She Looked Into the Distance and the Old Terror Flamed Up for an Instant Then Sank Again
Kate Chopin�s The Awakening
By: Mary Bird
Knox Higher Common Room: Volume three, Number ane
Oct viii, 1999
URL: http://nthome.knox.edu/deptorg/engdept/commonroom/Volume_Three/number_one/mbird/
There is extensive critical controversy surrounding the ending of Kate Chopin�s novel The Awakening. One grouping of critics focuses on the novel equally a feminist text. They argue that Edna Pontellier�southward awakening is one of mental clarity, and her suicide is a triumphant act. Past committing suicide Edna is finally freeing herself from social constraints and possession. Her suicide is an act of liberation, therefore Edna is the ultimate feminist. The opposing group of critics read The Awakening as a naturalist text. They believe Edna�s awakening to be a decline into insanity. Instead of triumphing against the order and men who oppress her, Edna gives herself up to the ocean in a symbolic render to the womb, allowing the sea to possess her. While there is testify to back up both arguments, that is as well their flaw--both arguments tin be laid out in particular and substantially supported, notwithstanding they are presented as mutually sectional. Chopin intentionally leaves the reader with this ambiguity. By trying to resolve it, we miss the betoken of the novel. For purposes of comparison, I will utilize the article �Kate Chopin and the American Realists� by Per Seyersted equally a basis for the argument of the feminist perspective, and the commodity �Feminist or Naturalist� past Nancy Walker as a basis for the argument of the naturalist perspective. A synthesis of these arguments volition reveal Chopin�s use of Edna�southward demise to critique society while also critiquing Edna�due south motility away from societal standards.
After �awakening� to the oppressive role she holds in order, Edna responds by committing suicide. She is emotionally unequipped to bargain with awakening and is unable to live within social club according to the ideals she has established for herself, illustrated through her suicide and the events preceding it. Edna�due south mother died when she was very young, and she is raised by her emotionless sis. Because of this, Edna is still a child emotionally and continually looks for a motherly influence. The novel begins with the Pontellier family�south vacation, staying in the Lebrun cottages on Grand Island. Edna states early on in the novel that �I was a little unthinking child in those days, just following a misleading impulse without question,� and that she often feels the same way this summer (Chopin 17). It is during this holiday that Edna meets Robert, who will eventually get the love of her alive, though he is not her husband, Madame Ratignolle, and Mademoiselle Reisz. When she drowns, Edna is very childlike and unthinking, returning to the island where these 3 people helped her notice her �awakened� cocky. Edna has come full circle, and now she is trying to return to the most childlike country, that of the fetus. Her human action of stripping off her clothes is not a gesture of self-liberation but rather a �regression to. . . infancy. . . her experience of rebirth is. . . astern to the womb� (Wolkenfeld 246). Throughout the novel Edna illustrates her yearning for a mother and her need for a mother figure, while shunning her ain motherly duties. Madame Ratignolle becomes Edna�s mother effigy, and she refers to her as a �female parent-woman.. . . They were women who idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals� (Chopin 9). Madame Ratignolle eagerly accepts this office, recognizing Edna�s childlike innocence by protecting and advising her.
Madame Ratignolle�southward childbirth is the first event prompting Edna�southward suicide. Edna observed �with an inward agony, with a flaming, outspoken defection confronting the means of Nature, [witnessing] the scene of torture� (Chopin 104). During the childbirth, Edna obscurely recalls her own experience of childbirth, but most as if it happened to someone else and not herself. At this time Edna only vaguely remembers that she herself has children, as Madame Ratignolle implores her to �recollect of the children. Edna. Oh think of the children! Recollect them!� (Chopin 104). Edna finally realizes the delivery and obligation she has to her children �and that children tin demand the mother�s life, even if they cannot claim the woman�s soul� (Edwards 284). This realization is magnified when she returns dwelling house and Robert, her true love, has gone. Not only tin she non escape her family unit, only at present she must as well live without the man that she loves.
Edna returns to the island, and though she hasn�t planned on committing suicide she seems subconsciously to know what she is doing. She swims far out into the ocean knowing she is perhaps going to swim too far out for her to return: �[t]o her unaccustomed vision the stretch of h2o behind her assumed the aspect of a barrier which her unaided strength would never be able to overcome� (Chopin 28). Edna�s thoughts at her time of death are those of her childhood:
She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed upwards for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her father�due south voice and her sister Margaret�s. She heard the barking of an old canis familiaris that was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged equally he walked across the porch. At that place was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air. (Chopin 109)Edna�southward starting time thoughts are definite images from her youth, then moving towards vague sounds and smells. She becomes increasingly passive, letting the water gradually �enfold . . . the body in its soft, close embrace� (Chopin 109). The bounding main is a sensual, comforting image, and information technology draws Edna into its cover much like a mother.
Walker views Edna equally a graphic symbol guided by destiny, and that her life is a pattern of decisions made on a purely emotional level: �evidence of this lack of command over her own feelings and actions continues to accumulate throughout the novel� (Walker 255). Edna acts as if sleepwalking: �she was not thinking� (Chopin 108) and continually has �half-awakened senses� (Chopin 32). She appears to have footling to no control over her deportment, and repeatedly acts without knowing how or why she is acting. She doesn�t fully realize she has sexual feelings for Robert until he is leaving. At this point anybody else on the isle has recognized that there was some sexual tension within their relationship except Edna. When their relationship is threatened �she recognize[s] anew the symptoms of infatuation� she feels for Robert, never realizing her true feelings for him until he is no longer office of her everyday life (Chopin 44).
Walker argues that Edna does feel a sexual enkindling in the hands of Robert and Arobin, her 2nd extramarital love interest, yet she is never witting of the actions she takes, continually acting without thinking: �in giving herself over to emotion, Edna has allowed her decisions to exist made beneath the witting level,. . . and she gives little thought to the consequences� (Walker 256). She is childlike in her actions and thoughts, never thinking before she acts, and never because what might happen because of her actions, and Walker believes that Edna dies simply because �she does nada to end it� (256). Edna is never witting of her decisions, therefore she cannot be a feminist. To be considered feminist, Edna would have to be enlightened of her awakening, and would take to view herself with a sense of social equality, instead she is just aware of increased emotional and sexual urges.
Cynthia Griffin Wolff takes Walker�due south statement further. Wolff believes that Edna�southward suicide is the ultimate regression to childhood: �and with her final act Edna completes the regression, dorsum across childhood, back into fourth dimension eternal� (Wolff 241). Prompted by the nativity of Madame Ratignolle�s child, Edna desires to return to a fetal state. Freud defines this ��Oceanic feeling,� [equally] the longing to recapture that sense of oneness and. . . even, perhaps, the desire to exist reincorporated into the safety of pre-beingness� which can exist experienced through the symbolic reunification of mother and child (Wolff 239). By committing suicide Edna successfully escapes the society she no longer knows how to live in, although co-ordinate to Walker Edna acts totally unconsciously.
Seyersted disagrees with Walker and argues for a feminist interpretation of the novel. As the novel progresses, Edna begins to make increasingly �open-eyed choice[s] to defy illusions and conventions� (Seyersted, The Enkindling 206). Throughout the novel Edna becomes increasingly sexual, too condign aware of her sexuality. Her bond of friendship with Robert seems harmless at showtime, only when he leaves for United mexican states Edna believes she is in love with him: �For the offset fourth dimension she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation. . . to torture her equally information technology was doing and so with the biting confidence that she had lost that which she had held, that she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded� (Chopin 44). Edna has never had any sexual encounters with Robert, all the same her emotions are so angry by her close friend she is �infatuated� with him. Until this indicate, Edna seems to accept not realized her feelings for Robert. In time she will call these feelings love, but at this point she is deeply upset considering the man she is �infatuated� with is leaving. Edna�s emotions accept been stirred for the first time in a long fourth dimension, and she is unwilling to merely deal with the fact that the homo who did this is leaving. Edna goes into a childlike frown, neglecting the familial duties she previously completed without neglect.
Edna�s awakening comes in two parts, the emotionally sexual awakening she experiences with Robert and the physically sexual awakening reached with Arobin (Seyersted, Kate Chopin 155). When Robert leaves her the first time, she is upset and broods, unable to believe he left so abruptly, and without saying goodbye. Arobin cannot gain this control over Edna�s emotions, as she distances herself from him and restrains herself from becoming too emotionally attached. Through her experience with Robert, Edna has learned to go along her emotional distance from men, lest she be hurt again. Edna is definitely a more sexual beingness now than previously in the novel. Before she recoiled at the impact of her closest friend, and now she is indulging in a forbidden kiss, holding Arobin close to prolong the contact. She is as well more reserved. Arobin is quite anxious to see Edna again, but Edna pushes him away telling him she will encounter him at her dinner party, �not an instant sooner� (Chopin 82). Edna takes control of the situation, pushing Arobin abroad when he begs to encounter her again, having come to an enlightened state of beingness, learning from her mistakes and being an active strength in her own life. Edna now makes decisions (such as moving out of the house) based on what is correct for her, choices that will drastically bear on her life, doing so with open optics and a clear head.
Both critics accurately describe Edna at some signal in the novel. In the beginning of the novel she is impulsive and childlike. Her master inspiration is firsthand pleasure and she acts mainly on impulse. Edna continues happily forth in her life until Robert decides to leave for United mexican states. Her chimera of happiness is burst, and she realizes she cannot take both Robert and her current, married life. As she considers the state of affairs, Edna comes to a realization about herself. She volition not exist endemic by anyone, even her children, simply especially not by her husband: �I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier�southward possessions to dispose of or not. I requite myself where I choose� (Chopin 102). Edna asserts her autonomy further, claiming her independence from both men: �if he were to say, �Here, Robert, take her and exist happy; she is yours,� I should express mirth at y'all both� (Chopin 102). To make the conscious decision to never be married again, even to the man she loves, is a huge step for Edna. She has finally decided what she wants and is willing to deed upon those impulses. Edna has become aware of herself emotionally and physically, realizing she has been looking to the wrong sources (her influential, loftier society hubby) for fulfillment. Though her actions are not totally agreeable, they are somewhat noble. Edna totally shuns the commitment she has towards her children for her own selfish reasons. At the aforementioned time she is strong enough to declare what she wants and act upon her annunciation every bit almost anybody effectually her tells her that her actions are totally wrong.
By merging the feminist and naturalist views on the text, a satisfying, though unsettling, conclusion concerning Edna�s suicide can exist reached. In the beginning of the novel Edna is, equally Walker suggests, acting without thinking. Equally the novel continues, though, Edna�s senses awaken into a more �open-eyed� country, as Seyersted argues. Edna �wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before� (Chopin 27). But by pond out and so far, Edna doesn�t have the strength to swim back to shore. The tragedy that befalls Edna is that she has had this awakening, and because of it she desires to accomplish new heights and do things that no woman has done before. Once she reaches this point, she doesn�t accept the strength to render to shore or society. Chopin critiques the society Edna lives in, but also critiques moving away from club.
Through her critique of Edna�southward lodge Chopin critiques her own society likewise. Chopin�south life parallels Edna�s in many ways. Like Edna, Chopin was weary of faith, and afterward her girl�s birth she �was finally freed from constant pregnancy and able to listen much more than to her own needs� (Toth 116-7). When Chopin�southward husband died she easily embraced her newfound liberty, as Edna does when she leaves Mr. Pontellier. Chopin was being courted by a man, yet she made the decision to remain single and move back in with her female parent (Toth 117). Chopin was very unconventional, and refused �to remarry: obviously she preferred her freedom, her writing, and her confinement� (Toth 119). The main difference between Edna and Chopin is institute in their upbringing. Chopin �grew up surrounded by single and very independent women, both at domicile and at the Sacred Centre Academy, where the sisters were famous for their intellectual rigor� (Toth 115). Edna returns to society awakened and thoroughly changed. When Chopin is presented with pleasure she is able to enjoy information technology while also remaining emotionally distanced, most likely because she was raised by potent, contained women. She does savour these pleasures, but she never lets them dominion her life as Edna does. In her diary, Chopin claims �there are a few good things in life--not many, but a few. A soft, firm, magnetic sympathetic manus clasp is one. A walk through the placidity streets at midnight is another. So, in that location are so many means of saying good dark!� (Seyersted Miscellany 96). Chopin enjoyed the company of men, still unlike Edna permit them come and go without becoming overly attached to any of them.
Chopin�s critique of society may seem tame; Edna never has sexual relations with another man until she tells Mr. Pontellier she is leaving him. Merely the society that Edna belongs to is based on a very strict set of rules known equally the Napoleonic lawmaking. Women had little rights and were considered property of their husbands. They were expected to go wherever their hubby chose to live, and were legally unable to �sign any legal contract,. . . found a lawsuit, appear in courtroom, hold public office, or make a donation to a living person� (Culley 120). Women had no rights, and were legally bound to do any their husbands decided was all-time. The woman�due south identify in society is excellently captured in a law detailing those unable to bear witness to testaments: �1. Women of any age whatsoever. 2. Male person children who accept not attained the age of sixteen years complete. three. Persons who are insane, deaf, dumb or bullheaded. 4. Persons whom the criminal laws declare incapable of exercising ceremonious functions� (Culley 120). Women were placed on the same legal level as children, invalids and the incarcerated, and notably, they are the first on the list, as if the author wanted to make especially certain that women were included in this law. The guild Chopin wrote most and lived in oppresses women in every way possible. Once married, they are transformed into property and have the legal status of a slave. In this society a woman has little promise, other than to pray that the homo she marries is kind to her.
Edna�s options are limited in one case she has awakened. She tin can go back to her hubby and children, since a human relationship with Robert is now out of the question, or she tin live a life of solitude like Mademoiselle Reisz. From what we know of Edna, we know that neither of these options are viable for her. Therefore Edna is left without whatsoever choices. Chopin illustrates the price Edna must pay for enkindling; she no longer has any viable place in the social club she belongs to. Would it accept been better for Edna had she never awakened at all? Feminists would contend that Edna�due south awakening is necessary and liberating, simply information technology isn�t very liberating to be forced into a lifestyle where there is no accepting, societal niche for yourself. Modern feminists must avoid reading Chopin�due south text within a modern context, equally doing so diminishes the affect Edna�s choices subsequently make on her life. Edna is feminist in nature, just her feminism comes with a price, and not many people are strong enough to endure social ostracizing to enjoy personal freedom. Chopin wonderfully illustrates Edna�s dilemma, showing possible consequences of becoming enlightened outside the context of a broader social movement. By the end of the novel, Chopin still refuses to tell us whether Edna�southward enkindling is liberating, or if it is tragic. Placing Chopin in categories such as �feminist� and �naturalist,� nosotros lose this poignant interpretation of the novel by trying to strength her into these categories in every mode, but by accepting her into both categories, a broader interpretation of the novel is gained, likewise equally a more inclusive and explanatory trunk of criticism.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. A Norton Disquisitional Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. iii-109.
Culley, Margo, ed. A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. New York: W.Westward. Norton, 1994.
Edwards, Lee. �Sexuality, Maternity, and Selfhood.� A Norton Disquisitional Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. 282-285.
Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Academy Printing, 1969.
---. �Kate Chopin and the American Realists.� A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. 202-208.
Seyersted, Per, and Emily Toth, eds. A Kate Chopin Miscellany. Natchitoches: Northwestern State University Printing, 1979.
Toth, Emily. �A New Biographical Arroyo.� A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: W.Due west. Norton, 1994. 113-119.
Walker, Nancy. �Feminist or Naturalist.� A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Enkindling. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: Westward.West. Norton, 1994. 252-257.
Wolff, Cynthia. �Thanatos and Eros.� A Norton Disquisitional Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. 231-241.
Wolkenfeld, Suzanne. �Edna�south Suicide: The Trouble of the One and the Many.� A Norton Critical Edition: Kate Chopin: The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. 241-247.
Source: https://departments.knox.edu/engdept/commonroom/Volume_Three/number_one/mbird/print.html
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