The Awakening Analysis

Several types of birds appear repeatedly in The Awakening. We’ll break it down for you.The parrot and the mockingbirdAt the start of the book, the parrot shrieks and swears at Mr. Pontellier....

The temporal setting is important because of the restrictive society in which Edna lives. Edna’s story wouldn’t make much sense if it took place in a society where divorce is possible,...

What is going on with the narration? Often it seems completely objective: "They formed a congenial group sitting there that summer afternoon." Other times it focuses in on Edna’s thoughts: "M...

Let’s put it this way: Edna doesn’t get a happy ending. At the closing of the novel, she either drowns from exhaustion or she dies intentionally. As for the whole "literary fiction" com...

Chopin wrote The Awakening in fairly formal prose that conveys a certain sense of gravity to the story. This seriousness is exacerbated by the novel’s point of view – the third person o...

From the first page of The Awakening, Kate Chopin establishes her stylistic control over her words; she follows the formal rules of grammar. Her sentences are sharp and exact, and her word choice i...

"The Awakening" is a phrase which symbolically describes what happens to the main character, Edna Pontellier, as she becomes an aware and conscious human being in the course of this book. What is s...

Talk about mixed signals. The ending of The Awakening takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster. As the last chapter begins, there is little sign that Edna intends anything more than some sol...

Edna is stuck in a loveless marriage.Loveless marriage. That usually spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Edna and her husband Leonce usually live in New Orleans, but maybe this vacation to the Grand Isle will sh...

Edna starts letting her hair down and her Inner Edna out.While vacationing on Grand Isle with liberal Creoles, Edna realizes that she’s not cut out to be a "mother-woman" who always puts her...

During summer vacation on Grand Isle, Edna is an obedient wife, but spending time with Robert Lebrun and Adele Ratignolle is bringing out her less-than-obedient Inner Edna. Back in New Orleans, Edn...

The word "sex" is never mentioned in The Awakening except as it refers to gender.Kate Chopin’s husband died, leaving her in a huge amount of debt (over $200,000 worth) and with several small...

Frankly, we’ve seen Disney movies more graphic. The word "sex" is never mentioned in this novel. No body parts are named. No explicit acts described (with the exception of some kisses). Nonet...