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Existentialism

Existentialism. human beings are not primarily rational creatures but passionate ones. We are not detached observers of the world, but actors in the world “existence precedes essence": we make ourselves with our decisions, our actions, and our purposes

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Existentialism

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  1. Existentialism • human beings are not primarily rational creatures but passionate ones. • We are not detached observers of the world, but actors in the world • “existence precedes essence": we make ourselves with our decisions, our actions, and our purposes • To follow the herd is to act in "bad faith," and to limit one’s choices

  2. Existentialism • emphasis on the absurd or extreme condition of humanity in an indifferent universe • words such as dread, anguish, nothingness, nausea are a part of the lexicon • we are condemned to freedom, to responsibility, without excuses or alibis. Human beings are perpetual projects, and we must constantly reinvent the image of our humanity.

  3. Existentialism • rejects the belief that life has an inherent meaning, but instead requires each individual to posit his or her own subjective values

  4. 1 • 1. Consider alternative titles for Clemens's and Chopin's novels: The Awakening of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Edna Pontellier. Comment on the incongruity of each of these alternative titles in terms of the novels' designs, themes, and development of the central character.

  5. 2 • How does this novel frame the notions of freedom and responsibility?

  6. 3 • What role do children play in Edna’s life?

  7. 4 • Think about the three main women in the novel: Edna, Adele, and Mademoiselle Reisz. How are they different and how are they alike?

  8. 5 • Why did Edna return to Grand Isle at the end of the novel?

  9. 6 • Which of the men in the novel do you find most sympathetic? Why?

  10. 7 • Why does Mademoiselle Reisz say that it takes courage to be an artist? Do you agree? Is her opinion rooted in her time and her gender?

  11. 8 • Imagine The Awakening set in today’s American society. How would it be different? How would it be the same?

  12. 9 • What role does race and class play in this novel? Does Edna have anything in common with the poor black woman who serves her?

  13. 10 • Is Edna’s act of suicide at the end of the novel an act of bravery or cowardice? Do you think it was an intentional or premeditated act on her part? Why does Chopin leave the answer to this question so vague? • How would you change the ending (or any part) of Chopin’s novel?

  14. Sandro Botticelli – Birth of VenusHow does this image relate to Edna?

  15. 12 • What would a happy marriage look like for Edna? Is such a situation possible?

  16. 13 • Does The Awakening have an example of true love? Do Robert and Edna really love each other or are they just clinging to a fantasy? Are the young lovers on Grand Isle and example of true love?

  17. 14 • To what extent is society to blame for Edna’s suicide? Not at all? Totally?

  18. 15 • What if the character seeking fulfillment was Mr. Pontellier? How would the book change?

  19. 16 • This quote from Chapter Twelve a little scary: "She was blindly following whatever impulse moved her, as if she had placed herself in alien hands for direction, and freed her soul of responsibility." Is this Divine Providence directing her actions? How did her soul suddenly get freed of responsibility? • To what extent does Edna’s newly independent identity feel like a dream that comes crashing to a halt once she returns to Grand Isle?

  20. 17 • What exactly is a "good mother" in Edna’s society? Why does Edna have trouble following that model? • Is Edna a good mother by the standards of her society? By the standards of our society? • How important is motherhood to Edna? Why did she have children in the first place?

  21. 18 • Listen to Frederic Chopin’s Prelude #4 and explain how this music moves you (as it did when Mlle. Reisz played it for Edna). Prelude #4 (in E minor)

  22. Works Cited • Chopin, Kate, The Awakening; A Solitary Soul. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1992. • Kierkegaard, S. Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Tr. David F. Swenson and Walter Lowrie. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1997. • Skaggs, Peggy, Kate Chopin. Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers, 1985. • Toth, Emily, (ed.) A Vocation and a Voice. New York: Penguin Publishers, 1991. • Toth, Emily and Per Seyersted, Kate Chopin's Private Papers. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1995.

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