Please post your annotation for the critical essay on The Awakening. Don't forgot proper MLA citation. 200-300 words.
25 Comments
Beau T
3/11/2014 10:53:11 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Georgie P
3/12/2014 10:20:33 pm
Phenix, Celia. ‘Feminism in Kate Chopin’s ‘The Awakening’. May 13, 2007. Associated Content. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/239752/feminism_in_kate_chopins_the_awakening.html?singlepage=true&cat=52
Reply
Yahaira S.
3/12/2014 10:28:47 pm
In Sarva Deslauriers’ essay The Awakening: The Feminist Rebirth the main point was about the unfulfilling life that Edna Pontellier was living. She had “no say in anything of importance” and even her roles given to her by society were taken away. Not having a purpose in life aided to the sorrow that Edna would feel and is why she sometimes felt sad for no reason. Deslauriers says that Edna’s “awakening is essential” because the affair with Robert hurt her in the end because of how close they had gotten and Deslauriers says that pain helped her in her awakening. Chopin says “Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life (135)”. It was beneficial to Edna in the end to awaken instead of living the dull, materialistic, and “caged” life she previously had. The only way out Edna saw was to take her own life. By doing this she was finally able to be unbound from “social and familial obligation” and be free for the last moments of her life. It was better for her to at least experience freedom upon death, then never to have experienced it at all.
Reply
Conner Brown
3/12/2014 10:36:36 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
daniel c.
3/12/2014 10:47:40 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Cj W.
3/13/2014 04:58:10 am
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.
Reply
Bethany B.
3/13/2014 05:21:51 am
Phenix, Celia. “Feminism in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.” May 13, 2007. Associated Content. http://www.associatedcontent .com/article/239752/feminism_in_kate_chopins_the_awakening.html?singlepage=true&cat=52
Reply
Julia B.
3/14/2014 08:56:37 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Angelique K.
3/14/2014 11:09:07 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Trey C.
3/15/2014 08:26:56 pm
Phenix, Celia. “Feminism in Kate Chopin's The Awakening.” May 13, 2007. Associated Content.
Reply
Ryan M
3/15/2014 11:03:25 pm
In Sarva Deslauriers’ essay The Awakening: The Feminist Rebirth the main point in the essay was about the unfilled life that Edna Pontellier was living. Edna was living a life in which she had “no say in anything of importance” and even Edna's roles given to her by society were taken away. Edna was trained not to use her own mind, and taught to be a "baby maker, housewife, and beautiful object.” Nothing really fun happens in Edna’s life and was stated, she wasn’t happy with her life and cried for reasons that even she didn't understand. Finally Edna found herself, in a way she never really understood. With Edna finding herself out and not liking what she has seen, Edna soon decides to kill herself. By doing so she's in the one place that brings her happiness: the sea, to prevent living a fake and unhappy life, but instead a “happy life free of social and familial obligation.”
Reply
Raegan C.
3/16/2014 02:16:13 am
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
rachel pagio
3/16/2014 07:01:32 am
In this article, Celia Phenix initiates the discussion of “The Awakening” by stating that the novel was so unrecognized at the time of its publication because society was not ready. Since feminism was irrelevant at the time of publication, Chopin made it a point to paint a picture of society from a feminist’s perspective. Chopin went about defying societal assumptions in “The Awakening, by using attitudes of characters in regard to gender, changes in the main character, imagery and Edna’s suicide” (Phenix 1). Chopin uses several characters and their attitudes toward the main character Edna to demonstrate society’s judgments. There’s two specific types of women being portrayed in the novel; the stereotypical woman who is deemed acceptable in society (shown through the character Madame Ratinolle) and the unconventional woman with her own urges and desires (shown through both Edna and Madame Reisz). Phenix points out that as a typical male, Edna’s husband, Leonce “considers Edna to be not much more than another one of his worldly possessions” (1). Phenix explains that Chopin made Edna out to be the opposite of the female stereotype. Everything about Edna is different from what is expected. She doesn’t show an undying love for her children, dresses how she pleases, and does not like marriage; preferring instead to have personal freedom. When placed next to “the perfect mother/wife”, Madame Pontellier, Edna ‘sticks out like a sore thumb’. If Edna was not a mom with children, she would have wanted to live like Madame Reisz, the single woman living outside the societal ‘norm’. Edna’s inability to find personal freedom eventually leads to her demise. She attempted to understand her emotions, discovering a new sense of independence by rebelling from her husband and undergoing a sexual awakening “as a result of her love for Robert and an adulterous affair with Arobin” (Phenix 3). Edna adores these feelings of freedom, enjoying a house to herself and also feeling free when she learns how to swim, she however is not able to permanently indulge herself in these freedoms since her gender still had its implications. Phenix believes the main focus of the novel to be Edna’s sexual awakening. Edna’s emotions are revealed through her want for independence but her desires become visible when she “comes to the realization that there is a physical side to “love”” (Phenix 4). This physical desire she feels is certainly not accepted by society. To help disguise these desires, Chopin uses sexual imagery dealing with music. As the novel progresses Edna pulls further away from the woman she is expected to be. Chopin’s imagery and symbolism pull together all of the emotions and desires that provide Edna with a temporary fix but Edna eventually realizes “that the only way she could free herself from societal restraints was to remove herself from society completely, by killing herself” (Phenix 6).
Reply
Darel M.
3/16/2014 08:08:57 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Buse D.
3/16/2014 08:17:12 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Stephen Mitchell
3/16/2014 08:22:52 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Gabrielle L
3/16/2014 08:36:56 pm
Deslauriers, Sarva. "The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth". 11 June 2007. Associated Content.
Reply
Alyssa D
3/16/2014 08:44:55 pm
Phenix, Celia. “Feminism in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.” May 13, 2007. Associated Content. http://www.associatedcontent .com/article/239752/feminism_in_kate_chopins_the_awakening.html?singlepage=true&cat=52
Reply
Angela B.
3/16/2014 11:35:41 pm
Phenix, Celia. “Feminism in Kate Chopin's The Awakening.” May 13, 2007. Associated Content.
Reply
Molly R
3/20/2014 08:16:02 am
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.
Reply
Maurie
3/21/2014 09:58:54 pm
Phenix, Celia. "Feminism in Kate Chopin's The Awakening." May 13, 2007. Associated Content.
Reply
Tasha S
3/23/2014 02:13:31 am
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Sarah Phillips
3/24/2014 03:48:30 am
In Celia Phenix’s “Feminism in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening” she opens with how the idea of how feminism was not a prominent or even talked about issue in Chopin’s time. Phenix addresses how Kate Chopin was criticized for her speaking out against the mistreatment and the stereotypes of women for people did not believe that there was anything wrong. Celia Phenix describes that in Chopin’s time women were thought to be a “weak, dependent gender whose position lay nothing above mothering and housework” (Phenix 1). This was the typical women of the time. Chopin divided the characters of The Awakening into those who follow the stereotype of men and women and who are “acceptable in society” and those who stray from the norm (Phenix 1). Phenix goes on to describe Leonce’s role as a husband and father and that he takes on the typical role for a male of this time. An example of the expected treatment of women is that he considers Edna a “worldly possession” rather than someone in which he has a romantic relationship with, or someone whom he loves. Phenix makes it clear that what we may see as neglect toward his spouse or family was not looked down upon in his society; he was not seen as a bad husband. If anything, Edna was “forced to admit that she knew of none better” (Chopin 9). His actions were completely acceptable and seen as a social norm. A very important theme in the Novel is how Edna Pontellier does not hold the traditional “mother-women” role. She “does not have the feelings towards her children that it was assumed she should” (Phenix 2). It was expected of women to desire to care for their husband and children and do nothing else. But Edna wanted something different. Contrasting Edna’s behavior, Celia Phenix points out how Madame Ratignolle was the “typical, socially acceptable women of her time period” (Phenix 2). She is the ideal wife and mother and stays within the societal guidelines for a woman. Phenix describes Madame Reisz as the person Edna Pontellier aspires to be but is unable to become because she “is already too deeply involved to have the same fate” (Phenix 3). She wants to be the independent and outspoken person that Madame Reisz is. The second half of Celia Phenix’s critical piece was analyzing the change Edna goes through throughout the novel. Edna eventually gains a sense of independence that leads her to a “new freedom” that leads her to start rebelling and going against her expected duties. Edna begins to hate her marriage because of “the restraints they hold on her” (Phenix 3). Edna acquires forbidden sexual desires. Edna eventually just allows these once “repressed” sexual desires to be released (Phenix 4). She not only realizes her emotional desire, but her want for physical attention becomes more apparent. “She desires something from which she cannot attain from her husband” (Phenix 4). Although she loves Robert she realizes that he is unable to fulfill her desires and she comes to find that these needs “can be executed by basically anyone willing to please her (Arobin) (Phenix 4). Lastly Phenix analyzes how Kate Chopin uses imagery to represent Edna’s sexual desires. She uses Madame Reisz’s music and the effects it has on Edna to portray Edna’s feelings. The music gives Edna an “orgasmic feeling [that] overcomes Edna” (Phenix 5). This is a clear comparison to sexual desires that are trying to be disguised. The symbolism of Edna and the sea represents the “sexual discoveries she is slowly making within herself” (Phenix 5). Edna soon became uncomfortable in the world because she realized what she wanted was truly unattainable. The only way this could be possible was “to remove herself from society completely, by killing herself” (Phenix 6).
Reply
Sarah
3/24/2014 04:08:49 am
Forgot to add my citation
Reply
Jurrien A.
3/27/2014 05:18:19 am
Deslauriers, Sarva. “The Awakening: Feminist Rebirth” 11 June 2007. Associated Content.. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269035/the_awakening_feminist_rebirth.html?singlepage=true&cat=9
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
August 2015
Categories |
|