Naturalism In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

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How does the novel exhibit realism, naturalism, regionalism, and local color? Look for evidence of each while you read to note of specific examples. The realism in the novel is expressed through sights, the sounds, and the characters. The novel is set in Grand Isle and New Orleans. Grand Isle is beach community and the “narrow bridges”(43) “connected the Lebrun cottages one with the other.”(43). New Orleans was a busy city, with “a constant stream of callers”(100) on Tuesday when women would hold their reception days. Through sound, the novel also expresses realism. On Grand Isle, it was not uncommon for the yellow parrot to yell out “Allez vous-en!”(43). The sound of Mademoiselle Reisz play music made everyone happy, especially Edna because …show more content…

The result of the naturalism in the book is that Edna doesn’t fit in with her current society, so she tries to break free from it and eventually caves to the societal pressures and commits suicide. One could look at it as if it was survival of the fittest and Edna was not fit to survive in the Creole environment, so she left it the only way she thought possible. Regionalism and local color and essentially the same in The Awakening. The often use of French words and phrases like “Pauvre chérie.”(61) or “Blagueur-farceur-gros bête va!”(54). The use of the phrases show that the French settled around the region of New Orleans and the language has been passed down to each generation. Throughout the novel, most characters are referred to as Mr., Mrs., or Madam. The use of these respectful titles was common in the southern region of the United States because of the aristocratic societies that had settled there before, like the French. Even though Edna had married a Creole, she did feel “at home in the society of the Creoles”(52). The Creole society was in the southern US, particularly focused in the New Orleans

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