Argumentative Essay on The Awakening

A Spanish Proverb written long ago plainly expresses what women seeking to become equal might agree upon: “To tell a woman everything she may not do is to tell her what she can do.” Female characters such as Edna Pontellier, whom longed to be free women in society, would likely have agreed with this famous Spanish proverb for they desperately wanted the rights men in society had. Women sought to be free and independent citizens just as men were. To find their freedom and place in society, women often felt lost in their pursuits to find their identity. The novel The Awakening is a good example of the Realism period because Kate Chopin expresses views of the feminist movement through the characterization of Edna as well as through the use of symbolism in birds throughout the novel.

The transformations Edna makes in her character throughout the novel reflect the realism period’s feminist movement. Edna’s awakening gives her a newfound outlook on society and the desire to seek alternative roles within that society (Gray 1). Once Edna becomes awakened to her own desires, she begins to search and experiment with alternative roles in society. Edna begins to question and experiment with new roles for women that were often not accepted in the nineteenth century. Chopin expresses what women of the feminist movement were experiencing when she writes “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” (Chopin 17). Like most women in the nineteenth century feminist movement, Edna comes to the realization that society has chosen a place for her. Instead of accepting what society has given her, she desperately devotes her life to making her own choices and decisions. Edna’s transformation from acceptance of society’s ideas of women to her realization that she must make her own decisions to be heard strongly reflect the ideas of the feminist movement of the 1800’s.

The use of birds in The Awakening symbolizes how women were kept in cages and examines the obstacles they encounter when they attempt to escape. Elz argues Chopin’s use of birds symbolize women’s entrapment in society and uses the caged bird to show that women are not merely to be admired or dismissed when bored, but should be an important, continuing presence in society (Elz 2). The parrot speaking an incomprehensible language symbolizes how women, such as Edna, were not understood by the remainder of society when they attempted to voice their opinions. Edna, just like the birds, has trouble communicating her feelings and is unheard in her attempts to express her thoughts and feelings. In the novel Madam Reisz, a strong, unrestrained woman, informs Edna she doesn’t have strong enough wings to sustain flight (85). In Edna’s attempts to escape, she is wounded because her wings are not strong due to her confusion about her identity. She is not able to handle what comes along with rejecting society and making her own path because she is not completely sure of herself. The symbolism of birds in the novel portrays the struggle women felt within the barriers society erected for females.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin effectively expresses the feminism of the realism period through the use of characterization of Edna as well as the symbolism of birds in the novel. Through the transformations of Edna’s character, Chopin demonstrates how women of the realist period were viewed and how they ultimately viewed themselves. Kate Chopin urges women to follow the feminist notion to follow not what society has given them but to follow their own path to freedom. The Awakening is a novel that encourages women to explore their own identity in society instead of allowing society to cage them. While most remarks concerning women’s rights would today be considered normal, the mere thought of changing women’s roles in society in the nineteenth century was considered extreme. The feminists of the 1880s set a remarkable example that people should always examine their roles in society and decide for themselves the manner in which they, as an individual should live.