The Awakening Post 1

In The Awakening, Kate Chopin writes using extremely descriptive language in order to induce certain feelings and subliminally let the readers in on underlying situations. By making use of this figurative language, Chopin is able to describe the attraction between Mrs. Pontellier and Robert in a way that cannot be easily picked up.
Chopin narrows in on romanticizing Robert's features--particularly his eyes and lips. "His eyes gathered in and reflected the light and languor of the summer day." She emphasizes the glistening affect they have and use the beauty of nature to enhance the beauty of how he looks. The use of imagery here allows the reader to imagine how beautiful Robert is and how refreshing he is to Mrs. Pontellier--similar to a beautiful summer day.
Chopin later goes on to describe Robert smoking--"Mrs. Pontellier reached over for a palm-leaf fan...and began to fan herself, while Robert sent between his lips light puffs from his cigarette" (Chopin, 46). Chopin is sexualizing an, otherwise, everyday scene by zoning in on the sensuality of Mrs. Pontellier fanning herself and the delicacy of Robert smoking. The language, focusing on Robert's lips, sets an intimate tone and foreshadows future events to come. Chopin is able to hint at future affairs between the two in a more censored form.
The overall use of figurative language within the passage was extremely effective in introducing the motive of the two characters, as well as, to foreshadow events to come between the two of them (as well as between Mrs. Pontellier and other men).

The Awakening: Post 1

"For men, love was important, but for women, it was absolutely necessary. As a 19th century book states: "Man's nature leads him forth into a struggle and bustle of the world. Love is but the embellishment of his early life, or a song piped in the intervals of the acts...But a woman's whole life is a history of the affections. The heart is her world.""  (http://www.thehistorybox.com/ny_city/society/articles/nycity_society_courtship_article0038.htm)

An article about Victorian Era Relationships clearly explained what the ideal, and what most women were like during this century. While most things were out of the women's hands and into her parents hands to determine their lives, most women enjoyed the idea that their biggest role in life was to get married and reproduce. Which is what causes such an unsettling feeling with Léonce about Edna. Most men just like Léonce looked at marriage and having a family as the most important part of causing and fulfilling a women's life just the quote suggest by saying “the heart is her world".

 

After Léonce asks Edna to check on their son, and she begrudgingly does, you feel the shift in a negative way on how he looks at Edna. Then it becomes clear when he begins to talk about how Edna does not have the qualities that a "mother- woman" (19) should have. Edna does not appear to be one of the women that "idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels." (19) Léonce was addressing the fact that Edna is different, and is breaking the rules of how to be a traditional woman. While Léonce clearly wants the typical Victorian Era women he is married to the woman who just from the beginning and the small but structured actions she takes in the story that she will be one who defies the outline given by the society about how a woman should be.

The Awakening Post #1

During the Victorian Era, women were homemakers; the only things men thought women could successfully do were have children and take care of the home.“Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman” (Chopin 19). In the Awakening, there is a lack of naming Mrs. Pontellier’s children. The children were referred to as “they” and “them”. Taking care of her children was a chore. Mrs. Pontellier seemed to view her children as a tedious job that she had to do. Mrs. Pontellier came to the realization of her true thoughts of her children when the children had left to meet their grandmother Pontellier in Iberville. “It seemed to free her of a responsibility which she had blindly assumed and for which Fate had not fitted her.”(Chopin 48) The “chore” of being a mother was something that Mrs. Pontellier was not fond of; she loved her children, yet sometimes the phrase “out of sight, out of mind” applied to her when dealing with her children.

The only time when a child’s name was used was when a situation revolving around the child elicited negative feelings from Mrs. Pontellier. After checking on Raoul due to Mr. Pontellier claiming he had a fever, she checked on the boy, returned back to her bedroom, and ignored her husband. She cried uncontrollably and inexplicably. These “bundles of joy,” along with her marriage, are the reasons for Mrs. Pontellier’s unhappiness. Being a mother, is prison for Mrs. Pontellier. Mrs. Pontellier doesn’t want to continue to live the mundane life of a mother-woman. The thought of being oppressed by motherhood “filled her whole being with a vague anguish.”(Chopin 14)

The Awakening (Post #1)

     "A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul" (Chopin 73). Edna's first swim symbolizes the beginning of her independence. The accomplishment of overcoming a life long fear made Edna aware of her own self-reliance. Like any venture, the contingencies are made clear when she fears she swam out too far. Edna realizes that with her new found independence she must muster the strength to return to the shore on her own.

      Edna continues to test out her new found "power" (Chopin 73) when she defies Léonce for the first time in their marriage. She even rebukes his earlier comments and warns that next time she will not dignify him with a response. "Her will had blazed up" (Chopin 78) in that moment, and she even wondered why she had been so submissive in the past. Though in the end, Edna does end up retiring to her bedroom, her desire for freedom was made apparent for the first time. Furthermore, the swim marks the beginning of Edna and Robert's relationship. The silence the two shared while waiting for Léonce was permeated with the "throbbings of desire" (Chopin 77). It should also be noted that it was Robert who gave Edna swimming lessons, this depicts Robert as the origin for her resulting audacity.  Edna not only swam out into the ocean but into the depths of her new found independence. 

Swimming Etiquette

In public beaches, women would have to change in "bathing machines" that were wheeled out to the edge of the water so that women would not have to walk from the shore to the water in only their bathing suits. The Creoles in "The Awakening" were probably on a private area that did not require these machines. The men however had the freedom to bathe as they please and could even do so in their drawers. This again points out the disparity among both genders. Any sort of outward sexuality was looked down upon, which makes Edna's transformation and her later affair that much more critical. 

The Awakening (Post #1)

“She is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously” (Chopin 64).  Madame Ratignolle, who is supposedly one of Edna’s friends, acknowledges that Edna doesn’t fit in with their society. These thoughts only continue when Edna admits she would “never sacrifice herself for her children, or for any one” (Chopin 97).

While Edna’s refusal to sacrifice herself to anyone hints at her inner strength, she is still terribly naïve. She denies her husband’s command to go into their cottage, yet she can’t understand that Robert is trying to be more than a friend. Not only does Edna not realize Robert is flirting with her, but she also doesn’t comprehend her own feelings towards him. It takes Robert leaving for Mexico in order for her to recognize “anew the symptoms of infatuation” (Chopin 94). 

Although this picture is rather crude, it does explain what happens to something when it is naïve. In Edna’s case, her throat won’t be ripped out, but she will suffer consequences. Edna will clash with her husband, her friends, and the society she has immersed herself in.

However, to reiterate an earlier point, Edna is a strong character.  Already she is resisting her husband and gaining power as a woman. Strength, while a good characteristic to have, never meshes well with naivety. Hopefully when Kate Chopin chose the title, The Awakening, she was referring to more than Edna’s strength and freedom. In order for Edna to deal with the backlash the Creoles will give her, she needs to be strong and experienced. She is pushing her husband away, and with Robert in Mexico, this could potentially lead to Edna facing the backlash alone.

The Awakening (blog #1)

Kate Chopin’s stylistic choice for The Awakening’s point of view aids the readers in comprehending the novel. Her decision to write in third person omniscient allows the readers to detect an underlying conflict between Léonce Pontellier and Edna Pontellier. Their marriage seems ideal to a majority of the characters. For example, Mr. Pontellier is deemed “the best husband in the world” by the other ladies (Chopin 50). However, the relationship is extremely disproportioned: Mr. Pontellier harbors more feelings of love towards Edna than Edna does for Mr. Pontellier. He worships her like “a valuable piece of personal property” while she notices her “symptoms of infatuation” for Robert (Chopin 44, 94). Since the readers are able to view the characters’ internal thoughts, they recognize Edna’s dissatisfaction with Mr. Pontellier and Mr. Pontellier’s one pet peeve towards Edna. Edna feels “an indescribable oppression” as she listens to every command of Mr. Pontellier (Chopin 49). Mr. Pontellier regrets Edna’s lack of “duty toward their children” (Chopin 50).

Neither of the characters vocalize their issues to one another aloud, which also establishes dramatic irony within the story. The readers perceive Edna’s lack of love for Mr. Pontellier despite his obliviousness to her romantic paucity. She admits to her marriage being “purely an accident” (Chopin 62). She fancies “his absolute devotion” she receives from him; she does not fancy him in general (Chopin 62). Unaware of Edna’s true feelings, Mr. Pontellier unintentionally induces Edna to gain feelings for Robert by allowing her to spend time with him alone.

These hidden thoughts of the Pontelliers potentially foreshadow future marriage conflicts in The Awakening.

Let's start blogging!

Welcome to our AP Lit & Comp reading blog for The Awakening by Kate Chopin.  This blog serves as a discussion space for all students reading The Awakening across all three class sections.  The end goal is for us to build a reading community both online and within the classroom.  In addition, many college courses will require online work and postings for all of your peers to view and comment on a weekly basis.

Girl Seated by the Sea, Rober Henri (1893)

What do we blog about?

Well, we're all reading the same novel, so we don't want to summarize (as always).  Instead, you can provide brief context for what part of the novel you're discussing & use examples from the novel, but your main purpose is to have an analytical focus for each post.  Here are some things you could discuss & analyze in your blog posts:

• Literary elements you see in the novel (think metaphors, symbols, archetypes)
• Conflicts (how they arise, how they define characters, etc.)
• Characterization:  
• actions, dialogue, or lines that define a character
• character's motivations
• Author's style, structure, & diction
• Close reading of diction where you're looking for clarification
• Events in the plot that serve as a major turning point
• How a tradition, value, or practice functions within the culture of your novel
• Themes shown in the novel
• How literary elements serve a theme (like race/culture relations, romantic entanglements, gender expectations)...if you can accomplish this, you've made it to the big leagues.

Things to keep in mind for this type of assignment:

• You're writing online, but this isn't social media, which means no text-speak or slang.  Write in an academic language.
• Use this space as practice for properly writing literary analysis (writing in present tense, avoiding 1st/2nd person pronouns, using active voice, being succinct)
• Don't let your work disappear forever somewhere in the land of lost internet posts.  Be smart & save your work.  Some people like to work in Google Docs, MS Word, or Apple Pages first.  Then, just copy & paste all you've typed into Blogger & add some bells & whistles (i.e. pictures, links, videos)

Timeline for posting & commenting:

• 11/13:  1st blog post due
• 11/16:  comment on 2 posts
• 11/20:  2nd blog post due
• 11/23:  comment on 2 posts
• 11/27:  3rd blog post due
• 11/30:  comment on 2 posts
• 12/4:  4th blog post due
• 12/7:  comment on 2 posts
• TOTALS:  4 blog posts & 8 comments
• NOTE:  posts are due on Fridays by 11:59 p.m. & comments on Mondays 11:59 p.m.

Other requirements:

• 250-300 word count
• Add links, pictures, & videos
• Comments should be at least 3 sentences that add or extend the post
• Quote evidence from the novel & use proper MLA format for embedded citations