The Sea In Chopin's The Awakening

2- The words used to describe the sea in this passage help to show what it is like in Edna’s mind. This is the first time that she really goes with Robert and does not follow what society dictates she should do (to not go with this other man). Her thoughts, and this entire situation in general, relate to the description of the sea which is clamoring and never ceasing. Edna had a major conflict in her mind when Robert asks her to join him. She has two sides fighting over what to do. The one is telling her to go forth, have a good time, and follow what she really wants while the other tries to hold her back so that she will remain faithful to her husband. The sea is also labeled as seductive and inviting, which correlates to how Edna was pulled …show more content…
Mademoiselle Reisz played the piano as she had done many times before, but Edna was hit differently by the notes as they agitated deep emotions within her. Usually Edna would see “pictures of solitude, of hope, of longing, or of despair”. This time, the little movie of conscious thought did not come. Chopin writes that Edna was ready for the first time, that she was “tempered to take an impress of the abiding truth”. Her entire life Edna had been told what to do and how to do it, but this time was different. Edna no longer just enjoyed the music; she let it become part of …show more content…
She wanted to be with Robert, but Edna was told by society that she could not have him. She so badly wanted to fight back and go against the norms, to be who she truly was. That is why this passage holds so much importance in the book. It symbolizes Edna trying to remove the shell which society placed on her. She was escaping from it, like a chicklet escaping from an egg. She picked at it piece by piece until this is one moment where it broke. Edna finally escaped and came to reality, seeing for the first time the beauty in things like music. Mademoiselle Reisz’s song shook Edna; the “very passions themselves were aroused within her soul, swaying it, lashing it, as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body”. Again Chopin uses the images of waves to express a sort of rebirth or change in Edna. The only difference was that this time, someone noticed. At the end of her performance, Mademoiselle Reisz patted Edna on the shoulder as if she understood what was happening to Edna. These few lines help to release Edna from the bonds of society. They allow her to see the world for what it is and to enjoy it to the