Clothing: A Symbol In Kate Chopin's The Awakening
In the novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin takes Edna Pontellier on a journey of self-discovery. In doing this, she uses many symbols to show the relationship between Edna and the world. Clothing, or rather, the lack thereof, displays this relationship well. As Edna progresses throughout the novel, she discards more and more layers of the confining "clothing" that surrounds her body and soul. By taking off her clothing, one piece at a time, she disobeys the rules that society has set for her, and in doing this, she exerts her independence. In this summer voyage, Edna becomes a free woman. In the Victorian society that Edna lives in, the proper attire for women requires them to wear very confining clothing. This clothing symbolizes the constraints on the social behavior of women in this age. It restricts Edna's body and impedes her freedom to move. At the beginning of the novel, fully dressed Edna wears all the proper clothing. However, when Edna and Adele walk together to the beach, Edna wears considerably less clothing than that of her companion. Adele wears a veil, gloves, and ruffles to protect her body. Edna wears a thinner, simple dress and removes her collar and unbuttons her dress at the throat once at the beach.
The story progresses, as do Edna's advances toward freedom. She decides to leave her home, which she no longer feels belongs to her. The materialistic house, not unlike the clothing she wears, has also become constricting. When shedding her house, she exerts her independence. She wants her own house to be responsible for...the upkeep, the payments. Being a part of Leonce's house increases her feelings of being a possession of someone else and she wants to rid herself of those feelings. Perhaps the most important clothing she discards is her house. She exerts the most freedom yet in her decision to find a place of her own. Edna's marriage and the symbol of that marriage symboize another aspect of clothing that she feels she must dispose of. Edna becomes more and more distant from Leonce, her husband; the man she was expected to, but could not, love. She becomes angry with Leonce when she realizes he refers to her as his possession and fully believes it. He complains to Edna about the way she carries herself and their household and begs of her to act more the way a conventional woman would. Edna is not prepared for conventionality, and the final straw in dealing with her constricting husband finally snaps af
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 827
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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