Use of Imagery in Chopin’s The Awakening Essay - 749 Words

Use of Imagery in Chopin’s The Awakening Several passages in The Awakening struck me because of their similar imagery—a bird, wings, and nudity. The first passage I looked at is in Chapter 9 where Edna Pontellier has a vision of a naked man â€Å"standing beside a desolate rock† (47) on a beach who is watching a bird fly away. This image was evoked by a one particular piece that Mme Ratignolle plays which Edna significantly calls â€Å"Solitude. † Apparently Edna frequently envisions certain images while listening to music: â€Å"Musical strains, well rendered, had a way of evoking pictures in her mind† (47). Listening to this piece Edna envisions a solitary, naked man with an â€Å"attitude [†¦] of hopeless resignation† (47). This scene presents solitude†¦show more content†¦We find the same imagery of somebody standing solitary and naked on a beach. Throughout the novel Edna has searched for someone to be close to and the only one she thought she could find that closeness w ith was Robert Lebrun. The words of his note â€Å"Good-by—-because I love you† (139) are still on her mind when she is swimming out into the ocean. She has finally accepted that there will not be a union of souls for her with anybody and that everybody is alone in the end. In the scene Edna had envisioned earlier the man was watching a bird flying away. At the end of he novel there is a bird as well, however, here it has a broken wing and is â€Å"beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water† (138). This passage reminded me of a scene earlier in the novel where Edna tells Arobin about her last encounter with Mademoiselle Reisz that has left her thinking about something the pianist had said to her: â€Å"She says queer things sometimes in a bantering way that you don’t notice at the time and you find yourself thinking about afterward.† Edna tells Arobin: â€Å"[S]he put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said. ‘The bird that would sour above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see weaklingsShow MoreRelatedThe Unique Style Of Kate Chopin s Writing1603 Words   |  7 PagesThe unique style of Kate Chopin’s writing has influenced and paved the way for many female authors. Although not verbally, Kate Chopin aired political and social issues affecting women and challenging the validity of such restrictions through fiction. 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