Essay on The Significance of Art in Chopin's The Awakening

In The Awakening, the mother-women were “women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels (Chopin 19).” They readily relinquished their individual identities. Madame Ratignolle exemplified the role of the mother-woman as she was defined by and found pleasure in her roles of both wife and mother: she “played [the piano] very well, keeping excellent waltz time and infusing an expression into the strings that … inspired… keeping up her music on account of the children… because she and her husband both considered it a means of brightening the home and making it attractive (Chopin 61).” Although Edna revels in motherhood, she believes that there is an ideal truth beyond it. This truth, according to Dyer, cannot coexist with the social, the moral, or even the biological obligations of motherhood (105). Edna, therefore, finds

It seems that a “radiant peace settled upon her” only “ [as] she at last [finds] herself alone…[as] the children were gone” (Chopin 80). Only when she isn’t expected to behave the way a mother-woman should, does Edna feel peace and the visual imagery associated with the word radiant characterizes her as much happier without her societal role. It is only after Edna understands the potential fulfilment that she can gain by disregarding the social expectations in place for women that she attempts to find it. No longer does she long for the “little glimpses of domestic harmony” instead feeling pity for Adele Ratignolle’s “colourless existence” (Chopin, 183). Here the word “colourless” contrasts with “radiant” as something “radiant” cannot be without colour. Colour and radiance become symbolic of a life fully lived, one including personal happiness and identity. By awakening, Edna seems not only more aware but also more conscious of the rigidity and “colourlessness” that she has borne for so long. She is no longer confined by the expectation that women should sacrifice their own personal happiness and identity to fulfil those of their

Edna Pontellier was a very respectable woman from the 1800's that was unsatisfied with her situation in life. Mrs. Pontellier was a mother of two sons and had a husband whom she adored at the beginning of their marriage, but overtime they have became distant and her sexual desires were no longer being fulfilled. She soon broke the role society had casted upon her and became rebellious by leaving her womanly duties behind. Kate Chopin reveals Edna Pontellier's character through the her actions, through dialogue, and by telling the reader the thoughts and feelings that are circulation through Mrs. Pontellier.

Mademoiselle Reisz was an inspiring figure to Edna because she was single, she did what she wanted, and she was a marvelous pianist. The people at Grand Isle did not approve of Mademoiselle Reisz yet they were hesitant to vocalize, that is everyone except Mr. Pontellier. He warned her that she was not someone who his wife, Edna, should be associated with. The manner in which Enda reacted to her playing the piano, and Mademoiselle Reisz’s response demonstrated that she understood Edna’s thoughts even if for a brief second. “The young woman was unable to answer; she pressed the hand of the pianist convulsively. Mademoiselle Reisz perceived her agitation and even her tears. She patted her again upon the shoulder as she said: ‘You are the only one worth playing for’”(Chopin 35).She appreciated Edna’s demonstration of emotion because she also did not fit into the stereotype that society adored, and

Madame Reisz is the representation of the social consequences of insisting on a developed self. Though she is a talented artist, she is also depicted as disagreeable and rude. Unsurprisingly, she is often alone. By contrast, the Ratignolles are a prime example of the Victorian family. Adele is a living bourgeois picture of a woman and, along with her husband, represents the expected patriarchal family: “The Ratignolles understood each other perfectly. If ever the fusion of two human beings into one has been accomplished on this sphere it was surely in their union”. Madames Reisz and Ratignolle “not only represent important alternative roles and influences, but they suggest different plots and conclusions.” Although Edna can embrace neither of these extremes, she does not. The narrator’s point of view is not explicitly judgmental, but Edna lies between the two extremes and one seems to be portrayed in a much more positive way than the other, as we notice by the descriptions granted to both female characters. Reisz is the antithesis of Adele Ratignolle, who is the “embodiment of every womanly grace and

In addition to the incorporation of symbolism, Kate Chopin writes the story of Edna Pontellier with descriptive, sensory imagery that significantly follows her path of discovery. Throughout the entirety of the text, Edna finds herself beginning to long for Mademoiselle Reisz’s

In Kate Chopin’s novel, “The Awakening”, she introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier, a woman with an independent nature, searching for her true identity in a society that expects women to be nothing more than just devoted housewives and nurturing mothers. In Edna’s journey of self-discovery, one must recognize the impact that other characters have had on her as well. Two characters that have had the biggest impact on Edna were Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz. Even though these two women are very different, both of them greatly influence Edna’s decisions about her life. The ideas that both women presented to Edna

Kate Chopin tells a story about a young woman named Edna in the late 1800’s. Edna is a childish woman in the beginning of the story but as the story goes on she grows up and wants to be as independent as she can. Edna is very rebellious of her husband, Leonce Pontellier; she grows to no longer love him. She finds her new born self in a secret lover named Robert but she does become depressed once he leaves for Mexico without notice but for one day. She breaks the social norms of society and does things her way and does not care to please anyone else but herself.

Chopin uses revealing details to display a triumphant tone about independence to prove that in order to be truly satisfied in life, one must discover what they are really capable of and gain independence and individuality on their own. In the beginning of the story, Edna Pontellier struggles to find freedom in her life. She seems to be held back by her unsteady marriage with her husband, Léonce, and does not feel truthfully pleased with herself. She is rather unsure about her life and the people that she is surrounded by daily. “Every step she took toward relieving herself of obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to "feed upon opinion" when her own soul had invited her” (Chopin 94). Edna starts to enjoy her new life without her husband around. This specific movement towards freedom and individuality appears to be slightly unavoidable in Edna’s case, particularly because her husband has been away in New York for a while. However, she quickly adjusts to doing things on her

2. “She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world,” (57 Chopin). Edna was becoming an anomaly in society, as she became

Chopin tells of this younger woman with an older husband who runs with her intuition in search of her own mind. Another presentation of Romanticism in The Awakening is described during Edna's search for individualism when she says of her that "...no longer was she content to 'feed upon opinion' when her own soul had invited her" (124). Edna Pontellier has a desire to be her own person in her own world when she is placed in a setting that refuses to permit such an action.

Not only does Chopin use Edna and Adele’s views to contrast them, but also physically describes them as opposites. Edna is described as a sticking woman that is captivating “Mrs. Pontellier’s eyes were quick and bright; they were a yellowish brown, about the color of

Though Yaeger unveils the “social acquiescence” underlying the romance plot as distorting what most scholars identify as Edna’s social defiance, she unearths emancipatory strategies within Chopin’s text that prove far more

She has let her artistry become everything she is and in her small abode her “magnificent piano crowded the apartment” (81). Music is so much a part of her life that it takes up her residence. It is there everyday and always seen. The piano ocupes her and is not there for the entertainment of others. Reisz is a better artist than Adéle and even Edna knows this. Although she knows that Adéle does not particularly care for her new art as it has nothing to do with being a mother- woman, Edna goes to show her new work regardless. This is because Edna “knew that Madame Ratignolle’s opinion in such a matter would be next to valueless … but she sought the words of praise and encouragement that would help her to put her heart into her venture” (73). Then Adéle does what she does best: she makes other people happy. Adéle gives her all the empty compliments she has to fan Edna’s sudden infatuation with art. She wants to know that she is an artist and that her work is good even if it is not. Edna seeks the safe praise of a woman who would mother and nurture her pieces, but with it she cannot grow.  Adéle’s words keep her at the safe level of making art for the home rather than for the

In several instances, she casually slips in French phrases and words. For example, the characters are referred to by social titles and not first names such as Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz. The central issue and theme is Edna's struggle with being the ideal, cookie cutter doting wife. She finds it hard to be as domestic and submissive as the women who were raised in a Creole household and community. She attempts to be a 'mother-wife" like the other women and ultimately ends up taking her own life because she despises it so much. Even though this work was published in 1899 it is still relevant today. Chopin's stories go hand in hand with modern feminism and the stigma that marriage is the ultimate goal.