lunes, 26 de marzo de 2012

"Good-by--Because I Love You."


The last page of The Awakening very important to the novel because it ties symbols seen previously in the novel with Edna's decision of being finally free.

As Edna enters the cold water naked, she feels like some "new-born creature", therefore, images of her childhood keep coming back to her head as she swims further and further into the ocean. As a child, Edna felt completely free from any type of restrictions and limits, which is exactly what she wanted now. By reviving these scenes, Edna is able to overcome the fear of being unable to return to shore, in other words, of dying.

But as Mrs.Pontellier pictures herself as a child to move on, she is also thinking of her own children. She remembers the conversation she had with Madame Ratignolle in which she says she's willing to die for them, but not to sacrifice herself. In Edna's situation, she is dying in order to save them from the destiny of a bad reputation due to her mother. She is willing to die in order to assure their happiness, bbut she is not willing to sacrife herself. Sacrificing herself would mean coming back to Mr.Pontellier and reuniting the family. By doing so, Edna would be loosing a part of herself, and falling back to the dream of which she has finally woken up from.

As physical exhaustion reaches her, she remembers Robert and the note he left her the previous night. As Edna stayed the entire night pondering of their encounter she realized that just as she got over Mr.Pontellier and Arobin, the love she feels for Robert might as well extinguish. Edna says "He did not know; he did not understand", refering to the fact that Robert never understood that her goal as a woken woman was to be entirely free from other's control. As Robert tried to step back from Mrs.Pontellier because she was Leoncé's wife, she understood that Robert saw her as a possesion too- someone else's posession.

Finally, as the terror is coming back, Edna returns to her memories as a young girl to calm her fears and feel that indeed, she is being born again in death.

domingo, 25 de marzo de 2012

The Voice of The Sea

Nack and I wrote this song for the book The Awakening by Kate Chopin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ibgx8tQf8&feature=youtu.be

Here are the lyrics:

Voice of the sea

Chorus:
The voice of the sea is seductive
But never as much as destructive
The mockingbird sings
The parrot repeats
The awakening will soon begin

Verse 1:
The tale of a woman
No love for her man
Who dislikes the life
Of the typical wife

Verse 2:
But then she meets Robert
The man of her dreams
The parrot breaks free
But still tries to swim

Chorus:
The voice of the sea is seductive
But never as much as destructive
The mockingbird sings
The parrot repeats
“The woman is crazy” they think

Verse 3:
Deep in the ocean
Struggles to breathe
No mockingbird dreams
A pigeon it is

Final Chorus:
The voice of the sea is seductive
But never as much as destructive
The mockingbird sings
The parrot repeats
But the pigeon soon goes back to sleep

Video Blog #1

Here's the youtube link for the video blog!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrWxlEI1RD4&feature=youtu.be

domingo, 18 de marzo de 2012

The Widow and The Couple


While reading the novel I found two characters that, in despite of their lack of speech and direct action, are recurrent and symbolic. These are the lady in black and the two lovers found in chapters XII and XV.

In chapter twelve, Robert and Edna run into the lady in black and the two lovers as they head over to the Cheniere to attend mass. The lovers seem distracted and alien to the external world, while the lady in black followes them in silence and mournful attitude:

The lovers, who had laid their plans the night before, where already strolling towards the wharf. The lady in black, with her Sunday book, velvet and gold-clasped, and her Sunday silver beads, was following them at no great distance" (pgs. 68 - 69)

Further into the novel, in chapter fifteen, the characters appear in the dinner where Robert's departure was announced.  During the dinner, Chopin portrays the lovers as two beings who are too focused on their own conversation and relationship and ignore the dinner's vivid conversation. Chopin mentions the lady in black to make a connection between Mexico and the lady's religious devotion: "The lady in black had once received a pair of prayer beads of curious workmanship from Mexico..." (pg. 85)

As both of the characters appear in situations that are significant for Robert and Edna's relationship, it can be concluded that they both symbolize the different stages or outcomes possible in a relationship. The lady in black represents mourning, suffering and attachment to her husband, since she's always walking silent and holding religious ornament. This attitute symbolizes Edna's possible future if she continues married to Mr.Pontellier. As Edna foreshadows this destiny, she refuses to accept it and falls in love with Robert. The two lovers symbolize their sparkling relationship, which gives Edna a new meaning in life. The fact that the lady is always following the couple is a juxtaposition of Edna's two worlds.

Comparing the Foils



While reading some of my classmates' blogs I came across one that called my attention since the author has a different perspective than that in terms of Mrs. Pontellier and Madame Ratignolle's Experience. In her post "Rebel at Heart, Mother at Heat", Alejandra compares the women's relationship to one of a mother and daughter since Madame Ratignolle protects her from Robert. I agree with Alejandra in that Adele and Edna are foils and represent completely opposite types of women, but I disagree in that their relationship is one of a mother.daughter relationship.

In chapter eight, Ratignolle has a conversation with Robert in which she tells him that Mrs. Pontellier is not like one of them, therefore she doesn't understand the tricks and dangers in falling for Robert. She then reminds him that she's married and getting involved with her will bring him trouble:

If your attentions to any married women here were ever offered with any intention of being convincing, you would not be the gentleman we all know you to be, and you would be unfit to associate with the wives and daughters of the people who trust you" (pg 46)

According to the previous line, Chopin portrays Ratignolle as a character that is more interested in protecting Robert, since she inf fond of him, and actually feels jealous of the attentions and importance he's placing on Edna.

Further into the novel we find another example that portrays a behavior between Edna and Adele different from a typical mother-daughter one. In chapter XVIII, Edna visits Adele's home in New Orleans, where she has dinner with her and her husband. The two of them exhibit an enviable relationship which, instead of making Edna jealous and sad by comparing her relationship with Leonce with theirs, gives Edna a sense of pity over Adele. Edna feels that Madame Ratignolle's life is vividless and colourness since she lacks the emotion or delirium in life.

Swim!


She wanted to swim far out, where no other woman had swum before" (pg. 60)

The summer at the Gulf changed many things in Edna's life. One of this changes is seen directly on chapter ten when she finally overcomes her fears and is able to swim by herself. The accompanying crowd cheers Edna as she struggles to swim out. She feels powerful, accomplished and reckless. As she enjoys her new skill, she turns around to the shore and suddenly feels scared, tired and numb. She fears she might not be strong enough to make it back.

The ocean is vast, deep, dark and cold. It bears many unknowns and dangers. In The Awakening, the ocean symbolizes knowledge and wisdom in Edna's life. Being able to swim represents how she is able to submerge into this ocean of ideas and feelings and control it. The summer changed her life, not only in teaching her how to swim, but giving her a new perspective and motive in life. Just as Robert taught her how to swim, he taught her how to love and feel differently.

Mr. Pontellier's reaction to his wife's accomplishment portray their relationship perfectly. He sat and watched from afar, and whe his wife told him about his near-to-death experience, he simply responded that he was watching there. Robert, on the other side, approached Mrs.Pontellier when she was walking home and showed interest in how she felt.

As soon as Edna got home she doesn´t want to enter the house and fell asleep in the hammock outside accompanied by Robert.  As soon as Leoncé arrived and demanded her to enter she refuses and tells him that he should not speak to her in that tone. Her change in attitude represent how after discovering her real power, strenght and value, she is not willing to return to her old life and self. She discovered a new woman within herself.

jueves, 15 de marzo de 2012

"Let Mrs.Pontellier Alone"!!


The conversation held bewteen Madame Ratignolle and Robert in chapter 8 is a key element Chopin uses to depict the hypocrisy and corrupt values in the Creole society. Right before this conversation took place, Madame Ratignolle and Mrs.Pontellier were having a deep, heart-to-heart conversation in which Madame Ratignolle hend her hand to demonstrate support and understanding. But as soon as Edna left, Madame Ratignolle orders Robert to stay away from her:

She is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously" (pg 46)

Even though Madame Ratignolle's intentions might seem those of a concerned friend who is trying to keep harm away from Edna, in reality she is somehow jealous from the attention Edna receives from Robert. This is clear when Ratignolle bursts and tells Robert that he should end the fantasy before he is looked down by society and kept away from daughters and wives.

Robert is clearly persistant about his intentions with Edna, therefore he becomes annoyed by Ratignolle's reproach: "You Creoles.! I have no patience with you!" (pg 46). Soon after this, Robert realizes that it was not smart for him to explode in such way and asks Madame Ratignolle for forgiveness, hoping to continue in her liking.

The way Robert and  Madame Ratignolle speak of Mrs.Pontellier, by granting themselves the authority and liberty to basically decide what is best for her, give the reader that impression that these characters consider her as as some sort of inferior being who has no right of opinion or decision.

lunes, 12 de marzo de 2012

Pretended Perfection vs Demanded Equality

 
The seeming vs. being dilemma present in The Awakening involves a couple of characters who feel forced to see, something they're not in order to prevent rejection and cirticism from society.

The sardonic relationship between Robert and Mrs. Ratignolle is a clear demonstration of how Robert is, or was, actually in love of Adele, but his constant declarations and claims for love trascend the boundary of reality and exaggeration. The violation of this limit is perceived by Edna as the following:

She never knew precisely what to make of it; at that moment it was imposible for her to guess how much of it was jest and what proportion was earnest..." (pg. 31)

A deeper example of seeming vs. being is Edna's relationship with Mr. Pontellier and her status as a mother-woman. Even though society expects her to be devoted entirely to her children and husband, Edna is aware that her sole purpose in that is different from that, hence she feels frustrated and impotent when restrained to it. In this aspect, Adele Ratignolle serves as a foil de Edna Pontellier since she fits perfectly the profile of a mother-woman, as established on page 21.

The effects of Edna's struggles for covering her identity are evident on the following page when she leaves the house and bursts down into tears in the middle of the night. This is not the first time it occurs, and Chopin uses this constant explotion of feeling to show the risks and dangers of oppressing oneself.

Waking Up From A Dream of Assumptions


In the initial pages of The Awakening by Kate Chopin prove through several examples how stereotypes and generalizations are often misleading and innacurate. The first stereotype is broken by the introduction and description of the main character: Edna. Chopin meticulously describes Mr. Pontellier's elegant appereance and delicate manners, but on the other hand, she uses masculine adjectives such as "strong" and "handsome" to describe Edna. The juxtaposition of these descriptions is a metaphor of their relationship: Edna is a strong woman who is capable of independance, while Mr. Pontellier considers himself a family man. This differences make Edna unsatisfied with their relationship, bringing her down to tears. Edna's discontent is a key element in Chopin's novella since through it she shows the reader that women have always had, and always will, their own thoughts and opinion, which are oppressed by men.

Another generalization defied is the one of high society's rules and limitations. In despite of Edna's marriage with mr. Pontellier, she is still a foreign to the Creole society. That summer she discovered a different face of the Creole society, one that she was ignorant of, and one that reminds her that elite people are people too:

A characteristic which distinguished them and which impressed Mrs.Pontellier most forcibly was their entire absence of prudery. Their freedom of expression was at first incomprehensible to her..." (pg.28)

 This is a clear indication of how creole women think of themselves as so chaste and unmistakable, that they are allowed to speak of plebeyan matters with a nonchalant attitude. Even though the ego portrayed by the Creoles in this novel fits Edna's preception of them, the fact that bahind closed doors they behave openly and freely, shocks both Edna and the reader.