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The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, is a unique and exclusive novel that shows us a woman, who through her stirring, or sparking comes to her senses and grasps reality. Throughout the whole story the main character (Edna Pontellier) fluctuates between two different places or settings. Her home in New Orleans and her summer home in Grand Isle. By using these contrasting settings Chopin represents opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of her work. The novel starts of in Grand Isle, where Edna's summer home is located, and pretty much ends here too. Edna's home in Grand Isle is like a luxury resort while her home in New Orleans is more like a down to earth dwelling.
New Orleans seems to be dull and unoriginal while Grand Isle is extravagant and full of exuberance. Almost everyday in Grand Isle Edna would go down to the beach and relax, but in New Orleans she always seemed to be confined to solitude in her desolate antique-like home. Whenever Edna Pontellier was in New Orleans she always seemed to be outspoken or frank, but when she was in Grand Isle her true revelation, or awakening was taking shape. New Orleans and Grand Isle each represent a different mood or state of mind of Edna Pontellier. Grand Isle represents Edna's energetic or wild side, while New Orleans represents Edna's shy and dull side.
When Edna is in Grand Isle she always has company, whether it be her family or her friends. But when Edna is in New Orleans she is always alone (with the exception of her pigeon house party). Here, in New Orleans, she always seems to drown in her sea of woes and anguish. By showing how these two settings differ (Grand Isle and New Orleans) and what each represent we can express the meaning of Kate Chopin's novel. Throughout the whole story, The Awakening, Chopin tries to show us how women like Edna Pontellier wake-up and realize that they shouldnt be oppressed and confined to a set way of living. In Edna's life New Orleans is the place of her solitude and rudimentary confinement while Grand Isle is the place of her awakening or better stated, birth.
Chopin tries to show us, by using contrasting settings, that there are two types of women in this world, women with ideas and women who express their ideas. In The Awakening Edna Pontellier is a woman with ideas and ethics who is oppressed but eventually finds the courage to express her ideas. Through contrasting settings Chopin seems to vividly describe Edna's metamorphosis with the greatest of ease. Who knows, maybe Kate Chopin went through this shift of opinion or attitude as well.
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Research essay sample on Edna Pontellier Grand Isle
