Symbolism in The Awakening Essay

The Use of Symbols in The Awakening

Throughout The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, much of the deeper meaning behind the story can be seen though the use of symbols. These symbolic elements help create a deeper connection to Ednas world and her eventual awakenings. Some symbols used again and again throughout the story are birds, houses, art, clothing and the ocean. Each of theses things is connected to Edna in a way that helps her become the women she never thought she could be. Ultimately Edna awakens into someone completely different from the women she once was. Her Awakening creates in her a realization that her life is not being fulfilled and eventually she takes her own life.

In The Awakening birds appear throughout the novel, Chopin uses birds to mean different things at different times; however, they are a constant symbol throughout the book. Each time a bird is used in the book it expresses some kind of emotion. In some aspects birds represent freedom. Edna feels trapped in a bad marriage, in a bad life and she longs to fly away from her problems. Caged birds also represent the entrapment of women. Maya Angelou, a modern poet often uses caged birds in her poetry proving that this is a common symbol in literature.

At the start of the novel Chopin sees Edna as a caged bird. And for a little while that is okay because Edna does not begin to awaken right away; however, once her feelings for Robert, her unrequited lover, develop her awakening starts to blossom. In the nineteenth century women were little more than slaves to their husbands. Not being able to express their own feelings, many life Edna, became depressed. Edna feels this way before her awakening. She escapes her family, her marriage and her fears by moving into the pigeon house. Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual (p. 154)

Another place that bird imagery is used subtly is in describing Edna with her children. Edna is not a very motherly character; most of the women in her circle of friends are very maternal, and because Edna is not, she is noticeably different. Ednas husband even criticizes her mothering skills when he said: He reproached his wife with her inattentions, her habitual neglect of the children (p. 15). Edna cannot help that she is not a maternal person. However her friends and husband clearly do not understand. The subtle use of birds comes into play when Chopin describes the women living on Grand Isle as fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood (p. 15). Edna does not protect her children and its not because she hates them or even dislikes them; she just knows that they hold her back Eventually, she grows to resent them because she feels like she gave up her life for them and in many ways she did.

Also, Mademoiselle Reisz, a good friend of Ednas, is continually telling Edna to be strong like a bird. Chopin writes, She felt my shoulder blades to see ifmy wings were strong, she said.,The bird that would soar above the level plain

of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth (p. 109). Mademoiselle Reisz is trying to tell Edna to move on with her life. To be truly happy Edna needs to rebel against her society and her family and her insecurity and just live a new life. Mademoiselle is trying to tell Edna that she has the strength to do all the things she so badly wants to do. But in order for her to deny her family and her society she must first realize that she doesnt care what other people think about her, and Edna has problems with doing that.

The last time a bird is used as a symbol is when Edna is near the ocean at the end of the novel. Edna is standing on the same beach where her awakening began. She is staring at a bird: A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water (p. 188). She realizes that her life can never be fulfilled because Robert is too frightened to love her back. Edna looking at the helpless bird, as is falls into the water, decides to become like the bird. She swims into the water knowing she will never come back. Ultimately Edna decides that her life is not worth living if she cannot live fully. She knows that without love and happiness she will never have a complete life.

Another symbol used repeatedly throughout The Awakening is the house. There are many houses in the book. There is the house on Grand Isle, the house in New Orleans, the pigeon house and the house where Edna falls asleep. Each of

the houses have there own meaning and collectively they represent the soul of the person living in the house. Homes are very intimate; therefore, they stand for the very core of a person. In this case they reflect Ednas feelings at different stages throughout the novel.

The first two houses are cages for Edna. Her awakening begins and she feels like a caged animal. At the house on Grand Isle she is supposed to be the perfect parent and she is not. In the house in New Orleans she is expected to be a constant hostess and a concerned and loving wife and she is not. Edna is a unique woman, one who never appreciates or cares for her husband. Once her awakening begins, being in the house in New Orleans is very draining for Edna. Her parents home in Kentucky is a lot like her home in New Orleans. Both are places where Edna is forced to conform to society and the rules, which her husband imposes on her. In Ednas mind both of these places are full of bad memories.

The Pigeon House is a place where Edna can sleep, dream and create her own world. Grand Isle itself is a place full of mostly women. This troubles Edna because does not fit in. She creates her own world in the Pigeon house as a way to escape from the duties she faces as a woman. The pigeon house allows Edna to have freedom. Edna has never experienced freedom before she moves. Edna says I know I shall like it, like the feeling of freedom and independence (p. 54). Once she has moved into the pigeon house, she is no longer tied to her husband or his money.

The Pigeon House also gives Edna a place to explore the possibility of being with men. When she kisses Arobin in her husbands house she feels guilty. However the first night she spends with him in the Pigeon house is different. She feels free and excited. Once again the Pigeon House allows Edna to rebel against the society that she hates so much. When she is within her home she can be careless and free. It excites every part of her. The freedom she experiences within her new home allows her to grow and gain the strength she needs to allow herself to embrace her awakening.

Yet another symbol in the novel is that of art. Although art as a symbol pertaining to Edna is seen more toward the end of the novel, Edna is encouraged by her good friend Mademoiselle Reisz to try her hand at painting and becoming an artist. Ultimately Edna fails at becoming an artist; however, it is important that she tried because it is a major step in her becoming the fully awakened Edna.

Mademoiselle Reisz also sees Edna becoming an artist as a test for her individuality and strength. Edna is not strong enough to become an artist and that is why she fails. She also fails in part because she is not able to defend herself against the society that she hates. The harsh reality is that Edna is a person with great intentions but no strength to go though with them.

Music as art also strikes a cord with Edna. She becomes entranced with the way that Mademoiselle Reisz plays the piano. Mademoiselle Reisz plays the piano with her soul she gives it everything and that excites Edna. Chopin says "The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reisz struck upon the piano sent a keen tremor down Mrs. Pontellier's spinal column. It was not the first time she had heard an artist at the piano. Perhaps it was the first time she was ready, perhaps the first time her being was tempered to take an impress of the abiding truth." (p. 28). The music truly helps to awaken Edna in the sense that it makes her realize that the way Mademoiselle Reisz and Adle Ratignolle play piano are completely different. Reisz plays from her soul, and Ratignolle just plays to make her friends and husband happy. After hearing Reisz play, Edna realizes that Ratigonlles playing is shallow. Prior to Edna having her awakening she might not have noticed the difference.

Lastly, the ocean plays an enormous role in the life and death of Edna. The ocean symbolizes both lifeand freedom and the metaphorical notion of death, and in many ways, it is the most important symbol of the whole novel. Ednas life is changed forever when she learns to swim. Chopin writes, "A feeling of exultation overtook her... She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. Shewanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before" (p. 41). This is the beginning of Ednas new outlook on life. From this point forward Edna begins to change her life slowly. The ocean represents freedom at this point for Edna and for the reader. She wants to swim where no person has ever swum before, meaning she wants to be free from her life.

Now, we all know that the sea does not speak, and at the same time we are all too accustomed to metaphors which give it a voice. But this voice exists in the mind of the user of the metaphor, in our case, the narrator of the novel. The voice of the sea is described as the alluring, tantalizing, persistent utterance of a potentially dangerous natural force (Malzahn p.31)

According to Malzahn, Ednas enticed by the sea because she is weak. She is not ever going to be satisfied with being a homemaker and a housewife. However, she cannot let herself go enough to become like Reisz. She is stuck in a place that she hates and the sea still represents ultimate freedom for her.

The ocean also symbolizes lifes ups and downs. Edna and Roberts romance blossoms on and around the ocean. The birth of her feelings for Robert plays a huge role in her awakening. Also the fact that the ocean brings back memories from her childhood is also an indicator that the ocean represents life. Edna has a memory with sitting on the beach of herself as a child running though the meadow in Kentucky. The memory causes her some concern because she doesnt know if it is good or bad. This reflects internal turmoil. She is confused but she wants so badly to embrace the new feelings that she is experiencing, being on vacation and being reborn into this new Edna.