The Awakening Analysis

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Chopin not only juxtaposes her house to a pigeon house, she also compares women to birds where their social conversations are merely “chattering and whistling.” Women were seen as birds that could be owned like a pet. Mr. Pontellier brilliantly exemplifies this by “looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property that has suffered some damage” (3). In his perspective, all women are the same. This is best described in chapter I where women always dressed “in white with elbow sleeves” (2). The comparison between women and birds were continuously frequent in order to convey Edna’s transition from conformity to a rebellious martyr for the cause of feminism. In the last scene, the final and last comparison between a bird and Edna occurs. This is incredibly essential to the resolution of the story. Edna was described as “a bird with a broken wing” because it symbolized the metaphorical death of the old Edna, and the rebirth of a new, feminist Edna where she is enlightened with new information about what she must do, and what it would mean.

The imagery in the last scene alludes to the Holy Bible where Edna is depicted as naked “like a new-born creature” and “foamy wavelets curled up to her white feet, and coiled like serpents about her ankles” (105). This is alluded to the nude Adam and Eve being tempted by the Original Sin. This scene is a metaphor for Edna’s final change where she finally understands feminism despite her inability to express it in words. This allusion depicts her as newly born because of the fact that she’s no longer the old Edna who was being tied to the cult of domesticity while this new Edna is free at last. The sea is a symbol of freedom and feminism. She is reborn at the beach where the land and sea meet. She is finally a woman instead of an object for men. When Edna swims out into the ocean, never to return to land, she unchains herself from the cult of domesticity. She became a martyr for all women to follow. This dichotomy between the land and the sea is very vital. It serves a very momentous purpose to depicting the final rebirth of Edna.

Edna’s dedication and sacrifice forever changed the cult of domesticity. She left as a martyr for all women and she indirectly caused the end of the cult of domesticity. Being the first woman to take the initiative to escape the cult of domesticity, Edna led the flock to follow in her footsteps when the women’s rights activists followed her example on a larger-scale.