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Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening tells the story of Edna, a married woman, who falls in love with another man, Robert, in 19th century Louisiana. The chosen passage takes place after Edna’s trip to the beach with Robert where she contemplates why she chose to go out with him. The usage of literary devices, metaphors, symbolism, and alliterations help evoke the overarching themes of freedom and solitude, convention versus individuality, and the theme of reflection. To begin with, in this excerpt…

In “The Awakening” the protagonist Edna Pontellier awakens herself on a family vacation on Grand Isle. Her awakening consists of meeting Robert Lebrun,falling in love with him, and becoming defiant of her husband. Her defiance is more evident as the story continues, while still on vacation, Edna refuses to go to bed, instead, she lays in a hammock all night until her muscles are sore. Once back home on Esplanade Street Edna refused to take call Tuesday, instead, she decides to go out which…

Themes and symbols often complement each other and help readers connect plot lines in novels. In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, there is a theme of solitude and independence giving way to a deeper understanding of one’s self. The reader is introduced to Edna Pontellier, who embodies this theme by seeking her own freedom and independence in the sea. Water is a symbol that is seen throughout the book, too. It represents rebirth, cleansing, or even death. In The Awakening, Chopin ties theme…

separate themselves from the expectations of the society they live in, seeking to rid themselves of the feelings of oppression and unfulfillment associated with a life restricted by convention. After reviving her previously dormant inner self at Grand Isle, Edna engages in genuine romantic relationships to explore her growing independence, but her societal duties to her stifling marriage with Léonce restraints her from fully doing so. When she is back in New Orleans, Chopin reveals that Edna…

it was rightfully his for he was married to Mary, whom Elizabeth had executed earlier. On May 18 the Spanish sent an Armada (fleet) to attack England. It left the port of Lisbon to get the English channel and to transport an army to Flanders, a British isle. There were 130 ships on board the mission, with 8,000 seamen, 2,500 guns, and 20,000 soldiers. They were less prepared then the English, and they knew it. On July 21, the English navy started attacking the line of Spanish ships that was 7…

“… in Detroit, one of the bloodiest race riots of the century” (587). On June 20th, 1943 fights between black and white teenagers broke out at Belle Isle Park, an integrated amusement park on an island in the Detroit River. The conflict quickly spread off the island with the help of rumors and began to plague the rest of the city. After two days of violence, 6,000 federal troops were sent into Detroit to deescalate the situation. Overall, the riots resulted in amplified racial tensions in…

Kate Chopin’s 1899 Novel The Awakening, encompasses itself on defying the stereotype of a “Mother-woman”and a woman trying to fit into strict cultural demands. The protagonist Edna Pontellier ruined many expectations of what a woman should be like in the nineteenth century. The Awakening not only embraces the process of self-discovery, and conflict between an individual and society, but also includes family as major theme throughout the novel. Chopin geniously captivates the reader by giving…

The Awakening In today’s society the feminist movement has improved since the 1960s and 1970s.Many scholars and critics have showed much interest to Kate Chopin’s literature. This particular story shows a life of a married woman and the struggles of her family, husband and her desires for love and freedom she has long been searching for. The short story “The Awakening” has a symbolism throughout, but there is one particular one that is very important to the story in order to understand the…

Edna Pontellier - Edna is the protagonist of the novel “The Awakening”. The twenty eight year old is the wife of a New Orleans businessman Léonce Pontellier. Edna suddenly finds herself dissatisfied with her marriage and the motherly, matronly, and conservative lifestyle that follows. She discovers her own identity and acts on her desires for emotional satisfaction, through a collection of experiences, or “awakenings”. Unlike the other women around her, she doesn’t have a motherly…

and follows the spiritual journey of Edna Pontellier, a twenty-eight-year-old wife and mother living in New Orleans. While in Grand Isle for the summer with her husband, Léonce, and their two children, she finds herself displeased with her marriage and the conventional behavior it demands from her. Edna was very different from the other women residing at Grand Isle that summer. Not only was she a Kentucky Presbyterian rather than a Creole Catholic, but she was not a “mother-woman.” Kate…