In one of her more controversial pieces of work, The Awakening, Kate Chopin uses many mechanisms to accentuate the quest for freedom from society that her protagonist, Edna Pontellier, must go through to achieve an ultimate victory. Some more prominent examples of these literary mechanisms within the novel are those of sleep patterns and clothing imagery. By using clothing imagery and the change in Edna's sleeping patterns though out the novel, Chopin shows how Edna changes and grows until she accomplishes her final goal.
To the outsider, Chopin's tragic heroine, Edna, has a wonderful life, a lovely house, a doting husband, and two healthy, handsome young boys. Defying the stereotype society has set up for her, Edna battles the pressures of 1899 that command her to be a subdued and devoted housewife. When Edna and her family are first introduced to the reader, they are vacationing on Grand Isle, a popular summertime retreat for well to do Creoles. The variation in Edna's sleep patterns is initially set up in the third chapter when Mr. Pontellier comes home from his daily ventures and finds her asleep. Léonce promptly awakens Edna from her sleep and begins to tell her of the day's events. After being forced awake by her husband, Edna goes outside, starts to cry and has trouble going back to sleep. Edna's episode with Léonce marks the start of Edna's strange sleeping habits.
Later, in the thirteenth chapter, Edna and Robert Lebrun travel to Cheniere to go to church. While at the church, Edna starts to feel drowsy and light-headed, she gets up and leaves, with Robert trailing behind. When she gets outside, Edna tells Robert that she is not feeling well. Robert, in turn, leads Edna to Madame Antoine's home to rest. At first, Edna only sleeps lightly, but later she is induced into a long, comfortable slumber. The night before, Edna had barely slept because she felt that she had to rebel against the insistence of Léonce, who was forcing her to sleep.
During this struggle, Edna awakens from the slumber of southern femininity. ... In actuality, Edna's suicide becomes a victorious ending for Edna. ... Once the removal of the clothing is complete, Edna has reached her final destination. ... Her achievement of final self-independence is represented by her ultimate sleep. ... Edna's suicide is her final sleep. ...
In the novel, The Awakening, Edna Pontellier goes through many changes. The three biggest changes that she goes through coincide with a different house; on Grand isle Edna is still acting how a wife in the 19th century is supposed to. ... On Grand Isle, Edna acts how a wife is expected to act. ... When Robert and Edna go to Madame Antoine's house, Edna begins to awaken even more. While she is undressing to go take a nap, "She stretched her strong limbs that ached a little. ...
Edna's "awakening" begins when Edna starts "to realize her position in the universe as a human being." (page 57) At this point, Edna starts to think for herself. ... Edna's awakening is well illustrated when she wakes (literally) and asks "How many years have I slept?" (page 85) Edna relates her life to that point to her own slumber, unthinking and passive until she "awakens." ... Just before Edna goes into the water, a "bird with a broken wing," (page 175) symbolizing Edna, drowns, as does she. ...
Edna fails because her wings are too weak. ... As she undresses, the reader is presented with an internal voyeuristic view. ... Instead of running away somewhere and living alone, perhaps supporting herself as an artist in the manner of Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna finds herself thinking of her sons' reputations and how they would be treated were she to leave. In the end she comes to a final compromise, giving all that she says she will to her children. ... Again, Edna feels like a trapped bird. ...
They are the answers to how Edna Pontellier finally received what she wanted- peace, and set herself free. ... During her vacationing, Edna meets Robert Lebrun. ... Edna begins to see things differently and completely disregards the ideas and customs of how a woman, mother, and wife should be portrayed, thinking nothing of such actions. ... Edna's final reach was in her suicide. ... Edna gave up her fantasy for a reality, which would lead her to and endless sea of eternal happiness....
Therefore, in a final assertion of the strength of her independent, awakened self and in repudiation of societal convention and gender roles, she decides to commit suicide and free her soul from the bondage of life in a Victorian patriarchal society. ... Edna responds, "I don't wish to go in, and I don't intend to. ... Edna leaves hastily after receiving Mademoiselle Reisz's address. ... Edna realizes that her actions will directly affect how society views her children. ... This Ultimate awakening drives her final act in assertion of her awakened independence of s...
Edna St. Vincent Millay, was an American poet of the twentieth century. She was born in Rockland, Maine on February 22, 1982. In 1904, Edna's parents, who had been separated for three years, finalized the end of their marriage with a divorce. After the divorce, Edna and her two sisters, Norma and Ka...
Before her transformation, Edna is very poised and controlled. ... All summer, Edna has been attempting to learn how to swim with lessons from nearly everyone at Grand Isle. ... "Another time, [Edna] would have gone in at his request. ... Edna's "will had blazed up, stubborn and resistant she could not realize why or how she should have yielded [ever to her husband]."" ... At their departure, Edna becomes emotional and even cries. ...
By learning to swim, Edna has embraced her freedom. ... She is "Edna,"" a woman with her own hopes and dreams. On an afternoon outing, Edna becomes ill. ... Robert tears Edna's heart out with his final words to her, scrawled on a piece of paper: "I love you. ... As Edna feels the walls of society and responsibility closing in on her, she escapes to Grand Isle, the birthplace of her awakening, one final time. ...
