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Jason Rucker

ENG 3020

Dr. Campbell

Essay 3 peer review draft 1

The Sea as a Symbol of Freedom in the Awakening

There are many symbols throughout Kate Chopin’s The Awakening that have a

significant impact on the journey of Edna Pontellier from an obedient mother and wife to an

“awakened” individual. One of these symbols which plays an important part from the beginning

of the novel until the end is the ocean. The ocean represents a sense of rebirth and serves as a

symbol of freedom for Edna. In the language that Chopin uses she alludes to this symbol

throughout the novel. This includes the use of mainly active voice in the scenes where Edna is in

the water in contrast to the passive voice that is used in much of the rest of the novel. We also

observe a shift in the attitude of Edna and how she is described by Chopin, from being still being

somewhat fearful when she swims out on her own for the first time to feeling completely at ease

in the final scene where she swims out beyond her level of capability. This is representative of

the huge shift in attitude towards her situation in life throughout the novel. Chopin also uses her

stripping off clothes before getting into the ocean in the last scene as being parallel to the

concept of baptism or rebirth. In the first visit that Edna takes to the beach with Robert, we can

see that she is drawn to the water and learn that Edna has been trying to learn how to swim all

summer. When she takes a few strokes on her own and sees how easy it is on this first visit Edna

feels empowered. This is one act that she can do entirely on her own and it is up to her to stay

afloat. This chapter can be viewed as the first substantial event in Edna’s awakening. After
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swimming for so long however in this first visit, Edna realizes how far out she has gone and

worries that she might not have the endurance to make it back to shore. In this chapter, we can

break down the imagery and the language that Chopin uses and see how it is different from all

the language up to this point. Chopin switches between an active and a passive voice throughout

the novel up to this point, but the entire sequence of this swimming scene is written in the active.

This use of language can be seen as a parallel to Edna’s life up that point. Edna’s life has been

mostly passive and she has gone along with society’s expectations of her up until that point, both

as a wife and as a mother. The sea in The Awakening can be seen as a symbol of the freedom that

Edna desires and sparks her awakening to her sense of self, but ultimately it results in her death,

as she sees no role that will make her happy and conform to the expectations of society.

The first scene where Edna goes to the beach on Grand Isle with Adele in the Awakening

can be seen as her first taste of having a sense of individuality. In the text, in Chapter 6 Chopin

narrates that “Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human

being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her”. Later in

this same chapter, Chopin states "the voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering,

clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself

in mazes of inward contemplation”. This narrative description of the sea being “seductive” sets

the stage for how Edna is to views the water throughout the novel. By just viewing the water

from the beach the reader witnesses the allure that it has for Edna. In Chapter 7 Edna has a

conversation with Adele in which she describes a memory of going through the fields of

Kentucky and pretending that she is swimming. The reader observes the sensual nature of the

relationship that Edna has with Adele and Edna begins to let her guard down slightly in

describing the memory and allowing Adele to touch her affectionately. Both of these examples
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begin to paint a picture of the relationship that Edna has with the sea and why she is so attracted

to it.

In chapter 10 of the Awakening, we see that Edna is empowered enough to try swimming

out on her own for the first time into deeper water and is emboldened by how effortlessly she can

swim out. The language that is used during this chapter is much more direct and we find the use

of adjectives by Chopin to be stronger. The reader observes how much more excitable Edna is by

the quote "How easy, is it! She thought. It is nothing, she said aloud why did I not discover

before that it was nothing. Think of the time I have lost splashing about like a baby!” It is also

quoted that “as she swam, she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose

herself”.

In chapter 39 in the last few paragraphs of the novel Chopin describes Edna going out to

the Gulf one last time. The last paragraph details Edna’s memories of her father’s and sister’s

voice as she sinks into the ocean. This ends things on a somewhat positive note despite a great

deal of contradiction revolving around Edna’s decision to let go and what the ultimate meaning

of it is. Some critics have attached a negative symbol to the sea stating that it represents the

patriarchal ideology and oppression over women, but with the vast amount of imagery that

Chopin uses it can instead be seen as the ultimate sense of peace and freedom that Edna’s

awakening has made her long for.

Tiffany K. Wayne, a feminist writer, and cultural historian note that "In the 19th century,

most American women hoped to marry and have children ... Women in the rural, border and

southern areas were more likely to marry. early and had several children..." (Wayne 2). Indeed,

nineteenth-century social traditions gave women only two roles: motherhood and marriage. At

that time, American society was governed by a patriarchal paradigm, in which the roles of men
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and women were defined. Throughout her life, Kate Chopin was involved in Edna's struggle to

escape the patriarchal culture of New Orleans. “Even as a child, she had lived her own small life

all within herself. At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life—that

outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions” (14).   Is there a place in a

culture characterized by strict restrictions on women that can be a paradise of peace and freedom

for women?

Kate Chopin did not accidentally start Edna's "awakening" floor on the flooded Grand

Island. Sandra Gilbert remarked in a critical article: "For Chopin's Aphrodite, like Hesiod's, is

born from the sea, and born specifically because the colony where she comes to consciousness is

situated, like so many places that are significant for women, outside patriarchal culture, beyond

the limits of the city where men make history, on one of those magical shores that mark the

margin where nature intersect with culture" (Gilbert 272). Sandra Gilbert makes a clear

distinction between the matriarchal world of Grand Isle, where her closeness to nature is an

example of water, and the patriarchal world of New Orleans, where life revolves around men,

their profession, and their wealth. Kate Chopin chose the sea as her job because of her general

relationship with motherhood and motherhood. In addition, Gilbert's comparison with Edna and

Aphrodite shows Edna's metamorphosis into a new marine species.

Kate Chopin likens Edna's love for the ocean to her suffering for family life. Chopin

wrote in the first chapter of the floor: “her glance wandered from his face away toward the Gulf,

whose sonorous murmur reached her like a loving but imperative entreaty” (13).    "Whistle" is

described as "sound", indicating that the intensity is significant, even if the sound is not audible.

Chopin did not explain what the sea claimed from Edna by "forced begging." It can be concluded
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that Edna's words from the sea are ambiguous. However, the message is strong and "simply

confuses it" (13).

The water then shapes Edna's thoughts and emotions. Chopin shows that "The voice of

the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to

wander for a spell in the abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The

voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its

soft, close embrace" (14). Kate Chopin is not using the name Edna in the story at this time.

Instead, he referred to Edna as "soul" and "body." Chopin's goal is to demonstrate the power of

the sea because he can use his powers and deceive Edna's soul and body. Chopin uses the sea

here as a metaphor for seduction. In addition, Chopin uses feminine connotations such as

"attractive", "transformed", "soft" and "sensitive" to characterize water. It refers to the mother's

womb, along with thoughts of the "abyss of loneliness" and "around the body" and the waters of

the sea. Chopin wanted to show how returning to water is like returning to the human essence.

The power of the water is not only a metaphor for the power of Edna's revelation but also of the

sea, pointing to her mother's womb, indicating the basic origin of the revelation.

Edna decides to learn to swim and embarks on a journey of self-awakening. For Edna's

first swimming experience, "a certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in the water…

But that night she was like the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden

realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with overconfidence" (27).

Edna overcomes her fear for the first time in her life and "a feeling of exultation overtook her, as

if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and

her soul" (27). Edna's spirit was full of courage, and her body was full of strength. Edna has

already realized that she can remove the limitations of her being and thrive as an individual.
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When Edna started swimming away from the shore and looked back at the people she had left

behind, she realized she couldn't go on because of "a barrier which her unaided strength would

never be able to overcome" (28). As Edna considers the obstacles, she realizes the difficulty of

overcoming the limitations of society, as well as freeing herself from family responsibilities.

However, Edna has embarked on a path of self-discovery. After learning to swim, Edna began to

regain control of her body. Edna is "intoxicated with her newly conquered power" (27).

According to Rebecca Long- Kluckner, "the sea is the most significant symbol of empowerment

in the novel" (48). Edna's newly acquired swimming abilities and the sea are utilized to

symbolize her search for independence. Chopin emphasizes, however, that Edna's self-discovery

interrupts as "a quick vision of death smote her soul, and for a second of time appalled and

enfeebled her senses" (48).

Kate Chopin employs clothing as a significant metaphor in the story. Victorian women's

attire, like their lives, is characterized by great confinement. Edna, unlike Adele, as Chopin

characterizes her in her memoirs, "wore a cool muslin that morning … a white linen collar and a

big straw hat" (15). Edna's strange outfit shows that she refuses to conform to society's

standards. The symbolism of the costume is most evident at the end of the novel when Edna

takes off her panties before diving into the water. Edna is "there beside the sea, absolutely alone,

she cast the unpleasant, pricking garments from her, and for the first time in her life stood naked

in the open air" (108). By shedding her garments, Edna removes the final constraint on her path

to complete freedom. As she makes her way into the sea, "the touch of the sea is sensuous,

enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace" (109). Edna can shed the remaining vestiges of

her old self by swimming naked in the sea and being reborn as "the second coming Aphrodite"

(Gilbert 272).
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By referring to the sea's voice as "seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring,

murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude, to lose itself in mazes

of inward contemplation" (14), Kate Chopin's reference to the sea is not only related to water but

also nature. In her first experience with the sea, Edna tried to listen to the certainty of nature.

Edna explores her new experience with the sea. Edna didn't realize it. "Freedom at sea also bears

with it the danger of a bewildering sense of being lost, of drifting aimlessly” (Radcliff-Umstead

228).   Walter Taylor uses Freud's psychoanalytic theory to explain why Edna grew up under the

dictatorial regime of his widow. “Fixed in her longing for and symbolic search for reunion with

the lost mother” (Taylor 209).  For example, "the various psychoanalytic schools agree on the

status of the symbol of the mother of the ocean" (Ryan 48). As a result, Edna's journey to "wake

up" could take her nowhere but Mother Earth. Moreover, "embracing the sea as in the womb"

(Bogard 108) is a metaphor for Edna's rebirth. In the story, Chopin uses the sea to symbolize

Edna's death and rebirth.

As soon as Edna woke up, she recognized her strength. He challenged the social order

and sought a new identity. On the last page, Mrs. Chopin begs readers to believe in Edna, who is

completely devastated by the loss of Robert, and in the paradox of a woman who wakes up

excited but chooses to die quietly, almost foolishly (Spangler 209). Chopin's goal is to show

readers that not all social roles that have been built and held by society are compatible with those

of Edna; he is unable or unwilling to adapt fully or properly to any of the several designated

positions in the novel. Edna chose to take the last step to get rid of all the handcuffs and get the

real enlightenment. Water represents not only Edna's self-realization but also the union between

freedom and death. The sea is important for Edna's dream of independence because Edna

understands that the only way to freedom is to die at sea. The complete symbolism of the
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resurrection is complex. However, John May admits that "Chopin has always shown that he is

the master." The main emblems of the sea and the city serve as a reflection of the rhythmic

progress of the story from Grand Island to the Creole territory of New Orleans and Grand Island”

(May 212). 
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Works Cited

Walker, Nancy. Kate Chopin; the Awakening. Bedford, 2000.

Bogard, Carley Rees. “‘The Awakening’: A Refusal to Compromise.” The University of

Michigan Papers in Women’s Studies 2.3 (1977): 15-31. Rpt. in World Literature

Criticism Supplement 1. Rpt. in World Literature Criticism, Supplement 1-2: A Selection of

Major Authors from Gale’s Literary Criticism Series. Ed. Polly Vedder. Vol. 1. Detroit:

Gale, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.

Chopin, Kate, and Margo Culley. The Awakening: An Authoritative Text, Biographical and

Historical    Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print.

Long- Kluckner, Rebecca. “Chopin’s Awakening of Female Sexuality in ‘The Storm’

“Association of Young Journalists and Writers 2003-2009, n. d. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

Radcliff-Umstead, Douglas. “Literature of Deliverance: Images of Nature in The Awakening.”

Southern Studies 1.2 (Summer 1990): 127-147. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary

Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center.

Web. 26 Feb. 2010.

Ryan, Steven T. “Depression and Chopin’s ‘The Awakening.’ (Kate Chopin).” The Mississippi

Quarterly 51.2 (1998): 253+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.

Taylor, Walter, and Jo Ann B. Fineman. “Kate Chopin: Pre-Freudian Freudian.” Southern

Literary Journal 29.1 (Fall 1996): 35-45. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed.

Janet Witalec. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Feb.

2010.

Wayne, Tiffany K. Women´s Roles in Nineteenth-Century America. Westport: Greenwood Press.

2007. Print.
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