Article Synopsis: Storm Warnings: The Eternally
Recurring Apocalypse in Kate
Chopin’s The Awakening In “Storm Warnings: The Eternally Recurring Apocalypse in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening,” author Amanda Castro discusses Kate Chopin’s, The Awakening, with regards to utopianism and its inherent instability and how it relates to the Gulf Islands in which Edna Pontellier and her family vacationed in the novel. Castro states that literary naturalism represents the limitations placed on the human will, but scholars have been unable to take account of the Gulf Islands’ spatial histories in the novel (Castro 68). Castro claims the utopianism of the island was undermined by a hurricane that hit the gulf coast in 1893, which was ever present in Chopin’s …show more content…
The hurricane of 1893 acts as a metaphor between Edna Pontellier and the islands “by the extreme disparity that exists between the […] representation of the ideal conditions in human life on the surface level of the narrative and the representation of a dystopia of recurring apocalypse on another level” (70). Castro explains that the islands further act as a utopia due to being a vacation spot for the wealthy people of New Orleans and the island’s ability to shield these wealthy vacation goers from diseases that were common in New Orleans during the summer months, which gave people the perception that the islands had curative powers (71). Furthermore, the islands were thought to have a romantic promise for those who visited (71). Chopin, according to Castro, uses the utopian nature of the islands and the characterization of island life to contrast the destructive forces of the hurricane to that of Edna Pontellier (73). Edna and the islands, both seemingly beautiful and serene, could be destroyed by their own
Recurring Apocalypse in Kate
Chopin’s The Awakening In “Storm Warnings: The Eternally Recurring Apocalypse in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening,” author Amanda Castro discusses Kate Chopin’s, The Awakening, with regards to utopianism and its inherent instability and how it relates to the Gulf Islands in which Edna Pontellier and her family vacationed in the novel. Castro states that literary naturalism represents the limitations placed on the human will, but scholars have been unable to take account of the Gulf Islands’ spatial histories in the novel (Castro 68). Castro claims the utopianism of the island was undermined by a hurricane that hit the gulf coast in 1893, which was ever present in Chopin’s …show more content…
The hurricane of 1893 acts as a metaphor between Edna Pontellier and the islands “by the extreme disparity that exists between the […] representation of the ideal conditions in human life on the surface level of the narrative and the representation of a dystopia of recurring apocalypse on another level” (70). Castro explains that the islands further act as a utopia due to being a vacation spot for the wealthy people of New Orleans and the island’s ability to shield these wealthy vacation goers from diseases that were common in New Orleans during the summer months, which gave people the perception that the islands had curative powers (71). Furthermore, the islands were thought to have a romantic promise for those who visited (71). Chopin, according to Castro, uses the utopian nature of the islands and the characterization of island life to contrast the destructive forces of the hurricane to that of Edna Pontellier (73). Edna and the islands, both seemingly beautiful and serene, could be destroyed by their own