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The Sea Inside In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

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The Sea Inside
The ocean serves as a powerful source of inspiration for many; it is often shrouded in myth, mystery, and romanticism, as illustrated by the multitude of poems, literature, and art that focus on it. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the sea serves as a symbol of multiple elements of Edna’s journey as it represents both inward reflection and contemplation, as well as the frightening dangers and liberating rebirth that come with the absolute and expansive freedom that Edna so desperately seeks. Edna spends much of her adult life surrounded by the responsibilities of her demanding domestic and social life, without much time to turn inward or be alone; thus, the expansive abyss of the sea offers her a tempting chance for contemplation and solitude. As Edna spends time along the water at Grand Isle, it invites her to explore “the mazes of inward contemplation”, leading her to reflect on “her position in the universe as a human being” (57). This contemplation, of which Edna has never experienced in her 28 years of attempting to meet societal norms and expectations, awakens her to her role in the larger scheme of the universe, making her domestic and social obligations seem trivial in comparison. The sea also spurs inner reflection on Edna’s past, when delirious romantic passions controlled her emotions; as she stares at “the water stretching so far away,” she thinks of the “meadow that seemed as big as an ocean” near her childhood home in Kentucky, where she had experienced the …show more content…

Despite the risk and fear that accompanies her liberation and rebirth, Edna truly believes in her heart she will find the rebirth and solitude she so longs for within the sea, with ultimately tragic

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