Analysis of "the awakening" by kate chopin

Essay by xxnancyxxnancyxxHigh School, 10th grade September 2004

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2A.

The theme of this book and life is love. The theme develops as the main character uncovers that the only time she has been truly happy is in the presence of one particular person. She learns that her actual feelings were disguised most of her life, and she can only remember a few times when she felt an impulse purely driven from emotional instinct. As the story advances, her character goes through a long phase of self-discovery, but learns about the sacrifice that comes parallel to love. She realizes that there will be more harm to the most important people around her if she follows her heart. The desires are simply runner-up to the responsibility of a parent to her children. The theme of love leaves emptiness in the main character's heart because love is an emotion that has many different aspects that oftentimes do not have the outcome wanted.

B.

The theme of love is relevant because teens in more developed countries will most likely be experiencing love for the first time. Love is a feeling that is felt at birth from parents, at childhood from friends, and at adolescence from significant others. It is an easy theme to relate to because all live to love. It is a feeling that corresponds to happiness, and all people simply want to be happy. Love is the most important emotion of emotions because it entails all of the other feelings. For that reason, a teen reader can understand the cause of both despair and joy with the main character's dilemma. A reader can almost feel like he/she is the one that makes the choice between love for a soul mate or for the children.

C.

The most important word in the book is "alone." The main character, Edna Pontellier, is habitually walking, eating, thinking, painting, or swimming alone. It shows that she is a woman that is not happy and would rather have time to think to herself. The most important passage is in the twenty-sixth chapter of the book. It is only in the latter of the book that Madame Pontellier would admit that she is in love with Robert Lebrun. Before this, it wasn't easy to clarify the reason she was so angry so it made it a little difficult to connect to her situation. The most important element of the book is passion. All of the characters deal with the passion between each other; they want the attention of those who they favor and strive to attain it. Without passion, the plot would be dull because the characters all used it and acted with it. But it is with passion, that mistakes are made and brought to attention so they would not be made a second time.

D.

The ending of the book was unexpected. It was enjoyably surprising to see a woman who followed her heart for the majority of the book to finally do what she was

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always obligated to do. There is a lot more to tell. A reader will wonder about Robert's location and the reason that he left. There is also question about Mrs. Pontellier, but from the end of the book, she will probably just go back to her husband and act as she should for the sake of her children. Doubt comes to the query of Robert's return because his final note to Edna clearly expressed that he loved her so he mustn't stay. The two noble people of society will go on with life as if nothing happened for they know it is impossible to be with each other as they said before she left him for a while and before he left her for good.

E.

The most significant character of the book is a woman named Edna Pontellier. She is a wealthy, high-society woman who enjoys painting, classical music, theatre, swimming, and strolling around the neighborhood of either one of her homes in Southern Louisiana. Throughout a good portion of the book, Madame Pontellier was in an extremely depressing mood because she was not satisfied with her surroundings. The classy lady of her late twenties is a static character for the most part. She does not change her mindset for anyone. She does the things she wants to do, at the time she wants, at the location she wants. At the end of the story, she suddenly became a dynamic character because she recognized that her children's feelings are more important than her own. Edna let go of her happiness for the her happiness in her children.