The Awakening Setting Analysis

The mood and setting of each of the novels are established in the first few pages of the book. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the setting in the beginning is in the Grand Isle, a small beach in Louisiana. The Pontellier family is vacationing there for the entire summer and it is there that the family meets the friends that will be major characters for the remainder of the novel. The sea is where Edna escapes reality and becomes the free woman she wants to be, not the controlled wife she is made out to be, so it is important that the beach be an established setting early on in the book. “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace” (Chopin 18). By using Chopin’s detailed descriptions we can infer that the ocean has a powerful effect on Edna. Later in the book the family moves back to their home in New Orleans, however, to escape Edna’s husband’s controlling lifestyle and to be more free, Edna purchases a house for herself where she finds time to paint and live a free lifestyle. The way that the setting changes many times in the book might be an …show more content…
It may seem, at first, that it is because Hester’s punishment is simply to wear the letter, however the letter has multiple meanings to different people and those different meaning contribute to the title. For example, Hester knows the “A” is for adultery and the religious folk of the town also know that it is for adultery, but others think differently. The other meanings of the “A” are shown when people believe that it means “able.” Another instance is when Hester and Dimmesdale are looking up in the sky, they see the letter “A” in the clouds and believe it symbolises an