The Wakening Essay Essay, Research Paper

THE AWAKENING ESSAY

Kate Chopin was a woman with strong views in a time that women could not feel this way. Because of this Chopin wrote many stories to convey her opinions, such as The Awakening.Chopin used many literary terms in The Awakening to get her meanings across.

A frequent amount of foreshadowing appears in The Awakening. A lot of this foreshadowing was easy to pick up on. The friendship between Edna and Robert is an excellent example. From reading of their friendship in the beginning it is easy to predict the affair they end up having. On the other hand some of the foreshadowing involves more analyzing. For example, the sentence, A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water, (ch. 39). This foreshadows Edna s suicide because she was not strong enough to handle her problems. Foreshadowing is only one of the many literary terms displayed throughout The Awakening.

Another literary term used in The Awakening is symbolism. Lots of symbolism involves objects. Such as the ocean, the ocean contains heavy symbolism. The ocean symbolizes freedom, independence, loneliness, mystery, and death. Not only do objects stand for something, but also so do the words of a character. For example, in chapter twenty-seven Mademoiselle Reisz tells Edna, The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. This quote symbolizes the strength you must require if you are going to try and become your own person. Kate Chopin showed great usage of symbolism throughout The Awakening.

Literary terms help Chopin convey her meanings and themes in her stories. They not only help her, but help everyone. Knowing these literary terms also helps understand meanings in literature.