The Voice of the Sea in The Awakening Essay -- Chopin Awakening Essay

The Voice of the Sea in The change Many different symbols were utilized in Kate Chopins The Awakening to illustrate the be themes and internal conflict of the characters. One constant and re-emerging symbol is the marineic. The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of privacy 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 (Chopin 25). In the novel, the ocean symbolizes Ednas awakening to a life filled with freedom and independence (Nickerson). On a hot summer evening Robert and Edna go bathing. Although Edna does not privation to go and initially declines his offer, something inside is compelling her to go down to the water. It is on that point in the seductive ocean that Ednas awakening begins. A certain slack was beginning to dawn dimly within her... she was beginning to realize her pose in the universe as a human being and to come her relations as an individual to the world within and about her (Chopin 25). That inviolable ocean environment is in direct contrast to the responsibilities and rules of the cold, hard city. And it is in that location in that relaxed and forgiving atmosphere that Edna can explore her new launch freedoms. While relaxing on the margin with Mrs. Ratignolle, the sight of the endless ocean brings back memories from Ednas childhood. She suddenly recalls a summer day in Kentucky and a meadow that seemed as big as the ocean to the very superficial girl...and I felt as if I must walk on forever without coming to th... ... on, thinking of the bluegrass meadow...believing that it had no beginning and no end (Chopin 190). It is there in the ocean that she first realizes her physical, mental, and emotional potential. It is notwithstanding natural that the water, which has seduced her with its sound reclaims her. Throughout the story the ocean represented Ednas constant struggle for self-realization and independence. From her first flow of emotion on the beach to her last breath of life in the sea, the ocean beckons her. The voice of the sea lures her onward in her journey toward liberation and empowerment. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Kate Chopin. New York Chelsea stand Publishers, 1987. Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1993 Bedford Books, New York. Nickerson, Meagan. Romanticism in The Awakening, The Kate Chopin Project. America On-line. February 2000.