Edna
The Awakening by Kate Chopin was a novel that caused uproar when it was released in 1899. Over a hundred years later, students that read the novel still form a small uproar of their own. They are shocked that the ending is not the "happily ever after" they had envisioned for Edna, the protagonist, but rather a purposeful suicide. Finally, they are discontent with the ending because they feel the author has illogically led Edna into the sea in a moment of weakness. I happen to disagree. Though I could never feel that the end of the novel is settling, I feel that Chopin has lead us through a journey that reveals Edna's fate all along and that Edna was quite aware of where she was going and how the novel (and her life) would end. The conclusion of the novel is the most revealing text that indicates Edna cannot continue to live the way that she has previously. However, even from the beginning of the novel, it is made quite clear that Edna has a connection with the sea and that the water would be a pivotal part in her "awakening." If the novel did not end with Edna and the sea, many sections of the book would seem flawed and out of place. Chopin creates the necessary background for all the characters quickly in the first sect
Critic Manfred Malzahn writes that it is at this point that "Edna is a changed person, exuberant, radiant, but losing touch with reality and thus the high flight foreshadows a long fall" (39). The reference to flight resounds with the bird Edna pictures with the naked man in "Solitude" and something Mlle. Reisz said to Edna after she has fully transformed herself. Edna says that Mlle. Reisz told her "The bird that would sour 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" (110). She was referring to Edna gathering strength if she is going to live a life of awakened solitude. Edna responded by saying "I'm not thinking of any extraordinary flights" (110). Her response further foreshadows her short life. Edna pictures birds as belonging to the water; she often mentions birds drifting by the sea. Mlle. Reisz sets the scene that Edna herself is a bird. However, Edna does not need to gather strength because she will not be flying beyond the sea, just into it. The only strength that Edna needed is enough to get over her fear of death. but it cannot be the end of her life yet because she cannot let go of all of the people that are in the water with her. She is not alone and she turns away from her swimming and from losing herself because she feels she must return to her husband and to Robert. She is not prepared to die because she has not completed her transformation yet and she has not fully lost the fear of death. water. Chopin writes, "As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (36). This scene explains exactly what she will do in the conclusion of the story, Edna finally returns to the sea after a brief encounter with Victor before reaching the beach. It is at this point that a reader might become shocked because it seems Edna's actions are not deliberate. She acts as if she will take a swim and then join Victor for dinner. She briefly concentrates on Robert and the children but mentions the phrase "she was not thinking of these things when she walked down to the beach" (151). It is this
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1468
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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