First Great Awakening

SECOND GREAT AWAKING CAMP MEETINGS The Second Great Awakening started around the end of the eighteenth century in New England. In the beginning, the awakening was only noticed by diligence in the lives of Christians and their complete devotion to God. It would later be known for the great emotional experience felt by those who attended and participated. "Many spoke of having had an experience of conversion. The awakening made headway among some of the most distinguished theologians of New…

Junjie Liu Ms. Kennedy American Lit. Per.7 Dec. 29th 2015 The Awakening was published by the American woman writer Kate Chopin in 1899. During 19th century, society had made great progress in many aspects; however, women were not allowed to strive for their self identity. In men’s eyes, women were similar to the property belonging to men. The author focuses on this idea in The Awakening and portrays female’s social status, marital life, and autonomy. The main character, Edna Pontellier, grows…

Literary Criticism: The Awakening and the Failure of the Psyche It is apparent that one can correlate Greek mythology to The Awakening when reading Franklin’s criticism. Franklin associates the paradigm of Psyche to the pathological, internal struggle of Edna, where the fear of the confrontation of solitude is prevalent. Franklin first explains the irony in the title of The Awakening, given the fact that Edna sleeps, living in a world filled with fantasy rather than being psychologically and…

The New Woman was a feminist ideal that emerged in literature in the late nineteenth century and continued to have a profound impact on twentieth century literature. Kate Chopin’s novel, the Awakening, and Virginia Woolf’s novel, To the Lighthouse, contained characters heavily influenced by New Woman ideals. Edna Ponteiller and Lily Briscoe are “unlike the odd woman, celibate, sexually repressed, and easily pitied or patronized as the flotsam and jetsam of the matrimonial tide” (Showalter 38).…

The act of suicide is rarely seen as a positive embracing of freedom or an act of re-birth. Kate Chopin’s bildungsroman, The Awakening, suggests that it was impossible for a woman to be free within the confines of the social constructs and standards of the time in which she lived, ultimately resulting in the protagonist’s detrimental yet inevitable death. Chopin supports her argument by demonstrating the outcome of a woman who intends to break social barriers, defines sexual identity and its…

Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening is primarily about the limitations and struggles of women in the 1800’s, however; it seems conceivable that Edna suffered from psychological issues (Ryan). She had the same limitations and struggles that all women had at the time, but her coping skills seem to be debilitated. It is common knowledge that early childhood experiences shape adult lives. Considering that Edna lost her mother at an early age and was raised solely by a cold and strict father, her…

In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin symbolism is present in numerous ways. Edna’s learning to swim is symbolic of her life and of the multiple events that consequently transpire later in this novel. Edna’s new found confidence and need for control ultimately lead her to search for herself and become an individual once again. Through symbolism it becomes present that Edna Pontellier discovers herself; however it is during this process of self-discovery and Edna’s experiences that occur…

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is about a woman’s transformation from an obedient traditional housewife and mother into a self-realized, sexually liberate and independent woman. The novel published in 1899 back in a time when women were not thought of as people but as property of their husband’s. Throughout the novel Edna Pontieller expresses her progress, in The Awakening, as a new woman by using the symbolism of the caged birds, art and music, houses, and the sea. From the very beginning of…

identity can be a lifelong endeavor. Through both of their literary works, Kate Chopin, author of The Awakening, and Zora Hurston, writer of Their Eyes Were Watching God, each vividly depict what this struggle of finding one’s identity can be through the main characters of each novel, Edna Pontellier and Janie Crawford. Throughout the plot of Chopin’s novel, Edna experiences a progressive “awakening” in which she develops an enlightened knowledge regarding her own desires and interests, even…

Though The Awakening may not be a book that all audiences enjoy, it’s merit as a work of literature cannot be denied. It has underlying motifs and ideas that Chopin brings into fruition through a variety of well-developed techniques, making The Awakening not only a book worthy of merit but being taught. Her book challenged pre-existing societal norms not only in 1900’s America, but still does today across cultural barriers with its controversial theme on challenging gender roles and feminism. It…