An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate itself in an unknown part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. (Chopin, 28 years old)Say no to plagiarism. Get Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay The Awakening depicts a woman caught in the feminine role defined by her society. The true nature of Edna's problem is conveyed through different images and literary techniques rather than being directly mentioned. Although Edna's inability to communicate her problem is rendered on both a story and discourse level, on a story level this problem is limited to Edna's inability to make sense of his suffering and to communicate it to the other characters. At the level of discourse, however, Edna's situation is conveyed through imagery and high symbolism rather than directly discussed. Edna is caught between the conventional and the unconventional, between what society expects of her and what she should not be: “very early on, she had instinctively dreaded the double life – this external existence which conforms, the inner life that calls into question.” " (35). This characteristic of Edna is highlighted through certain recurring images or is conveyed symbolically in some of her relationships with the other characters in the novel. The image of the single "young lovers" followed by "the lady in black" who often carries a prayer book (37, 42, 54, 55) can be seen as one of the elements of the story's setting that can be linked to Edna's internal contradictions regarding social values ​​and beliefs. individual values ​​Besides the fact that the lovers can represent social non-conformism and the lady in black religious morality, it is interesting to note that the couple is always followed by the lady The lovers can be seen as the temptations of life. , something that the Lady in Black consciously avoids but unconsciously adores Another example of Edna's oscillation between the conventional and the unconventional can be traced in her romantic relationship with Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz. The first is presented as the incarnation of what a woman should be according to the criteria of patriarchal society and the second as the isolated and socially rejected female artist. Although during the course of the novel Edna is more inclined to lead Mademoiselle Reisz's life rather than Adèle's, the end of the novel emphasizes her rejection of both. Edna's inner conflict is also represented in many of her reactions to her companions in the novel. It seems that in her thought process she has to think twice to adjust her true inner thoughts and emotions to the conventions of the real outside world. Over the course of the novel and during her awakening, she manages less and less to favor her social role over her inner desires: “wishing to go to the beach with Robert, she should first have refused, and secondly, followed in obedience to one of the two contradictory impulses which impelled her” (34). According to Edna, "thinking" refers to the process of adjusting one's desires to the rules of society. In several passages of the novel, it is stated that what Edna is looking for is "unconsciousness"; carefreeness is for Edna a way to express herself, a way to rediscover her individuality and her freedom. I will return to this issue in the section on the symbolic meaning of the sea to discuss it in more detail and with reference to associated textual passages. Awakening opens with the image of two birds, both kept in cages. Although in the first reading of the first paragraphs of the novel, the birds can be detected only as minor elements of the setting ofthe story contributing to the construction of a summer home on Grand Isle, over the course of the novel they come to assume quite significant symbolic value. A vertet the yellow parrot, hanging in a cage in front of the door, kept repeating: "Go away! Go away! Sapristi! It's okay!" He spoke a little Spanish, and also a language that no one knew. understood, unless it was the mockingbird hanging on the other side of the door, whistling its flute notes in the wind with maddening persistence. (22) The parrot can be associated with Edna, who faces some kind of failure in communicating her thoughts and emotions to the people around her. Edna's lack of appropriate language to express her feelings and thoughts is expressed several times in the text of the novel through the voice of the narrator, or in Edna's direct speeches: "she continued to cry there" , but "she couldn't I said why she was crying" (27), "a thousand emotions invaded me this evening, I don't understand half of them." (50), "all her life, she had been accustomed to entertain thoughts and emotions which were never expressed” (75) If Edna's association with the parrot could be considered credible, then it is interesting to note that even the comprehensible words he did. says: “Go away! Go away! For the love of God!" (footnote, 22) – do not convey much to the listener; the utterance expresses the speaker's agitation without reference to its source or cause. another interesting point regarding the above quote is the "mockingbird" who seems to be the only one who can understand the language spoken by the parrot The mockingbird "whistling its flute notes in the wind with maddening persistence" may represent the. character of Mademoiselle Reisz whose music (fluted notes) is much appreciated by Edna During the novel, she seems to be the only person to develop an understanding of Edna and her enigmatic situation by reformulating it in another bird imagery. : “The bird that would like to rise above the level of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weak, bruised, exhausted, return to earth” (106). Birds having been hung "at the door" are portrayed as social outcasts who may simply be rejected and isolated due to certain worldly conventions. society, "Mr. Pontellier" for example, can have "the privilege of leaving their society when they stop entertaining" (22). A more concrete example of this problem occurs during the Saturday evening evening organized at Madame Lebrun's where, in full representation of the "Farival twins", "dressed in virgin colors, blue and white, having been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin at their baptism ", the parrot shouts outside the door “Go away Sapristi!” The parrot was the only one present who was frank enough to admit that he was not listening to these graceful performances that summer. . Old Mr. Farival, grandfather of the twins, was indignant at this interruption and insisted that the bird be removed and sent to the dark regions. (45) The juxtaposition of the image of the “Holy Virgin” and the evocation of the disgusted parrot highlights Edna's dissatisfaction with religious and social conventions. At the same time, Monsieur Farival's verdict regarding the interruption of the parrot highlights the fallen social status of a woman like Edna, if she decides to go against the established rules of patriarchal society. The auditory image of the “owl” is another image that reflects Edna’s sorrows and isolation. Edna, after the reproachful argument with Mr. Pontellier, sits alone on the porch, listening to "the hooting of an owl on the top of a water oak" which "broke like a mournful lullaby in thenight” (27). Bird imagery has also been used to characterize women who have been able to adapt well to the role that society expects of them. These women are not represented as parrots or mockingbirds locked in cages hanging outside doors, but as "mother-wives": flapping their wings. with their wings outstretched and protective when danger, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. These were women who idolized their children, adored their husbands, and considered it a holy privilege to step aside as individuals and sprout wings as serving angels. (29)The representation of women-mothers as beautiful and free angels reflects the approval of their conduct by patriarchal society. The sea, for Edna Pontellier, is a symbol of individualism and freedom of expression. The image of the sea reminding Edna of her childhood experience running in the green meadows of Kentucky is associated with "unconsciousness." In the Creole society of Grand Isle, Edna is led to seek self-expression and an “absence of caution” (31), characteristics for which she does not have the necessary courage. Not only the visual image of the sea, but also the olfactory and auditory images of the Gulf are a source of inspiration for Edna; the sea has a “seductive odor” (33) and its “sonorous murmur” reaches Edna “like a loving but imperative supplication” (34). The connection between the sea and the green meadow of Edna's childhood is revealed in Edna's conversation with Adele when Edna attempts to explore the chain of her own thoughts: I can trace...a summer in Kentucky , a meadow that seemed as big as an ocean to the tiny girl walking in the grass, which was taller than her height. She stretched her arms out as if she were swimming when she walked, beating the tall grass like one kicks water. (37) She continues to reveal her memories by speaking of a particular Sunday when she “flew away from prayers, the Presbyterian service, read in a somber spirit by [her] father” (38). Edna's surprised response to Adele's question about whether Edna has “since then fled from prayers” underlies the function of “thinking” for Edna: “No! oh, no! […] I was a little rash. child at that time, simply following an undoubtedly deceptive impulse” (38, my emphasis). As noted previously, “thinking” for Edna is an act of adjusting her inner desires to social conventions since childhood; thinking, in this particular sense, is a strategy to establish as an adult woman. However, this particular summer in Grand Isle, she feels like she is “walking in the green meadow again; lazily, aimlessly, without thinking and without guidance” (38, emphasis mine). Edna, referring to her experience in the green meadows, speaks of her need to “walk forever, never reaching the end” (38). This need for absolute and unlimited freedom and expression reappears the night she discovers that she can swim: “while swimming, she seemed to reach out towards the limitless in which to lose herself” (49). In the last paragraph of the novel, the connection between his childhood memories and the sea is established again. Through the voices of her father, her sister, their chained dog and “the spurs of the cavalry officer” (139), she swims towards an eternal and unlimited freedom, as a way of rediscovering her individualism. Throughout L'Éveil, the reader is confronted with Edna Pontellier's vain attempt to give voice to her incommunicable enigma. Although a direct explanation of Edna's problem is never mentioned in the novel, the nature of her inner conflict is depicted in the novel's rich imagery and symbolism. Among the different symbolic images of Awakening,, 2000.