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The Awakening  notes: Feminism/Psychoanalytic The Awakening  notes: Feminism/Psychoanalytic

The Awakening notes: Feminism/Psychoanalytic - PowerPoint Presentation

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The Awakening notes: Feminism/Psychoanalytic - PPT Presentation

E What do you mean by the courageous soul R Courageous ma foi The brave soul The soul that dares and defies E Show me the letter and play for me the Impromptu You see that I have persistence Does that quality count for anything in art ID: 778675

freedom edna lady awakening edna freedom awakening lady black robert sea society life independence lovers mother leonce soul husband

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Slide1

The Awakening notes: Feminism/Psychoanalytic

E: “What do you mean by the courageous soul?”

R: “Courageous, ma foi! The brave soul. The soul that dares and defies.”

E: “Show me the letter and play for me the

Impromptu

. You see that I have persistence. Does that quality count for anything in art?”

R: “It counts with a foolish old woman whom you have captivated,” replied Mademoiselle Reisz, with her wriggling laugh.

(XXI)

What is Edna attempting to do in this novella?

Slide2

The premise

Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother, struggles against her sense of duty and personal identity.

Her journey is not a quest for superiority, but rather equality.

The reader quickly comes to see how she feels trapped in her roles of wife and mother—a situation Chopin seems to want us to recognize as rather ordinary in this time period.

***notice how she seems “fated” to these roles. Fate is more the function of society and it’s expectation on the individual.

The novel follows her awakening and ultimate decision to escape from a world in which she can never be free.

Slide3

1. Restrictive nature of labels- 2. Confinement of marriage

3. Repression of individualism

4. Answer to reclaim freedom?

Issues in The Awakening

Slide4

1. Restrictive nature of labels

society’s expectations of women : label as wife/ mother

Leonce accuses her of being

a poor mother and

an unfit wife- Leonce has to tell her what to do, when and whom to visit; she walks and visits alone p. 19, p. 6

Foils

Adele: “mother-woman”; to live for others; she is fulfilled in this role

Mademoiselle

Reisz: artist; periphery; bound to no one- exile; “courageous soul”

Edna tried both women’s lives.

She “could not live for others”

She did not find contentment as a artist

Slide5

1. Restrictive nature of labels

She sought independence/ masculine life / exercised freedoms

She isolated herself- true independence

No kids

(she missed them, but no fulfilled when saw again)

No husband

Gambled

Affair

Still not fulfilled

Slide6

2. Confinement of marriage

Frustrated by its limitations

Stifles her individual happiness

Restricts her personal freedoms

Did Leonce limit her?

Where is he? (beach, city)

“see her at breakfast”

Frustrates her ability to receive love

Her husband does not want “her”

Robert is off-limits; Creole standards brought him close, but he left

Slide7

3. Repression of individualism

Edna feels a self-importance she is not able to actualize

Is she missing love?

Leonce -society bond, Robert- heart, Alcee- body

Does she need to express herself as an artist?

Reisz v. Adele

Is it her missing independence?

She moved out; personal money

Each time she follows a path, it is a rabbit- trail.

Slide8

4. Answer to reclaim freedom?

Her answer for freedom against society, nature, and fate?

Hypnotic element of ocean p. 14, p. 60

Robert

Her first independence- swimming

Immersion

Rebirth or _________

(spoiler alert- will discuss late)

Slide9

Symbol- the lady in black

Farther down, before one of the cottages, a lady in black was walking demurely up and down, telling her beads. (V)

The lady in black was reading her morning devotions on the porch of a neighboring bath- house. Two young lovers were exchanging their hearts' yearnings beneath the children's tent, which they had found unoccupied. (VII)

The lady in black, creeping behind them, looked a trifle paler and more jaded than usual. (VIII)

(Beginning of Awakening)

An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. It was like a

shadow

, like a mist passing across her soul's summer day. (III)

Lady in Black and the Lovers are like “

shadow figures

,” never developed; they can represent the process of awakening.

The Lady in Black represents an old stultifying religious attitude. The Lovers represent the early stage of infatuation with her husband. Neither of these attitudes will prevail.

These juxtaposed images are the restricting and unrealistic aspects of a life Edna is leaving behind.

Slide10

Symbols- the lovers

The lovers, who had laid their plans the night before, were already strolling toward the wharf. The lady in black, with her Sunday prayer-book, velvet and gold-clasped, and her Sunday silver beads, was following them at no great distance. (XII)

The lovers were all alone. They saw nothing, they heard nothing. The lady in black was counting her beads for the third time. (XII)

He (Mr. Farival) whispered an anxious inquiry of the lady in black, who did not notice him or reply, but kept her eyes fastened upon the pages of her velvet prayer-book. (XIII)

Lady in Black and the Lovers are like “

shadow figures

,” never developed; they can represent the process of awakening.

She has an emptiness about her that is present. The lovers are always together, while she is alone. Is she incomplete? Has she yet to find her other half? Does she need to pursue it? Will it resolve her identity desires?

Slide11

Symbols- sea

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.

The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous,

enfolding

the body in its soft, close embrace.

The sea symbolizes freedom, escape, and independence.

Notice how Edna’s awakening increases as she learns to swim. This is a freedom like none she has ever known.

Edna recognizes her insignificance as she swims, and this causes her to contemplate her place in the universe.

Learning to swim is perhaps the most important component of Edna’s awakening.

For Edna, the sea becomes a place of rebirth, baptism, new beginnings.

This enables her to break away from societal constrictions and achieve a sense of independence and identity.

Slide12

The sea cont

The sea symbolizes freedom, escape, and independence.

Notice how Edna’s awakening increases as she learns to swim. This is a freedom like none she has ever known.

Edna recognizes her insignificance as she swims, and this causes her to contemplate her place in the universe.

Learning to swim is perhaps the most important component of Edna’s awakening.

For Edna, the sea becomes a place of rebirth, baptism, new beginnings.

This enables her to break away from societal constrictions and achieve a sense of independence and identity.

Slide13

Birds as a symbol

Birds are important symbols throughout the novel.

The parrot and mockingbird owned by Madame Lebrun are caged and confined, with no way to communicate with the world around them.

The birds, while caged, are beautiful and decorative, which is how women were often looked at through the social lens.

Chopin draws an obvious parallel between the birds and Edna. She, too, is caged by social expectation and propriety.

Notice early on how her husband chastises her for not being a better mother. Even the narrator claims Edna was not a “mother-woman” as was expected (18).

Slide14

Themes- Convention v. Individuality

Edna struggles to live up to social convention and ultimately recognizes she cannot be herself while abdicating to those expectations.

Edna's spiritual and physical awakenings herald her search for self.

While Léonce can see her actions only as some sort of temporary insanity, Edna knows that she is discovering the person within who wants to be free of society's boundaries.

In attempting to determine that person, she first tries out her assertive self by refusing to have sexual relations with her husband.

She next taps her creative self by reviving her interest in painting.

She tries to define her relative self by considering her feelings about motherhood and her relationships with people.

Finally, she experiences her sensual self by allowing herself to feel and act upon her own desires.

Edna succeeds in determining who she is but discovers that the price for having her own identity is more than she can afford.

Combination of repressed feelings and the search for personal freedom.

Through Edna’s struggle for self-actualization, we question whether any characters have strong sense of self.

Slide15

Women’s rights, femininity, motherhood

In the social world of New Orleans, women’s behavior was tightly controlled and defined. In the late 19

th

century, the women’s right s movement was in full force , but conservative states like Louisiana granted women very few rights.

Edna realizes that double standards exist for men and women.

No one thinks anything of Robert’s attention for Edna, but they would be appalled at knowing her feelings for him.

Adele tries to tell Edna to be careful of her reputation.

Men engaged in extramarital affairs, pursued business and personal interests and had freedom to do as they pleased.

Léonce shows no concern over Robert's relationship with his wife, yet is so perturbed by Edna's actions that he believes she is having a nervous breakdown and consults the family doctor.

The roles that Edna, Robert, and Léonce play in the story point out the unfairness of sexism and the repression of individual freedom that it causes –for men and women.

Society allows for essentially one feminine role—wife and mother.

Madame Ratignolle

Mademoiselle Reisz

Edna

Slide16

Realism and Romanticism

Like

A Doll House

, Chopin focuses on a realistic experience, but she also employs elements of Romanticism with the focus on emotion and inner experience.

Slide17

Action and reflection

Edna senses a gulf between action and thought, between “the outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” (We see in chapter 7 when Edna begins to think about thinking—one gets the sense this a new feeling for her.)

From the time that she first meets Robert, Edna realizes that all choices have their consequences.

Her choice to remain in a relationship with Léonce would result in her continuing dissatisfaction with life.

Yet she really doesn't understand, initially, that she can make choices that will result in different consequences.

When she does see that she can make changes, she experiences a freedom that she has never before felt.

This exhilaration, however, is short−lived. Edna finds that free will carries with it responsibilities that are almost as confining as her marriage was.

Her loveless affair with Alcée, and Robert's inability to reciprocate her love, lead Edna to see the final, dismal consequence of her life.

No matter what choices she makes, Edna can never be totally free within the confines of the society in which she lives.

Slide18

Freedom and emptiness

Edna wants a life beyond that defined as wife and mother.

In New Orleans she refuses to sleep with husband.

Withdraws from social obligations that are important to her husband.

Moves to “pigeon house.”

Earns her own living by painting.

Socializes with whom she chooses.

Ventures out on her own and discovers people and places she would have previously ignored.

For Edna, choice defines freedom.

All are trapped by social expectations.

Only characters who are not are criticized by others.

She learns to swim, further experiencing the power of the connection between mind and body.

She finally acknowledges her feelings toward Robert and realizes that she can take action to control her own life.

For Edna, freedom is disengagement from all rules and expectation. She feels completely empty in the sea—no restrictions are felt there. Emptiness becomes an ironic freedom. Her freedom is the marriage of the flesh and the spirit.

Although people surround Edna on the Grand Isle, she feels separated by her thoughts.

She believes that if she makes changes in her life to reflect her true self, she will be able to do what she chooses and associate with people who think like she does.

Unfortunately, while her new companions do live their lives in their own ways, they also live isolated by society's rules

Mlle. Reisz is a prime example. She is a talented musician who has chosen the unconventional road. Because Mlle. Reisz is unmarried and living alone, people think she is odd.

Few people appreciate her music and fewer still associate with her. Mlle. Reisz finds comfort and passion only in her music.

Edna eventually feels the same kind of loneliness.

Tantalized by what could be, she refuses to give up her dream of freedom and to sacrifice her newfound individuality.

As a result, she alienates herself from all of society in her choice to create her own destiny.

Edna finally tires of the masquerade.

She realizes that she can no longer ignore her own desires, thoughts, and aspirations

Slide19

Is suicide the answer?

Is suicide her redemption?

Is the act as consistent and appropriate?

Does suicide provide Justice?

Slide20

The Feminist Argument

Edna treated as property by Leonce

Leonce is ultimate male chauvinist

Leonce accuses Edna of neglect of children

She thought of Léonce and the children. They were a part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul. (XXXIII)

She eventually denies motherhood for self-hood

Edna’s “swim” is a symbol of independence

Edna “awakes” to new awareness of self

Breaks vase; stomps on ring; goes out alone

Edna lives alone, etc.

Society & Robert reject Edna – suicide inevitable

Slide21

Jung’s Psychoanalytic Position

When she heard It (a musical piece

Solitude

in a minor key) there came before her imagination the figure of a man standing beside a desolate rock on the seashore. He was naked. His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him.

A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water.

What is her condition? What is she escaping or liberating herself, or is she making a new self?

“The animus is the deposit, as it were, of all woman's ancestral experiences of man-and not only that, he is also a

creative and procreative being

, not in the sense of masculine creativity, but in the sense that he brings forth something we might call . . . the spermatic word.” [Jung]