Theme of Independence in The Awakening by Kate Chopin Essay Sample

📌Category: Books, Kate Chopin, Writers
📌Words: 876
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 21 February 2022

Susan B. Anthony once said, “Independence is happiness.” Kate Chopin’s, The Awakening is a story about a woman in the late 1800s trying to escape her societal role as a “mother-woman”. A mother-woman is a woman that idolizes their children, worships their husband, and is referred to as an angel. The woman, Edna Pontellier, faces many struggles including her judgemental peers, husband, and time-consuming children. They all prevent her from becoming an independent woman. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of vibrant is pulsating with life, vigor, or activity and brightness. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the author uses imagery and details to demonstrate a vibrant tone towards independence.

Kate Chopin uses imagery to create a vibrant attitude towards independence. Throughout chapter 30, Edna hosts a private dinner with 10 of her and her husband’s friends while her husband is on a business trip. While the author describes the small affair, she illustrates Edna’s appearance, “The golden shimmer of Edna’s satin gown spread in rich folds on either side of her. There was a soft fall of lace encircling her shoulders. It was the color of her skin, without the glow, the myriad living tints that one may sometimes discover in vibrant flesh. There was something in her attitude, in her whole appearance when she leaned her head against the high-backed chair and spread her arms, which suggested the regal woman, the one who rules, who looks on, who stands alone” (Chopin 94). Chopin is describing Edna’s beauty and confidence by illustrating the dress she wore at the dinner. The author is using tactile words such as soft and satin to describe the feeling of Edna’s dress and she uses visual language, for instance, shimmer, color, glow, and vibrant to represent her dress, skin, and independence. Kate Chopin’s illustration of Edna’s appearance at the dinner is an interpretation of how Chopin feels towards independence. Edna is being portrayed as an elegant, glowing woman who stands alone. Chopin uses the dress to symbolize independence, so sees independence as colorful, elegant, and strong. During Chapter 39, Edna goes to the beach and is preparing to kill herself. The author announces, “But when she was there beside the sea, absolutely alone, she cast the unpleasant, pricking garments from her, and for the first time in her life, she stood naked in the open air, at the mercy of the sun, the breeze that beat upon her, and the waves that invited her” (Chopin 120). Edna is naked by the beach and reflecting on her life before she kills herself. Chopin is using tactile and visual descriptions to create an image for the audience of the beauty of being alone. Her use of the word breeze describes the weather and naked relates to Edna’s true identity being uncovered. The author referring to Edna being uncovered and bare is an important symbol that symbolizes her vivid personality. Vivid and naked both indicate life and spirit. At the end of the story, she stands alone and shows the world her animated spirit, before killing herself. She gracefully swims out into the ocean as a lively, independent woman and completes her awakening. Chopin includes this information to inform the audience of the beauty of being independent.

The author also uses details to describe a vibrant tone towards independence. During chapter 8, Edna wakes up at Madame Antoine’s house due to Edna feeling ill. The author illustrates, “Edna dabbed the powder upon her nose and cheeks as she looked at herself closely in the little distorted mirror which hung on the wall above the basin. Her eyes were bright and wide awake and her face glowed. (Chopin 42). While attending a service at a church, Edna became drowsy and oppressed. Robert took her to his friend’s house to let her rest. When Edna woke up at Madame Antoine’s house from a nap and she woke up feeling refreshed and alive. Chopin is descriptive of Edna’s appearance as she wakes up alone in Madame Antoine’s bed. She describes Edna’s face as glowing and her eyes as bright. For the first time, Edna awakens peacefully and she feels refreshed when she is not at home. While away from Leonce and the children, she began to notice her happiness in being independent. Chopin’s use of glowing and bright creates the idea of independence being positive and radiant. Throughout chapter 32, Mr. Pontellier learns that his wife plans to move out of their house. The house Edna built has had a strong effect on her, the text states, “The pigeon house pleased her. It at once assumed the intimate character of a home, while she herself invested it with a charm which it reflected like a warm glow” (Chopin 99). Kate Chopin is describing Edna’s pigeon house and how Edna feels when she is in the house. She uses descriptive words such as. warm, charming, and intimate to describe the pigeon-house Edna built. The author is using the pigeon-house as a symbol to represent her emotions towards being self-reliant. The pigeon house was built for Edna to be herself and express her newly found confidence. Chopin is creating a vibrant tone towards the pigeon-house and how it reflects Edna. A warm glow is being used in the sentence to help the audience understand the gracious impact confidence has had on Edna and Kate Chopin.

In conclusion, the author of The Awakening, Kate Chopin, uses imagery and details to generate a vibrant tone towards independence. Edna’s appearance and details of things Edna enjoys are used throughout the story to further express the author’s vivacious opinion on being self-reliant. The Awakening is a perfect example of what Susan B. Anthony meant when she claimed, “Independence is happiness”.

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