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The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is about a young woman, named Edna Pontellier, who comes to realize her trapped state in society and who slowly awakens to a new freedom of expression, sexuality, and self-confidence. The author uses symbolism throughout the novel to convey these changing attitudes, to define Edna as a character, and to foreshadow important events and moods. This symbolism makes the novel richer with meaning and reveals Kate Chopin as a masterful storyteller. The symbolism that is used throughout the novel are bird imagery, the sea, two young lovers and a lady in black who appear together at certain points of the story. A symbol that Chopin uses masterfully is that of birds. The novels first sentence describes a caged parrot, and the description goes on to include a mockingbird that hangs nearby.
These caged birds take on significance as the plot develops. It becomes evident that they symbolize Edna's own captivity. When Edna begins in a sense to cry out against her captivity, as the parrot does, the conservative society seeks to silence her. This is evidenced when the parrots cries begin to annoy the people around it. [ Monsieur Facial ] insisted upon having the bird removed and consigned to regions of darkness (Chopin 1030). This protest against the parrots cry parallels society's protest against Edna's freedom from marriage and motherhood. Birds are used throughout the story and they foreshadow Edna's actions and moods.
The birds also represent freedom that Edna is gaining. A birds ability to fly is often associated with endless freedom. Edna is like the parrot in the beginning of the story, mimicking what society tells her. It is Mademoiselle Reisz that stresses the importance of what a strong bird must be or become in order to defy societal confines.
Reisz told her that in order to soar above the level of plain tradition and prejudice she must have strong wings (1076). She is extending the freedom symbol to also include strength and applying that to Edna. Mademoiselle Reisz does not think that Edna has these wings. Allen stated, It is Reisz who contributes the wounded bird image, feeling Edna's shoulder blades to see if her wings are strong. The full meaning of this image cannot be appreciated without noting its source. Birds there have been before in the story, birds in cages signifying the spirit bound, wild birds generally signifying freedom from earthbound conditions, but the identification of Edna with a bird and with the possibility of broken wings comes first from her fellow artist, an ugly bird perhaps but with sound wings (229 - 30).
Another example of bird imagery is when she is about to commit suicide. Just before Edna enters the ocean for the last times she sees a wounded bird. A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water (Chopin 1100). This image hints to the reader of Edna's impending death.
It also shows that she has failed to fly above and beyond society and has been broken and destroyed by it instead. The authors heavy use of this symbol shows that Edna can be synonymous with a bird escaping from a cage and trying to fly away, only to be broken and killed in the end. Chopin uses the sea to illustrate Edna's quest for freedom. It opens on Grand Isle in the Gulf of Mexico where the Pontellier's are summering, and it closes there (Kauffmann 38).
When Edna first learns to swim she immediately takes a liking to it. She seems to find new freedom in swimming far beyond everyone else. A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before (Chopin 1033). This action of swimming beyond the others is symbolic of her quest to rebel against her status of wife and mother.
The other swimmers have conformed to their roles, while Edna attempts to escape hers. This is why she commits suicide by drowning herself at the end. It is as if she attempts to swim out beyond her restraints, but does not have the strength to stay afloat without the help of society, and therefore she drowns. This symbolic swim is synonymous with the overall plot of Edna separating herself from society. She finds it impossible to live without society and yet it is impossible for her to live with it as well. The sea is the medium of Edna's awakening.
Walking by the sea, Edna senses the limitless potential of her soul and begins to question her life A symbol of indefinite and fearful power, the sea is also empowering Swimming in the ocean is both a physical and spiritual experience; Edna feels control over her body and over her soul (Christ 29 - 30). The sea is an escape for Edna and represents the freedom she yearns for. Chopin describes this by saying, The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft close embrace (Chopin 1101). For Edna, the sea represents such a true, safe place, in which everything is real. The Awakening is continually evoking the sea throughout its pages. It is the backdrop of the first section of the novel, set on Grand Isle, and it returns in its last pages when Edna commits suicide (Pontuale 44).
The vivid description of the ocean seem to call to Edna's inner self to release her inhibitions to become free from herself and others. The sea will accept her and will not judge her. The sea was also a limitless place with no boundaries or rules regulating it. The sea is seductive and symbolic of rebirth. The description of the sea as being seductive occurs twice in the book. It appears first at the beginning of Edna's awakening and then it is repeated at the end.
The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation (Chopin 1022). Edna's realization that she will never be accepted as the person she aspires to be causes her to be drawn back to the sea. Emotions flood her completely that she is seduced by the sea. Edna ends her journey where she had begun it, in the sea. The narrator sees things that Edna does not notice. The two young lovers and their ominous shadow, the lady in black, are presented throughout the novel as foreshadowing.
The mysterious and somewhat sinister lady in Black, counting her rosary and haunting the equally shadowy pair of young lover- the lovers, shoulder to shoulder creeping; the lady in black gaining steadily upon them -suggest similar tensions existed even in the much less repressed life Edna shared with the Creoles on Grand Isle (Called 283). These visual images appear and reappear throughout the novel. They are seen as touches of paint upon the canvas and as indistinct yet evocative figures which accompany Mrs. Pontellier and Robert Lebrun during their course of their intimacy (Ebay 266). Chopin also incorporates light and dark imagery. The two young lovers are always seen during the day in the open sunlight.
However, the lady in black is seen as an ominous figure ascending upon the cheerfulness of the two young lovers. An example of this is when Edna and Adele go to the beach together. The lovers and lady in black are seen from a distance. The lady in black is always following the lovers.
The lady in black was reading her morning devotions on the porch of a neighboring bath-house. Two young lovers were exchanging their hearts yearnings beneath the childrens tent, which they had found unoccupied (Chopin 1024). The lady in black seemed to symbolize the constricting norms of society that follow any free spirit. Chopin uses the bird imagery, the sea, and the two lovers and lady in black as symbols to illustrate depth and meaning in her novel. The symbolism used enhances the novel by putting it on another level so that each symbol becomes a metaphor of Edna's conflict. It is through this that one can fully understand Edna's dilemma.
Kate Chopin and her novel, The Awakening, have received tremendous criticism throughout the twentieth century. However, this novel demonstrates the movement towards individuality and freedom with Edna Pontellier's need for social independence. It is a fairly easy piece of literature to read. 321
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