Ocean Symbolism In The Awakening

The ocean represents liberation from the confinement of the oppressed home lives for women. Edna learns she has control over herself and that she is, “ no longer one of Leonce’s possessions” (Chopin 36.) Women were considered to be property to their husbands during the late 1800’s. The ocean is sharp contrast to the wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper” represents a more literal form of imprisonment in

The first time she goes out into the ocean with Robert, she takes off her ring, showing that she is not Leonce’s property anymore and she is her own person. In addition, she later teachers herself how to swim, showing that she is independent and can do things on her own. She swims further out than any other woman has swam before. This symbolizes that she is acting like no other woman has before, and trying to revolutionize the way women are treated. After coming home from her distant swim, Edna lays outside on the hammock.

Adele has her sewing and Madame Reisz has her piano playing. One day, Edna agrees to go swimming with Robert. This experience awakens something inside her. She realizes swimming in the sea is some kind of escape for her. She can forget about all her responsibilities as a wife and a mother for a little while and just focus on herself.

In the stories ‘Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress’ by Dai Sijie and ‘The Boat’ by Alistair MacLeod, characters that are trapped in a close minded environment use their knowledge of books to escape and fulfil their desires. In both of these stories, characters are trapped in a close minded environment with some sort of higher power restricting their knowledge of the outside world. In ‘The Boat’ the mother is a strong presence in everyone in the family’s life. “My mother ran her house as her brothers ran their boats.” (MacLeod,2000,pg.3) “She despised disorder in rooms and in houses and in hours and in lives, and she had not read a book since high school. There she had read Ivanhoe and considered it a colossal waste of time.” (MacLeod,2000,pg.5)

1. Quote: “As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself” (31). Literary/Style Elements: Metaphor Commentary: Chopin evokes the emotion of breaking free, or losing oneself within Edna for the reader to understand that the sea or ocean resembles the sense of renewal. Edna being connected to the unlimited reach uses the metaphorical representation for her to comprehend that she achieve things strictly to please herself. Additional Ideas: This metaphor sets the mood in the novel, that it will be used to allow people or Edna more specifically to be happy.

"I find the question of whether gender differences are biologically determined or socially constructed to be deeply disturbing"- Carol Gilligan. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin depicts a woman who struggles with her identity. The book begins with Edna, a submissive wife and mother, on vacation in Grand Isle. As the book progresses Edna becomes increasingly disenchanted with her roles as a mother, wife, and socialite. After receiving a devastating letter from a former lover, Edna commits a final act of autonomy by taking her own life.

in Schanfield 1656). In the text, Glaspell insist on Mrs. Wright being identification as a “songbird” before she married John Wright (Schanfield 1655). Glaspell chose to do this so the audience can see how an independent woman is happier and better off alone. As her marriage played out with Mr. Wright she slowly morphed into the mold a woman was forced to fit into. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Mrs. Hale (referring to Mrs. Wrights singing and happiness in the context of the bird) said, “No, [Mr.] Wright wouldn't like the bird… a thing that sang” she went on to say “She used to sing.

I thought of telling him about binary numbers and the Glass Castle and Venus and all the things that made my dad special and completely different from his dad, but I knew Billy wouldn't understand. I started to run out of the house, but the I stopped and turned around. “My daddy is nothing like your daddy!” I shouted Whether it's learning how to swim, cook, or make friends, Jeannette learns to become a strong, self-sufficient women who makes a successful life for herself. When having to face adversity, Christy Brown in My Left Foot, Bethany Hamilton, and Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle are perfect examples of how you can create a better life when overcoming adversity. To be able to be resilient and perservering when times are tough, are key to become a stronger, more well rounded adult.

In “The Story of an Hour,” the main character faced patriarchal oppression by not being able to liberate herself and her desire for freedom. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman portrays patriarchal oppression through the narrator’s stream of consciousness. The women of these texts reflect on the patriarchal oppression and have had an impact on women’s ability of self-expression, cultural roles, resistance of patriarchal oppression, and recognition. Throughout history, patriarchal advantages has taken a toll on a woman’s ability to express themselves and their daily lives. Donald Hall claims in his feminist analysis “Literary and Cultural Theory” that throughout centuries, patriarchal oppression of women has been impacted on a woman 's ability to express themselves (Hall 202).

“[The southern woman] cannot express an opinion without having [her husband] sneer it down. He ridicules her efforts at self-improvement, […] and she feels insulted and outraged” (Dix). Dorothy Dix mentions the emotional tolls taken on Southern white women caused by the patriarchal oppression of the late 1890s. In doing so, Dix creates a comparison between the external patriarchal oppression affecting southern women, and its internal emotional effects. Kate Chopin applies this comparison to her novella, The Awakening, set in the late 1890s about a southern housewife, Edna, struggling to cope with the daily patriarchal oppression from her husband, her children, her peers, her society, and herself.