To Thine Own Self Be True: The Awakening in Review

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To Thine Own Self Be TrueThe Awakening in Review

• Feraco
• Search for Human Potential
• 24 February 2009

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The Curtain Rises

• We spoke yesterday about the Victorian/Creole
  social expectations that influenced Chopins
  work, as well as the shifting trends in American
  culture around the turn of the century
• Today, Id like to take a moment to talk about
  the literary movements that helped shape Chopins
  writing specifically, the interplay between
  Romanticism and Realism in The Awakening

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Que Romantico

• Romantic authors focused on the individual above
  all else
• They valued freedom, independence, liberty, etc.
• The ability for human beings to exist as they
  were always meant to without fetters
• They saw society as harmful because it placed so
  many restrictions on how human beings could act
• Standards of legality were one thing, but the
  myriad standards of decency that so many seemed
  willing to abide by were a different matter

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Nature vs. the City

• As a result, Romantic authors loved the natural
  world, the exotic, and the beautiful
• They preferred nature to urban centers because
  they viewed cities as artificial constructions
  that limited (rather than expanded) mans
  capacity for improvement
• (Contrast this with what we learned about cities
  and social progress at the turn of the century!)
• They wanted to return to a simpler, less corrupt
  time
• Saw a movement away from Rationalism as the way
  to do it

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Losing Yourself in Thought and Feelings

• Specifically, Romantics took a different view of
  psychology and emotion than the Rationalists
• Writers like Hawthorne and Poe dealt with
  unrequited love and violent passions
• Rational thought was less of a concern than
  understanding ones emotional reactions and the
  power of ones own imagination and creativity
• Self-contemplation, then, was highly valued
• (You can see lingering traces of these traditions
  in the writings of Transcendentalists like
  Thoreau and Emerson!)

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Mistakes We Knew We Were Making

• Chopins character portrayals reflect Realist
  traditions because her characters are
  fundamentally realistic
• I mentioned yesterday that The Awakening doesnt
  have heroes, heroines, and villains so much as it
  has people who live and who cause joy and pain
  for themselves and others just by living life and
  making mistakes
• Chopin carefully constructs portraits of people
  you can actually meet we know Adèles and
  Léonces, we know Ednas and Roberts
• Chopin neither judges nor exaggerates them
• Instead, she presents them as real people in a
  real place
• (As weve spoken about earlier, Chopins settings
  were based on her experiences truth in fiction!)

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Learning via Emotion

• Their emotions are dealt with in a dignified way
• Although some of you may take issue with Ednas
  emotionalism, that particular character trait may
  make more sense now that you understand
  Romanticisms influence on Chopin
• In fact, were able to learn more about each
  character by exploring their emotional
  landscapes not just Edna, but Robert, Reisz,
  Adèle, and Léonce as well
• and we still have other characters left to meet!

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Onward!

• Now that weve taken a look at the social and
  literary influences on Chopins work as well as
  at her personal history we can take another
  look at the work itself
• Its helpful to break up this novels first half
  even further
• By cutting it into four different sections, we
  can take a closer look at how the novels tone
  and character focus shifts

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In Review

• The first five-chapter section provides us with a
  look at Edna before she awakens
• Its not a flattering portrayal
• When Léonce first looks at her, he sees a damaged
  piece of property and now we know why
• Shes deeply unhappy without understanding why,
  and lives without pausing to try
• Ordinary moments for contemplation, such as when
  she walks outside to cry during Chapter 3, are
  completely glossed over or ignored
• Instead of thinking about why shes crying, she
  just exists passively, tears rolling out instead
  of being shed, until the biting insects drive her
  to move like livestock.

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Matrimony and Complication

• Her marriage with Léonce is clearly problematic
• Shes not happy, and he doesnt entirely respect
  her
• He plays the part of the good husband but in
  this culture, as he points out, the woman takes
  care of the children, and he shouldnt have to
  check on them
• So why does he?
• He cant quite put his finger on why shes not a
  mother-woman, but it disturbs him all the same
• Whats fascinating, however, is that Chopin never
  definitively establishes whether Raoul was really
  sick, or whether he was, in fact, simply having a
  bad dream. We end the chapter not knowing whether
  Léonce was correct!
• Who did you assume interpreted the situation
  correctly?

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The Fire Starts Burning

• Still, Edna is slowly pushing towards
  self-awareness
• We see her begin to think about why shes
  reluctant to discuss the book, and we see
  specific reasons for why shes a poor fit for
  Creole culture, which were introduced to here
• Little moments like her inability to sketch Adèle
  symbolize her inability to properly imitate their
  ideals
• She has friends Adèle and Robert but she
  doesnt really belong there
• Fortunately for her, the Lebruns cottages at
  Grand Isle are there for vacationing, which means
  her experiences there are at least a little
  removed from her normal life
• Shes soon able to explore aspects of herself and
  her relationships that she wouldnt have been
  able to elsewhere
• We see birds, music, and the sea in this section
  all will play larger roles later
• Theres a light burning inside her (an image
  Chopins particularly fond of), but its little
  more than a dull ember
• The flames pop up later

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Beginning to Awaken

• The second five-chapter section is a chronicle of
  Ednas awakening, of her slow shaking-off of the
  unconscious life and routine shes followed
  without ever questioning why
• It even opens with Edna stopping to wonder why
  she initially rebuffs Roberts invitation to go
  down to the sea
• Now we see the sea again, and were unsure about
  what it represents
• Freedom or society?
• Passion for self or passion for others?
• In any case, Chopins last lines seem somewhat
  foreboding
• We know this is foreshadowing something, because
  weve been trained to look for what seem to be
  significant cluesbut we dont know what this
  means quite yet

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We Pause to Consider

• Edna begins to contemplate herself in a new light
  (a clear sign of her Romantic development)
• She refuses to stop thinking when Adèle
  essentially advises her not to trouble herself
• Shes honest with herself when she stops to
  reminisce about her girlhood in Kentucky
• She realizes that her reasons for marrying Léonce
  not just to get away from her father, but to
  get away from the tragedian and all the hopeless
  dreaming he represented was foolish
• She essentially got married to keep herself from
  dreaming, and thats a prescription for disaster
• She realizes shes been instinctively leading a
  dual life
• A public face that everyone sees
• A private one that no one not even she fully
  understands
• Notice, however, thats shes never fully
  committed to either

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Modes of Expression

• We see Edna listening to Reiszs music and
  feeling overwhelmed
• We spoke yesterday about music as
  self-expression, and Reiszs choice of song
  Solitude is significant
• Does Edna dislike solitude, or wish for it?
• We also see our favorite parrot again
• He screams at the Farival girls, and is quickly
  silenced

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The Woman and the Sea

• Chapter 10 finds Edna, in what seems to be a
  moment of momentous significance, swimming by
  herself for the first time
• She chastises herself for refusing to try out of
  fear for so long, and for splashing around like
  a baby
• Again, we wonder what this symbolizes
• Depending on what you think the sea represents,
  this is either a moment of intense triumph or the
  beginning of Ednas downfall
• Notice that Roberts watching her from afar
• We also get the story about the semi-celestials,
  which is deeply important for those who seek to
  understand the storys ending
• Well refer back to these events once youve
  finished Chapter 39

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Convince Yourself to Accept the 5

• Lets pause for a second and picture the
  following hypothetical scenario
• Our lives are rated on a scale ranging from 1 to
  10
• 1 representing a completely hopeless, joyless
  existence
• 10 representing near-deification
• Lets say youre a 5
• I give you a choice You can continue living as a
  5 for the rest of your days, or you can take a
  risk and flip a coin
• Heads means you win, and youll live an 8-rated
  life
• Tails means you lose, and youll live a 2-rated
  life
• Do you stay where you are, or do you flip the
  coin?

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Rolling the Die

• Lets pursue a different hypothetical
• Depending on the choices we make and the plans we
  form, we can build ourselves safety nets that
  make risks less dangerous
• In this scenario, your plans have left you with
  more options so instead of a coin flip, you get
  to roll a four-sided die
• The sides are marked 2, 4, 6, and 8
• Do you roll the die, or do you remain a 5?
• What if youre married?
• What if youre a parent?

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Why Take the Chance?

• Ednas playing with fire here, because its not
  as though she has a lot of options
• She cant divorce Léonce
• As it turns out, she cant count on Robert
  because hes moving to Mexico
• Unless Léonce dies, she doesnt seem to have any
  way out
• In other words, she doesnt have the die she
  has the coin, if she has anything at all
• Bur she seems to be itching to flip it anyway
• We wonder, however, how wed rate her life
• How do we measure a worthwhile existence?
• Is Edna living one?

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Another Look at Robert

• In the meantime, we learn that theres more to
  other characters than our first impressions of
  them
• Robert in particular
• He doesnt appear to be a completely typical
  Creole male
• He just acts like one
• Adèle recognizes this, which is why she warns him
  to stay away from Edna
• However, she couches her warning in a rebuke that
  reminds him that he is a Creole, and that Edna
  isnt remember their attitude towards
  outsiders
• On some level, his yearning for Edna is as
  desperate and hopeless as her love for the
  tragedian
• Hes beginning to pull away from Edna, realizing
  that hell need to go to Mexico

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So Far Away

• Robert and Edna seem so close to understanding
  each other, but remain frustratingly at odds
  somehow
• She begins to become more aware of her feelings
  for him, and finally recognizes them for what
  they are at the end of the chapter
• It closes with Robert leaving her alone, walking
  in and out of strips of pale moonlight
• Perhaps symbolizing the moral ambiguity inherent
  in their friendship
• A bond that threatens to become something more!
• Scandal!

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The Rubber Band

• If we end the second five-chapter section hopeful
  that Edna will wake up and see the light, the
  third five-chapter section proves particularly
  frustrating
• Edna is essentially treated like a rubber band,
  straining towards independence before being
  dragged back into her old life
• Shes a changed woman, but still seen and
  treated as Edna Pontellier

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It All Comes Around Again

• We see her resist Léonce for the first time
• Her response to his demand that she return here
  couldnt contrast more strongly with her reaction
  to his demand in Chapter 3 that she check Raoul
• Edna becomes defiant in order to become an
  independent actor
• Unfortunately, she discovers that Robert the
  catalyst for her push towards independence
  seems unreachable, for a number of reasons
• He flirts, but never commits this seems to be
  his pattern of behavior regarding Mexico
  (although that changes quite quickly once he
  realizes how he feels about Edna
• Not only does he refuse to flip the coin, but
  hes hiding from the live he could be leading
• Did Edna do the same with the tragedian and
  Léonce?

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The Buried Treasure of the Heart

• Even before we know hes leaving, we see symbolic
  moments that encapsulate their seemingly
  star-crossed relationship
• For example, theres a reference to buried
  treasure and pirate gold in Chapter 12
• We realize it represents love and passion the
  things that can make Edna happiest
• We also realize that shes the one whos buried
  the treasure, and she needs Roberts help to
  excavate it

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Star-Crossed

• After Edna wakes up in Chapter 13, the two are
  finally alone together, and they joke that shes
  slept for a hundred years
• Everyones gone, and theyre free of society
• The sad part is that its a fantasy of an
  independent life that she cant have
• She hasnt really been asleep that long, and they
  talk to each other knowing full well that theyll
  need to head back to society soon
• and that their happiness is only temporary.
• They sing Ah! Si tu savais, which translates as
  Ah! If only you knew
• Then she returns home to the life shes led and
  whispers Ah! Si tu savais again
• Roberts sudden departure crushes her because she
  had just begun to hope again
• It seems like Edna is destined to lose whatever
  she cares about enough to hold (or try to hold)

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and Everything Starts Falling

• The last five-chapter section is one of
  frustration and destruction, as Edna begins
  expressing the torrent of emotion thats coursing
  through her
• Edna feels everything slipping away from her, and
  begins seizing control of her own life or
  trying to
• One of the things we notice about Edna is that
  she tends to make things worse
• She doesnt think through things clearly, and
  tends to act on impulse
• This tendency will have tragic consequences as we
  move into the books second half

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Edna as an Individual

• A declaration of Ednas awakening sense of
  individuality catches our attention
• I would give up the unessential I would give my
  money, I would give my life for my children, but
  I wouldn't give myself.
• This is perhaps the statement that best defines
  Edna, and yet it seems counter-intuitive
• Since when does she care so much about her kids?

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More Significant Than You Know

• We also see one of Chopins most vivid symbols
  Edna tries and fails to crush her wedding ring,
  then breaks the vase instead
• Obviously, this represents Ednas willingness to
  break the bonds of matrimony but the ring cant
  be destroyed
• She also realizes that she can never be Adèle,
  and begins to pity her friend for leading such a
  domesticated life
• At this point, she rebels against Léonces every
  order she wears the wrong clothes, she stops
  hosting his parties, she retreats into her art
  to the point that he believes shes suffering
  from some mental infirmity
• He encourages her to pursue her art, hoping it
  will make her happy still showing that in his
  own way, he cares about her
• Some ways she does not seem like other women
  Victors last words of description, and theyre
  both more and less true than he knows
• Shes not like Adèle but there were more Ednas
  in American than many people realized