Becoming familiar with a novel and understanding its complexities and ambiguities is crucial in writing your Question 3 Essay. Discussion stimulates a deeper understanding of the novel. Unfortunately with the snow days, we have limited time to discuss
The Awakening in class. Therefore, the class blog will have to make do. This blog will be open for discussion until Monday. Feel free to respond continually over the weekend. As an AP teacher, I feel like we have barely scratched the surface on what we need to discuss. While you will be getting a grade for your interactions on this blog, this is more or less an open forum for you in hopes you will gain a deeper understanding of the novel. As you are discussing with your classmates, take notes!!! Whether, your are writing in your own personal copy of the novel, adding to your Major Works Data Sheets, or simply writing new notes on your own paper, its imperative that you have something to refer back to.
1. Come up with a
conversation starter. It may be something that you have discussed with your group that we didn't get to talk about, your own observation, something you didn't quite understand, or commentary relating this novel to modern-day life. It really does not matter as long as your stimulating discussion in a thoughtful way.
2. Respond to your classmates. I will not tell you how many times to respond. I care more about the
quality of the comments and
your engagement with the text and your classmates.
As always, when discussing be sure to make apt and specific references to the text. Since we do not all have the same novel, be sure to include chapter numbers.
In The Awakening swimming holds a lot of symbolism.
ReplyDeleteChapter 10, page 37
""How easy it is!" she thought. "It is nothing,"she said aloud: "why did I not discover before that it was nothing...intoxicated with her newly conquered power, she swam out alone."
Edna first learns how to swim when she really begins to take hold of the idea of being her own person outside of the construct of society and lets go of the illusion of gender roles put on by society. From this the idea that Edna swimming symbolizes independence can be drawn. Also support for this idea can be drawn by following the idea the the ocean/water represents freedom, so when ever Edna swims she is symbolically emerging herself in freedom. When Edna first learns how to swim she is surprised by how easy it is, this can be taken to represent how easy Edna thinks it is to see the effects of society and the ability for independence now that she is disillusioned by society and how surprised she is that it took her so long to see the truth.
"Once she turned and looked toward the shore, toward the people she had left there. She had not gone any great distance...But to her unaccustomed vision the stretch of water behind her assumed the aspect of a barrier which her unaided strength would never be able to overcome."
Once Edna gets over the enthusiasm of being able to swim, she becomes overwhelmed and afraid that she won't be able to overcome the barrier before her. Following the symbolism of swimming you could say that once Edna gets over the beginning excitement of realizing the possibilities of independence and the opportunities that could come with it she sees that it might not be as easy as she thought it would be. The barrier could represent the struggles that someone has to go through to get independence especially as a women and a mother (has to overcome her husband, society and in a sense her children) or it could also be seen as the barrier of isolation that society would put between her and other people if she went against gender roles in society. All of this can also be seen as foreshadowing Ednas death, once she finds independence and freedom (gets in the ocean) she can never really get out.
As a side note once Edna learns how to swim some of the men try to take the credit for teaching her how to swim despite the fact that they didn't really help all that much. Learning how to swim was something that she was really proud of so the men trying to overshadow her shows how men take the credit from female accomplishments and diminish and overshadow females.
Tessa, I really liked this discussion. Swimming was the strongest symbolism that I noticed in The Awakening and it is extremely significant to the overall theme as it contributes to Edna's beginning and final progressions as a character. I completely agree that swimming is a symbol of Edna's independence! Whether she realized it or not, swimming was her way of exercising her freedom from the men in society. As you said, swimming presented a "barrier", but, debatably, she was able to overcome it. At the end, swimming is Edna's way of cutting the ties that restrained her in society. Not only was she free of oppression from her husband and other love affairs, but from her children.
DeleteTessa, I thought it was great that you acknowledged the importance that swimming presented in this novel, especially the fact that several men try to take credit for her ability. In the scene when she finally overcomes the barrier it has presented and begins to swim all on her own really out of nowhere, I thought it presented a great image that with the ease in which she attains the ability to swim, she is also able to easily break through the pressures placed on her, possibly contributing to another awakening. That scene for me heavily foreshadowed the ending and her suicide, since she discovered how easy it was to swim she also felt how easy it would be leave the earthly chains holding her back like Robert mentioned above as well.
DeleteSwimming is the way Edna exercises her independence from society. When she swims, she is able to break away and be free from the grasps of mankind, like a bird. Birds are definitely a reoccurring symbol within our novel. As we already discussed, in the opening scene, a parrot within a cage is described. Most birds that have been kept in a cage, have wings that are clipped in order to prevent their escape. This is important to note because many argue that Edna's "wings" were too weak to carry her way and lead her to escape. Parrots are unable to swim, like water fowl, because they have not adapted to that environment. In a way, Edna's wings were clipped by her husband, Mr. Pontellier, and other antagonistic forces, and this led to her inability to fly away as an escape, like the parrot. Even let out of her "cage", she only had the illusion of freedom and upon realizing that, she acted in a way that led to her to begin swimming out into the water. To me, Edna's swimming is set apart symbolically from water. Throughout the novel, water is repeated in a way that highlights its "seductive" nature. Water is a symbol of freedom and escape, but at the end, when Edna begins swimming out, the only cost is her life.
ReplyDeleteAlthough we touched upon the ambivalence of the ending to the novel, I wanted to discuss it further since after all, this is what everything has led up to. Many thought that Edna's decision to swim until exhaustion, and commit suicide, was a demonstration of cowardice. However, I would argue that it was brave for Edna to decide upon this action, and seize her opportunity for escape. It's important to understand that even if she had decided against drowning herself, and lived a life similar to Mademoiselle Reisz, she would still be committing social suicide. For Edna, happiness was found in the love for Robert Lebrun and the thought that they could eventually be together. At the end, when Robert left the note saying "I love you. Good-by- because I love you.", all hope for happiness was gone. Even still, if by some chance Robert had confessed his love and had attempted to act upon his desire for Edna, she would have no choice but to refuse because as Adele Ratignolle mentioned, she must think of her children. Ultimately, this was an act of bravery because Edna realizes that it is her only escape from her children and love affairs.
I was one that thought her decision of suicide was cowardice, but I never thought of the social suicide result. That being said, this interpretation brought a whole new view of her death to me. I agree that all hope was gone once she found Robert's note telling her goodbye. I still believe leaving her children was a bit cowardice, but think understand that she didn't have much of a choice. Like you said, she would be committing suicide no matter.
DeleteRobert, I like what you said about parrots being unable to swim because that's not the environment they're adapted to. This parallels what Edna went through. She was originally unable to swim, but gained the ability during her awakening, which is when she began not to adapt to her environment, but to create her own environment. Her swimming is the same as the caged bird flying: it's finding freedom. I also like your opinion on her suicide. While I don't know that I agree that it is bravery, I do believe that she was taking the only route she saw possible. She hadn't really thought of her kids during the whole book, so I don't think she was committing suicide to protect them. In fact, it probably hurt them more than anything else could. I believe her best option would be to further pursue Robert. I don't know that his note had to be the end. I think committing suicide as soon as she read the letter without waiting to see what could be was acting on impulse instead of reasoning.
DeleteThroughout the novel, I noticed the symbolism of cigars. It always seemed to be associated with masculinity, specifically Victorian Era Manhood. Leonce smokes only cigars, while Robert Lebrun smokes cigarettes in the beginning. Robert is different than Leonce and other Victorian men. Robert was flirtatious with married women and desired to have Edna even though she was Leonce's. I thought it was interesting that while Robert rolled his cigarette he had a cigar in his pocket. This cigar was a gift from Leonce, which I think is significant because Robert eventually accepted the societal rules that Leonce lives by and left Edna to go to Mexico. In Chapter 36 when Robert is back in New Orleans with Edna, he pulls out a cigar to smoke. She asks who gave it to him because she knows he smokes cigarettes. Unlike before, Robert had bought this cigar. In fact, he purchased a whole box of cigars. This symbolizes that he has completely accepted the Victorian society, which foreshadows him leaving Edna again.
ReplyDeleteWow! I never even realized that but it makes a lot of sense. Also, age could be a consideration. Even today, it is more common for young men to smoke cigarettes and older men to smoke cigars. Robert changing to a cigar could also be symbolic of him growing up and realizing that no matter how he feels, it is not proper to attempt to carry on an affair with a married woman. He takes the mature route by removing himself from temptation and going to Mexico and leaving again once he realizes that his feelings for Edna are mutual.
DeleteThis is a really clever way to look at cigars and cigarettes throughout the novel. I completely agree that by Robert eventually switching from cigarettes to cigars shows his conformity to Victorian society. When he would flirt with married women he was his own free self and didn't cohere to societys standards, but after going to Mexico and coming back to talk to Edna, he had changed and was just another comnformist to the society. The cigarettes were his old self and the cigars are his new, conformist self.
DeleteThis is a really amazing connection. I think when Leonce gave Robert the cigar as a gift in the beginning of the novel it was foreshadowing that Robert was going to eventually accept the gift of the importance of being a gentleman. In the end of the novel when Robert has bought his own box of cigars and Edna doesn't think that they are his, it shows how much Robert has grown and changed and that Edna doesn't know the real him anymore.
DeleteI never noticed this!! This is very interesting. I didn't even consider Robert going through a change. I was mainly focused on Edna character shift.
DeleteEdna most likely recognizes that Robert is different now and that is what leads her to her death as well. The rolled cigarette man would have never left Enda and would have waited for her to leave Leonce. Although now he is a man, in the throws of society, with his cigars, he knows no women can escape her husband, so he leaves.
Chopin foreshadows that Edna’s story will not have a typical happy ending several times in The Awakening. This first occurs when Edna is describing one of her childhood memories to Madame Ratignolle; she says that she “felt as if I must walk on forever, without coming to the end of it.” This is similar to how she swims out into the ocean, not having a destination in mind, and this leads to her death. She even goes on to say that “sometimes I feel this summer as if I were walking through the green meadow again; idly, aimlessly, unthinking and unguided.” Just as she didn’t reach her destination as a child, she doesn’t reach her destination in the novel.
ReplyDeleteWhen she first begins to disobey her husband and resist his control, she is “disturbed with dreams that were intangible, that eluded her, leaving only an impression upon her half-awakened senses of something unattainable.” Chopin does not mean dreams as literal dreams but as Edna’s hopes of gaining freedom in her life. If these aspirations of hers are unattainable, then Edna is progressing towards nothing.
One of the most obvious instances of foreshadowing is when Edna is reading Roberts’s letter and Mademoiselle Reisz plays Isoldes song. Isoldes song is based on an opera about ill-fated love. In the opera, the song is sang by Isolde as she says goodbye to her dead lover. At first, when reading this, I thought that Robert was done for. But now, I realize that Edna is the one whose end is coming near.
If I had to pick a favorite scene in the book it is where Edna describes how Mademoiselle Reisz felt her shoulder blades “to see if my wings were strong” and told her that “The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.” It is obvious that Edna is the bird, since she is breaking the mother-woman societal norms that everyone around her is blindly following. Throughout the novel, Edna has never strongly opposed her circumstances, but has struggled like the weaklings Mademoiselle Reisz describes. Before Edna enters the water in her final swim before committing suicide, this same imagery reappears with a “bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water.”
I had noticed some of these foreshadows that you mentioned while reading the novel but now that I have seen them through you point of view and you have shown me more examples, I feel like I understand so much more now. I always knew there was a connection between the green meadow when Edna was a kid and the ocean as she was an adult but I thought the connection was just terror and Edna searching for freedom. Now that I have seen your opinions on the subject I understand the connection much more deeply and I completely agree that in both situations Edna didn't truly know what she was looking for and never quite reached her destination.
DeleteI think it's also important to note that in Chapter 7, when
DeleteAdele asks Edna where she was going in the meadow she states, "I don't remember now. I was just walking diagonally across a big field. My sun-bonnet obstructed the view. I could see the stretch of green before me, and I felt as if I must walk on forever, without coming to end the end of it. I don't remember whether I was frightened or pleased. I must have been entertained." It's important that Chopin parallels Edna's childhood with her current awakening. There is something naive and even innocent about Edna's awakening. The field paralleling the ocean as her awakening is also critical. When Edna was a child, her "bonnet" was obstructing her view. In a sense, she was wearing blinders. All she could see was what was in front of her, which was her freedom and endless possibilities. She wasn't aware that this was only afforded in her childhood because of her bonnet that a caretaker gave her to "protect" her. At the end of the novel, Edna is naked. Free of all clothing that may keep her from understanding who she truly is.
Additionally, when Edna was a child in that field, she wasn't sure if she was frightened or pleased, which also goes along with her adult awakening. It is not necessarily clear if Edna was frightened or pleased by her awakening. Chopin leaves rather ambiguous. All that is apparent is that that her awakening was inevitable, and ultimately tragic.
Going along with the symbolism of water, on page 42, chapter 13, Edna listened to Madame Antoine tell stories, and imagined the water vividly. She describes it with ghostly terms such as, "whispering voices of dead men," "phantom ships," and "misty spirit." Ghosts are automatically associated with fear, further explaining her small fear of what achieving her individuality will take.
ReplyDeleteI feel like a big cause of her awakening was due to her childhood. Adele tells her she acts like a child multiple times, which she does. She doesn't think before she acts and avoids responsibility if at all possible. She reflects on her childhood barriers as she is drowning at the end. She is ultimately killing herself to save her children from society's opinions of her desires. Although I don't agree that she is saving them, that is her goal. In chapter 25, she says, "the race horse was a friend and intimate associate of her childhood," explaining why she enjoys going to the races so much. The races with Arobin influence her affair with him-if she didn't go, maybe she wouldn't have grown so attached to him physically. This being one of many examples, I strongly believe that her childhood was one of the biggest influences, along with Robert, on her awakening.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, I thought it was interesting that you brought up her childhood because I personally never really thought if it much. Thinking about it now I agree that her childhood was a big influence on her, but I think it was more of a influence on her suicide then her original awakening. Looking back at her childhood at first I think Edna viewed it as more of a time of freedom; like when she describes a scene from her childhood where she's walking through a field that she compares to an ocean which symbolizes freedom in the book ("...of a meadow that seemed as big as the ocean to the very little girl..."). When Edna's father is introduced it's said that he "...coerced his own wife into her grave." which leads the reader to believe that her was also probably pretty hard on his daughters. Edna never really realized the limitations of her childhood. When she is about to commit suicide she recalls memories from her childhood of her father, sister, and a man she had loved when she was young. Like we talked about in class all of these memories represent oppression in her youth and the idea that her life might have ended up the same even if she didn't marry Leonce.
DeleteIn chapter 13, the section where Edna awakens after spending the night at Madame Antoine's house is very essnetial in characterizing Edna's behavior throughout The Awakening. “How many years have I slept?” she inquired. “The whole island seems changed. A new race of beings must have sprung up, leaving only you and me as past relics. How many ages ago did Madame Antoine and Tonie die? And when did our people from Grand Isle disappear from the earth?” (Chopin 50-51). After sleeping at Madame Antoine's house, Edna wakes up after feeling like she had slept for years. Edna only imagines her and Robert left on the island together, conveying her underlying desire to be isolated with only Robert. Everyone else is long gone. This is also symbolic of how Edna desires to be free from her society's standards. Her oppressive husband would no longer exist, the Creoles and their conformist personalities would no longer surround her, and she would be with the one she truly loves.At this point in the novel, Edna hasn't expressed her love for Robert yet, but it is apparent that she feels something for him. This is signifigant because Robert will spark her rebllious attitude. This type of fantasy or dream that Edna is speaking of will ultimately be the only way her and Robert can be together. The society in which they live in will not allow them to be together. As a married woman, it would not be simple for Edna to just leave her husband for another man and Robert won't give in to being with Edna because she is already married. In her dreams is the only way Edna and Robert can be together. This section characterizes Edna's actions throughout the novel by conveying how despite how much they love one another, and no matter what Edna does, her society just will not allow her an Robert's relationship to remain.
ReplyDeleteI really loved this view of her visit to the Cheneire because it was almost like the setting separate from Grand Isle and the other Creoles allowed her to awake and be her own self. It was a place she was able to act on instinct and do whatever she pleased such as napping for a very long time and then "tearing into a loaf of bread with her strong, white teeth" which makes her sound almost animal like. That furthers the idea that Cheneire Caminada made Edna act like she wanted which is something she wouldn't be able to do in Grand Isle or New Orleans so I think that backs your point that she's almost in an alternate reality or dream world when she is at Madam Antoine's home. I also think it could be noted that the visit to Chenerie Caminada is the first time that Edna goes out of her way to invite Robert to something which I think is foreshadowing of how the island is a place where Edna will let go of her inhibitions and simply do what makes her happy.
DeleteOne thing that has stuck out to me the most while reading this novel has been the irony. The biggest example of this that I had noticed was the marriage of Edna and Leonce. In chapter seven we learn that "Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident". Edna married Leonce only because her father and sister disapproved of it. I think that Edna wanted to feel a sense of freedom and control in her life during this time and the fact that this marriage was not ideal in the eyes of her family made it all the more fun. It always seems to me that in every persons life, if someone is told not to do something it makes them want to do that specific thing so much more. And for what? The thrill? The feeling of control and freedom you get when you are going against someone else's will? I think this is what Edna was trying to accomplish by marrying Lenore. She was searching for something more and thought that she might be able to find it in the controlling sense of power it gave her. The irony about this entire situation comes in to play through out the entire novel. Edna's marriage that was intended to set her free from the cages and boundaries of her family ended up trapping her inside a world surrounded by much thicker walls. She is now stuck in a marriage where she is constantly treated like a piece of damaged property that just needs to be fixed and world where divorce is not an option by the wife. One thing I always seem to notice is that her quest for freedom always ends up trapping her inside a smaller cage than the one she was in before.
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn, along with swimming leading to her death, I also felt like this was one of the largest instances of irony in the novel. It seems like Edna marries Leonce with the hope that she will eventually be able to love him because of the independence he initially presents, only to find out she is given the exact opposite of what she was looking for. This really made me wonder how far into their marriage did she conceive their first child and what made her want to have a second, we know these children were not made from love. As the children also present her with a cage like image, maybe it was the pressure of society and her almost having to be a mother out of necessity. With every passing day, it seems that more and more bars are added to the cage she is kept in only to make her feel smaller.
DeleteAbby, I never wondered about the conceiving of her children, but now that you have brought it up, it makes much sense. That also explains why she wasn't the ideal mother-woman. If the children weren't made from love, that gives her less connection with them. That thought makes the situation so much more ironic because if she wouldn't have married Leonce and possibly married someone she loved, maybe she would have been more of a mother-woman. Going back to trapping herself instead of intentionally free in herself, she could have possibly had them in hopes of finding love. Parents are known to have that love and connection with their children, which is what she desires: love and connection. So, in hopes of gaining this after having children, she just makes herself more miserable.
DeleteAs we discussed in our group last week, bonbons seem like a small and possibly unimportant figure in the novel, but they really present much more symbolism and meaning than we initially see. After looking it up, I learned that a bonbon is a small chocolate coated candy, much like a modern day Hershey kiss, bite sized and delicate. These are mentioned in the first chapter, Edna recalls that Leonce usually sends them to her on his lavish business trips and their children even ask for them specifically. However, we can recognize the bonbons as a symbol when Mr. Pontellier forgets to purchase them for his children upon their request. This small mistake of forgetting a simple candy for the children helps to shape his character and also adds to the overall idea that neither Edna or Leonce generally care for their children when not in their presence directly. If Leonce is capable of forgetting a simple desire of his biological children, then he is also able to disregard the desires of his wife until they are blatantly apparent and he begins to think she is ill. When Leonce does send bonbons and fruit to his wife while on a trip in chapter four, she decides to share them with her friends as a notion of kindness while they are in her home. The women praise Leonce's action of sending her these goods while away and his selection as they carefully select which ones to eat. The detail that the women include that Leonce must be the "best husband in the world" and Edna simply nods in agreement show both the view that society has of their marriage and the contrasting one that Edna does.This scene exemplifies the level that couples were held to in New Orleans at the time, the women were regarded as being placed on a pedestal and showered with gifts all the while staying at home and remaining as delicate and quiet figures which is why Edna's friends see her as so lucky to be married to a man like Leonce who sends her gifts while away. However, at this time Edna masks her secret desires to break away and be her own woman. To me, she seems to regret the bonbons as they represent her being a woman of the home and children. Also, it is always detailed that the bonbons are only sent to her, she is never able to buy them for herself, contributing to the societal view of women being a figure of the home only.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the bonbons too throughout the story and I agree, they are a symbol for Leonce's indifference. Leonce always complains about how Edna is not taking care of the children, but he never loves them either. Even a simple act, such as buying a bonbon, can mean a lot to a child because it carries with it love and thought. Also, I took the buying of the chocolate for Edna after Edna and Leonce had argued as highly materialistic; instead of actually talking to her about the issue, he uses his wealth to "solve" the problem.
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DeleteIn addition, Mademoiselle Reisz is often found eating chocolate or making chocolate fondue. Here is a woman who can not only buy her own chocolate, but also enjoy it. Chocolate seems to represent pleasure in this novel.
DeleteFurthering our discussion on Edna’s suicide last Wednesday, the more I thought about it, the more I viewed it as an act of bravery. I feel like viewing it purely as cowardice is looking at the situation through the lens of modern society where our attitude is that suicide is never the answer rather than taking into account how oppressive Victorian society truly was. If she lived on and asserted herself as an independent woman then she would’ve been ostracized by nearly everyone in her life and have left her sons to deal with being gossiped about for the rest of their lives. Even if she had chosen this route, it’s debatable as to whether or not she would’ve really been happy because Edna, unlike Mademoiselle Reisz, is a very social person and the choice to assert herself would have left her pretty much friendless other than Reisz and Dr.Mandelet. Her other option would’ve been to stay with Leonce to ensure that her children kept their good name and to have continue to live an unfilled life pent up as a housewife which would have ultimately left her caged and feeling dead on the inside. So really, either way, Edna wouldn’t have had a life she wanted and neither option could have brought her true happiness. I don’t think that we can really understand that feeling today because society is so much more equal regarding gender so it’s difficult to empathize with what she was going through. Prejudice obviously still exists, but at a much lesser scale than what Edna had to deal with and no matter what she did, she wouldn’t have been able to really find a way to protect her children’s name and be her own person. At one point, Edna told Madam Ratignolle that she would give her life for her children, but not herself. It is for this reason that I think Edna’s suicide would have been more of an act of bravery than anything else. I don’t think Edna saw her suicide as giving up which is how we typically think of it, I think she saw it more as letting go of society’s rules and setting herself free. She gave her life so that her action’s wouldn’t hurt her children and so she would no longer have to live like a caged bird that had a million things to say, but no one to listen to them. She’s saving her children from societal attacks and setting herself free at the same time which I think is pretty brave. The sea had been a symbol of freedom since the beginning of the novel and right before Edna ventured into it for the last time, it was described as “seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude”(Chapter 39) which I think adds to the argument that her suicide was brave because in killing herself, she was joining the place where she had always found herself to be the most free and, in a way, being symbolically reborn as someone separate from society and all the restrictions it imposed. It’s easy to say that suicide is always cowardly and there’s always another choice, but I’m not sure there really was any good option in Edna’s case so I don’t find it be fair to deem her a coward and I think she was very strong even if she was never able to find freedom in life.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of her suicide this way, but after reading this I definitely agree with you. What you said about the effect of her speaking out and doing as she pleases having a negative effect on her children makes a lot of sense, and I feel that this is often true even in today's society. People often judge others based upon things that their parents have done, such as being in jail, so I definitely agree that it would've been this way for his sons and they would have never been able to make a place for themselves in society.
DeleteI originally thought of her act of bravery and honestly was really surprised when we were asked if we thought her suicide was an act of cowardice and the majority of the class thought it was. I'm obviously not promoting suicide but I personally think it takes a brave person to recognize that your best option is death. Edna dared to explore the unknown- making a brave person of herself already and I didn't view her death as a cowardice surrender to society. Would you consider Edna brave if she didn't commit suicide? I honestly think that if she continued to live, it would be more of a death than literally dying.
DeleteEdna is a foil to both Adele and Mademoiselle Reisz. Adele is the typical "mother-woman"; she devotes her life to her husband and her children. She cannot understand Edna's inner turmoil of independence because she believes that her sole purpose in life is to cater to her family. She is not ostracized by society as Madame Reisz is because she conforms to Victorian expectations. Madame Reisz is on the other extreme; she is completely independent, needing no husband and no children because her passion is music.Her love for the piano fulfills her, as Adele's love for her family fulfills her. Nothing fulfills Edna, however. She is not completely like Madame Reisz or Adele. Edna goes through spells where she completely adores her children, like Adele, but then ignores them like they aren't her own. She is also not talented at drawing and is not completely absorbed by it; therefore, she is not a true artist like Madame Reisz. She does not fit into Victorian society because she is not willing to conform and be oppressed by her family, like Adele is, and she is also not willing to be ostracized and judged negatively,like Madame Reisz is.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of Edna, Adele, and Mademoiselle Reisz the way that you mentioned. It is as if Adele and Mademoiselle are on the two ends of the independence spectrum, and Edna is caught in the middle, searching for her identity. When reading The Awakening, I just saw Mademoiselle as a person that Edna wished to be like, not as a foil to Edna, but your explanation makes a lot of sense.
DeleteI believe Edna is in that awkward middle between Adele and Mademoiselle Reisz because of how she was raised. Edna was raised where societal norms were that of women who were dependent on their husband. Perhaps Mademoiselle Reisz had different upbringings, where it was okay to be so independent. While Edna does strive to be like Mademoiselle Reisz, her whole life she has been trained to believe one thing, when she tries to be something else, her former views get in the way. She still is dependent on males love, she still loves her children, like Adele, yet the problem is that she cannot be one extreme or the other. This is her true internal conflict throughout.
DeleteI think at the end of the novel, she realizes that she has been dependent on a male's love. "Today it is Arobin, tomorrow someone else". I think here she recognizes that she has been dependent on men. It's only when she kills herself does she break this cycle.
DeleteI agree. This is her last epiphany in her gradual awakening. She spends her last night alone, but awake, just like it was foreshadowed throughout the whole novel. Her dependence on men has been her one escape from loneliness. She wants the freedom. She wants independence. But she is never sure if she is willing to pay the price of complete solitude to achieve it. Ironically, trying to avoid solitude, the men in her life have eliminated her passion for anything else. All she has ever known is the passion or apathy a man can bring. Leonce had taken Edna, destroying her identity. Alcee and Robert give her passion, but the passion is an illusion that fills the void of pride in her identity. When she realizes that passion will fail her and leave her in her cage, all she is left with is her body. Any soul or purpose she might have had was long gone. She tells the doctor the night before her last awakening that she no longer wants to live in illusions, so when she finds that her passionate men are just that, she is empty. No, she is not like Adele or Mlle. Riesz, because both her true self, whatever it was, and her imagined fulfillment are dead.
DeleteSome of the more interesting symbols in The Awakening are the lady in black and the lovers because they aren’t relevant to the central plot of the story, but go a long way in revealing the struggles of Edna. In chapter twelve, when many of the characters are on the boat head to mass at Chênière Caminada, the lovers and the lady in black are mentioned in the same paragraph, one after the other. The lovers “... were all alone. They saw nothing, they heard nothing.” The lady in black “was counting her prayer beads for the third time.” This juxtapositioning of the focus of their attentions help to characterize them and reveal what they stand for. The lovers are wrapped up in themselves. They are so focused on each other that they don’t notice anything going on in the outside world. They are symbols of what young love, in the Victorian era ideology, should be. And also of what Leonce and Edna used to be, before she was a mother and disillusioned with her lot in life.The lady in black, mentioned after the lovers to show the progression of life, is most likely mourning the death of her husband. She is dressed in black, like someone in mourning, and is depicted a number of times with her prayer beads emphasized, showing she is praying for someone or something. This is very likely her husband. This woman shows what Edna will become if she continues down current path. Her identity will become so wrapped up in her husband, shown by the fact that the lady in black isn’t given a name or dialogue of any sort, that she will lose all sense of self when he goes. It represents a morbid future in which she has lost herself and is no longer a complete person, only a widow.
ReplyDeleteI saw this the same way. It seemed like the lady in black made Edna want to "awaken" even more, because she saw the road she was heading down. I think she even saw a little of the woman in herself, even if her own husband has not died. Edna kept to herself and seemed sad all through the beginning of the book, much like the widow.
DeleteGreat comments, Kyle! The young lovers are in a self-chosen solitude and they are blind to the outside world, just like Edna was when she was wearing her bonnet as a child. It seems that in order for people to blindly conform, their vision needs to be obstructed from the outside world.
DeleteI was wondering if Edna had never met Robert, would she still have had her "awakening?" I know that in class we talked about how if it would not have been him, it would have been someone else, but Robert did love Edna back. What were the chances of her meeting another guy whom she could not be with? The way I see it yes, she had other guys in her reach, but I do not think even Alcee would not have caused her to "awaken."
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing. As you said, she did have Alcee and other men around her at the time but none of them quite had the effect on her that Robert did. In my opinion Alcee couldn't have been the one to cause her "awakening" because although he cared for her she seemed to be quite indifferent to him when it came to things other than affection.
DeleteRobert, that is a very tough but great question. I was wondering that myself throughout the book. Robert was the main reason for her "awakening" as I interpreted it, so she may have had a later "awakening" at least or she would have never had it at all if she had never met Robert.
DeleteI found that marriage was a huge part of this novel and during the Victorian Era it defined a woman. I was wondering if there could have been a happy, ideal marriage for Edna? In the novel we see two different types of marriages within this novel, first we see the Ratignolle's marriage and it is the typical, seemingly ideal marriage. While, on the other hand, we have the Pontellier's whose marriage is rocky at best. Unlike Adelle, Edna is no longer willing to blindly follow Mr.Pontellier's orders and is so put off by the idea of marriage and the oppression it forces upon women that she doesn't even want to stay in her home because it is representative of the cage Leonce and her marriage has put her in. So, is there anyway that she could've been happy in a marriage even if it was with Robert, who by the end of the novel has given into societies norms and expectations?
ReplyDeleteLike you mentioned, could Edna have an ideal marriage? Could Edna even find the ideal partner to share the marriage with? Edna almost seems as though her ideal partner would be Edna Pontellier. Someone who shared her exact qualities.
DeleteThroughout the book I noticed that she was very sensitive, small things could sent her off into a spell of darkness or confusion. Given that she's sensitive, I would say that her Ideal partner would have to share the same exact beliefs that she did. Just to make sure she wouldn't be thrown off on a tangent. There isn’t a single character in the book that compares closely to Edna.
ReplyDeleteKate Chopin’s death as an author strangely shadowed Edna Pontellier’s suicide. Both characters, one real and the other fictitious, dared to venture to the unknown. Kate Chopin was far more in to her own personal awakening than Edna Pontellier. Chopin was so into her awakening that she wanted the world to know and wrote tThe Awakening (along with other books) to show her opinion. Both characters struggled with societies views of their opinions. When the awakening was first published, reviews were written along the lines of "poison" and "too strong a drink for moral babes”. The public was so stirred by this crazy book that it lead to difficulties in publishing stories and her next book being cancelled. She died five years after The Awakening. And just like Edna, she had went too far did not get to see a life that flew above societies expectations and rules.
Virginia, I love that you brought in information from Chopin's life. I didn't know that this book had such a negative effect on her future writings. The fact that her story is similar to Edna's makes the story that much stronger.
DeleteThe novel is full of so many symbols, though I feel one of the most important is the birds. The booming opens with a scene with a caged bird, speaking its mind and doing what patriots do: talking. Mr. Pontellier, who symbolizes society, becomes annoyed by the bird and leaves the room. The bird is supposed to symbolize and Edna and other women during this time period, speaking their mind freely and openly. Leone's annoyance shows us how the culture back then reacted when a women were to speak out or try to show some independence.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting how the house that Edna moves into is titled "the Pigeon house". It is much smaller than her old one, get is ironic because her symbol is a bird and she is putting herself into a smaller cage. I feel like this is where Edna finally snaps. She moves to the smaller house and it's almost as if the pressure from the house, husband, and kids gets to her and literally choked her to death. The tiny house is her breaking point even though it seems to be a major break through in her character development.
I also found it interesting how when Madame Reisz is playing the song "Solitude" to Enda, Edna imagines a naked man at the sea, watching a bird take flight and flying away from the problems. I think this bird and the man both represent Edna and it also foreshadows the ending. Enda is the bird flying away from her society restraints and spreading her wings.
At the end of the book, Enda finds her self in the same situation as the man in her image. She is naked and watching a bird, except now the birds is blundering back into the waters in which is was leaving. It also has a broken wing. Enda is this bird. Her wings are broken and she tried to escape her restraining life and it's pressures but instead she finds herself facing her problems and the only way to escape is to go to the water, just like the broken winged bird.
Jordan, I liked how you saw all the parallels and symbols of birds throughout the novel. I did catch the name "Pigeon House" to be a bit strange, but the connection that you made to its symbolism about birds helped me understand it better, especially the irony of her moving into a smaller home.
DeleteThroughout “The Awakening” there is strong symbolism of birds which I caught onto the most and interested me during the discussion. Right in the beginning of the first paragraph, Chopin discusses a parrot owned by the Madame Lebrun. The parrot is a symbol of women in society that are “free” or unmarried. Edna can be seen as a parrot, but like a parrot, has been domesticated. Parrots are viewed in the same way as unmarried women, meaning that they are easy to domesticate if caged up for a certain amount of time. Just as the Madame Lebrun’s parrot has been cooped up for so long and has become domesticated and silenced except to repeat what its owner’s say, Edna has become caged and domesticated with the duties of a housewife and mother and does not speak for herself, but instead parrots what she is told. But the other bird that Madame Lebrun owns, a mockingbird, represents the ideal Victorian woman. Unlike the loud and noisy parrot, mockingbirds are quiet and dainty, not being seen or heard. The closest character that parallels the qualities of the mockingbird is Madame Reisz. She was the ideal women of the Victorian social constructs, being silent and obedient, limited in her communications and ideals.
ReplyDeleteWhat sticks out to me the most in this book is the symbolism. I feel like every character is a symbol for a larger concept. Edna is a symbol for breaking free, Ms. Reisz is a symbol for nonconformity, Mr. Pontellier and his kids are symbols for oppression, Robert is a symbol for freedom, Madame Ratignolle is a symbol for conformity, the two lovers is a symbol for pure love, the lady in black is a symbol for a lady whose value in life has died with her husband. Piano playing is an interesting symbol in the book. As we discussed in class, it has multiple meanings. For the Farival twins, piano playing represented conformity. Their worth and identity was found in playing the piano for the entertainment of others. They played to be cute. On the other hand, Ms. Reisz played the piano because it is her passion. She rarely played the piano for others. The only time she ever did was because Robert begged her, and she only agreed because she wanted to play for Edna. Ms. Reisz played for the art of it and her passion for it.
ReplyDeleteIt strikes me that Mlle. Reisz and the Farival Twins partake in the same activity. The Farival Twins are just living up to expectations. They play for the cute factor. How precious those two to play a duet together like good sisters. Mlle. Riesz plays for herself. There is something expressive in her music that does not appeal to everyone. The way she plays the piano moves Edna. So what exactly is the difference between Mlle. Riesz playing and the Twins playing? Mlle. Riesz strives for non-conformity and the Twins the opposite. The idea of non-conformity frees Edna; she is allowed to stand free and alone. My real question is what does it mean that the twins and Mlle. Riesz are doing the same thing? If Mlle. Riesz is supposed to represent non-conformity, why does she do the same activity as identical twins?
ReplyDeleteMy idea is that it represents Chopin's ideas on art. Many types of people can dabble in the field, but art is not art unless its different. Copying art is cute. Pretty empty. Creating art is bold and beautiful. Mlle. Riesz is an artist, not just because of her piano skills, but of how she lives against the expectations of society. Art takes courage and perseverance. She tells Edna many times what kind of life may come of it. Therefore, it is ironic that the Farival Twins even attempt to play the piano, because art could never come from that kind of conformity. So it's cute. Not ground-breaking or challenging, but cute.
Something else I noticed was how isolated Edna was even in New Orleans. I figured once she went back to New Orleans, there would be people to talk to and things to do, but she becomes secluded to her normal duties. She disobeys them, but she does not ever go out looking for stimulation from others. I think she feels that the society of New Orleans is what has trapped her here. No matter who she finds, she will just be Leonce's wife, since he handles the business. I guess it is more comforting to embrace the space in the middle of the cage than to always be banging on the bars.
After her full awakening, she realizes that breaking through the bars of the people around her life her husband, kids, and Robert, she will just fall. Society has already clipped her wings. She has nowhere to fly anymore, that is why the only way out of the cage is drowning.