Introduction
The Awakening is one of the most popular novels by the American writer Kate Chopin, who is famous for her brave illustration of sexuality in her works. The story tells about a woman named Edna, who struggles to fight the societal perceptions of motherhood, which define her as the wife of Leonce Pontellier and mother of Raoul and Etienne, instead of being an independent individual. It makes social restrictions and desire for freedom and the search for one’s own self the novel’s main theme. To highlight it, the author utilizes a wide range of literary devices and unique specific features to make the narration vivid and attract the attention of the audience to the problem.
Specific features and literary elements in The Awakening
The tone in the Awakening
One of the peculiarities of the style in The Awakening is its tone and narration technique. Chopin made the story relatively formal and solemnized it to show the reader the gravity and seriousness of the subject. This effect is also exaggerated due to the novel’s style of narration and point of view in the third person as it is less intimate than the first-person technique of storytelling. Moreover, the author chose this style to fight the stereotypes of female behavior as a somber tone helped her to attract the attention of the audience to the story of an ordinary woman fighting societal expectations. The tone in the novel explains the choice of such gloomy words as “lamentable” when Edna refuses to go to a wedding and tells that these events are “the most lamentable spectacles on earth” (Chopin XXII). Even Edna’s thoughts in the novel are formal, which is proven by numerous examples, such as: “This may seem like a ponderous weight of wisdom to descend upon the soul of a young woman of twenty-eight” (Chopin VI). Throughout the whole story, Chopin uses elevated words to highlight the seriousness of the situation.
Symbolism in The Awakening
Another important specific feature of The Awakening is symbolism, which is used throughout the whole book. As the story progresses, the audience finds deeper meanings in everything portrayed in it. The primary symbol in the novel is the sea, representing the differences between independent choices and blind obedience, destiny and self-determination, and even between life and death. It also represents Edna’s freedom as opposed to societal restrictions placed on her as a woman. The main character realizes for the first time that she can still feel love and is capable of changing her life when she is at the seaside resort. There she learns to swim and begins to feel the connection between her mind and body, which contributes to her desire of finding her true self. Edna sees the sea as a symbol of calmness, acceptance, and self-renewal. Later in the story, Edna returns there to try feeling that freedom, which she experienced when learning to swim. From this perspective, the sea is the major symbol of the novel, reflecting the inner state of the main character and her desire for freedom from societal boundaries.
However, the sea is not the only symbol used in The Awakening. There are also birds, portraying the ability to communicate and entrapment of women, and their flight representing the process of awakening. The ability to spread one’s wings and fly to freedom is a major symbol in the story as Edna escapes her home and her family. Art is also meaningful in the book, reflecting freedom and failure at the same time as the main character reaches the highest point of her awakening when trying to become an artist for self-expression purposes. However, Edna fails in it because her wings are too weak. Another important symbol, running through the whole story, is sleep. Edna spends much time sleeping and it is often followed by her moments of awakening. According to numerous literary critics, this characteristic of the main character is considered to be a rebellion against natural rhythms. Sleep is also a way to escape from the reality and cope with overwhelming emotions. The author demonstrates a skillful usage of symbolism in the story, which allows making the narration more vivid and conveys the inner state of the main character.
Sensory language in The Awakening
One of the unique devices used throughout the novel is sensory language, implying words, which are capable of evoking all five senses. In the book, there are descriptive elements of smells, sounds, tastes, and tactile things. For example: “There were strange, rare odors abroad – a tangle of the sea smell and of weeds and damp, new-plowed earth, mingled with the heavy perfume of the field of white blossoms somewhere near” (Choppin X). This device is aimed at emphasizing the sensuousness of the narration and all the settings, as well as Edna’s growing awareness of her relationship with the surrounding world. Sensory language in the story is also represented by music as the main character is impacted by the art. Music evokes vivid pictures in the heroine’s mind and allows her to experience tactile sensations and feel the taste of it. The use of sensory language is a relatively unique trait in prose. Chopin demonstrates the skill of applying it in The Awakening to allow the audience to feel the emotions of the main character.
The theme of The Awakening
The Awakening’s main theme is an identity crisis in the situation of social norms and restrictions. Edna, the main character of the novel, finds that she is not satisfied with her status as a wife and a mother and searches for independence, which was not a suitable concept for a woman of that era. The title of the book signifies that the heroine experiences the awakening of her individuality, which was suppressed by society. According to the expectations of that time, women were to devote themselves to their families and those, who tried to reject it like Edna and Mademoiselle Reisz in the story, faced a lack of understanding and criticism. From the beginning of the novel, a reader can see that society treats the main character as a slave of her husband and children. When she falls in love with Robert she realizes that she is not convenient with such an attitude and requires changes in her life. It became the start of her further search for freedom and independence.
The quest for obtaining the desired freedom begins for Edna at the Grand Isle. After she is back in New Orleans, she refuses to have sex with her husband and stops meeting the expectations of people, who are important to her spouse’s social status. As the result of this search for freedom, she rents a house, which becomes the most important action on her path. When no longer being restricted by the expectations of others, Edna makes a living with the help of painting and surrounds herself with people she chooses. The right to make a personal choice in this context serves as a definition of freedom for the main character, although, a reader can see that refusing from all the societal boundaries appears to be impossible. Edna succeeds in her quest, although, she finds that the price for it is higher than she has been thinking. However, she stays loyal to her found identity till the end and her suicide also serves a proof, showing that she remains committed to her autonomy, not willing to return to her previous life, before the awakening.
Conclusion
The Awakening by Kate Chopin is the story of a woman in the Victorian era, who is unsatisfied with her life as she finds herself restricted by society expecting her to be a good wife and mother. The heroine realizes she has an individuality, which is suppressed by the people surrounding her. It makes her search for freedom the major theme of the novel, which is represented by her continuous quest for finding her true self. The theme is presented by the author with the help of a skillful usage of unique literary devices and specific features. Among them is the application of sensory language, allowing feeling the events with all the five senses. There is also a big role of symbolism in the story, which permits to make the narration more vivid. Finally, the solemn and gloomy tone of the narration contributes to the idea of the story to make the audience take it seriously. Due to artistic use of these devices, Chopin managed to convey the inner conflict of the heroine and attract the attention of readers to the problem of attitudes to women.
Work Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.