Symbolism in The Awakening Essay

The Awakening

We use symbols everyday. Symbols are used to refer to something else and in some cases may suggest another meaning. The author Kate Chopin uses many symbols from birds to the ocean in her novel.The final, powerful scene of The Awakening by Kate Chopin provides a fitting end to Ednas long struggle between expectation and desire. Ednas traditional role of wife and mother holds her back from her wish to be a free woman. The sea in the novel is a symbol of freedom and escape in Ednas mind, and she willingly embraces it.

Swimming in the ocean is both a physical and spiritual experience; Edna feels control over her body and over her soul. 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.(25) For Edna, the sea represents such a true, safe place, in which everything is real. 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.(p 47) This action of swimming suggests that Edna wants to rebel against status of mother and wife. The readers can infer that other characters 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 ending of the novel ends with Edna committing suicide or releasing herself to the ocean. Based on Ednas action, the reader can infer that Edna is now happy and free from society. The symbolism of the sea used enhances the novel by putting it on another level so that it becomes a metaphor of Edna's conflict. It is through this that one can fully understand Edna's dilemma.