Divinity In The Awakening Analysis

Adele and Edna: Two Forms of Divinities In literature, authors occasionally resort to reader's faith in supernatural knowledge to convey controversial themes that cannot be explicitly expressed in storylines. Women independence and gender consciousness, for instance, were such notions that the patriarchal society disapproved in the late nineteenth-century. In order to reveal the restrictive nature behind ostensibly perfect social order, Kate Chopin constructs two forms of divinities in The Awakening: the artificial divinity represented by mother-women, and the inner divinity that Edna Pontellier discovers in nature and solitude. Mother-women and their feminine virtues exemplify the sanctified social order in the male dominated-world of the …show more content…
One symbol in the novel, the sea, plays an especially important role in the awakening process. "The everlasting voice of the sea," (14) "charged with the seductive odor" (14) and "never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wonder in a spell of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation" (14) symbolizes both a alluring liberty and a desolating freedom that accompanies a departure from the civilized society. Despite it is uncertain what will become the ultimate result of this supernatural calling, Edna accepts this invitation of nature and allows the sensuous touch of the sea to enfold her body "in its soft, close embrace" (14). The function of the sea, if interpreted with a religious perspective, mirrors the sacrament of baptism in Christian religion: Edna is liberated from the society when immersing in the sea just like a one is cleansed of sin when contacting the water. The effect of this "baptism" is that "a certain light [begins] to drawn dimly within her." The light, under this religious interpretation, symbolizes a revelation from nature that leads Edna towards awakening and independence, resembling the God's message that the Virgin Mary received from the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26). "In fact, light beams have frequently been used as a motif in paintings depicting the Annunciation. In one such painting by Spanish painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, a beam of light shines on Madonna's forehead, sanctifying her into a divine person. In other more modern and cross-cultural adaptations, the attires of the characters vary along with the context of interpretation, but the element of light is always present as it symbolizes the blessing from the God. Like the Virgin Mary who was informed that "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow