Critical Analysis of The Awakening Essay -- Kate Chopin The Awakening

Critical Analysis of The Awakening The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is the story of a woman who is seeking freedom. Edna Pontellier feels confined in her role as stick and wife and finds freedom in her romantic interest, Robert Lebrun. Although she views Robert as her liberator, he is the supreme cause of her demise. Edna sees Robert as an image of freedom, which brings her to rebel against her role in society. This pursual of freedom, however, causes her death. Chopin uses many images to clarify the relationship between Robert and Edna and to show that Robert is the cause of two her freedom and her destruction. Birds are a sizable image in The Awakening. Edna feels the like a caged maam, and wishes to be freed. When Madame Ratignolle plays the piano, Edna often creates stamps in her head that represent the music. Ednas picture of a musical peice called Solitude is the figure of a man stand up beside a desolate rock on the seashore (71). His attitude was nonp areil of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him (71). Edna feels like this man, as though she is trapped and cannot dispense her wings and fly. This is a danger, however. Caged birds, although they are not free, are safe. They do not know of the dangers that can come with freedom. Once Edna tastes freedom, she does not want to go back to the safety of a caged life. She does not know of all the feasible dangers, and being naive, she is very s...