that had this feeling that there was something wrong with the way things were in the Victorian culture. Edna was not alone, though she felt very alone through out the novel. • Parallels or contrasts with other works we have read? This is directly contrasting with Okonkwo’s ideals that culture must be preserved. For Okonkwo, his culture was flipped upside down, and this was his defeat. For Edna, this is the exact opposite. She needs her culture to be flipped upside down in order to survive, and when she realizes it won’t, she ends her life. • Tone At most times the tone is objective. However, when the narrator discusses the sea or Edna’s dreams/ periods of awakening, the tone is more mystical. Occasionally the narrator’s tone is sympathetic for Edna. • Diction formal, Victorian—representing the class and attitudes of the time. • Genre “Bildungsroman (novel of intellectual, spiritual or moral evolution); kunstlerroman (novel of artistic realization or development); shares elements of and is heavily influenced by the local color genre” • http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/awakening/facts.html • Irony • The place Edna “awakens” is also the place she commits suicide • That Robert wants Edna to be his “mother woman” in the end • Though Edna is an artist, she never becomes the “true artist” with that “courageous soul” to overcome the adversity that she would be faced with, had she left her husband