Symbolism in The Awakening

        Another symbol that is emphasized in Chopin’s novel is clothes.  In the beginning, Edna is fully dressed just like any Creole woman should be.  But over time, she starts to remove her clothes, and this symbolizes an awakening in her, and her shedding off the rules of society.  In the novel, it talks about her stripping down and admiring herself in a mirror at one point.  She also sleeps clothe less, and while she has shed her clothes, it’s within the privacy of her own room, not in the open.  But not only is Edna clothes a symbol, but also Adele, Mme. Lebrun, “the woman in black,” and Mme. Reisz.  Both Adele and Mme. Lebrun constantly make clothes that cover up their bodies entirely.  And Adele also takes to wearing a veil as to protect her face.  Also, throughout the entire novel, we realize that both “the woman in black” and Mme. Reisz never change their clothes.  This symbolizes that they dare not go against society’s rules and would rather distance them from any physical attachment.  In the end of the novel, when Edna commits suicide, she is out in the open and fully naked.  She has shown her true self to the world, and she’s not afraid of the consequences to come.  She has awakened from her own self; she has woken up from how she is supposed to be, to how she wants to be.

        A third symbol that Chopin uses is birds.  The birds symbolize the entrapment of a woman and her ability to communicate.  There are two birds in the novel that are caged, which shows Edna in the beginning.  She is trapped in this life she never really wanted.  She’s supposed to be a dutiful wife and mother, but she doesn’t want to be either.  She realizes that she has also fallen for Robert, and she feels a passion for him that she never felt with Léonce.  She wants to be free, free to be with Robert.  But divorce wasn’t kindly looked upon in the 19th century, so she is a caged bird with no hopes of every being set free to fly away.  Another part of birds being symbolic is Edna’s move to the pigeon house.  Here we see her escaping from everything that feels like a weight on her shoulders.  She escapes from her big home, Léonce, her children, her so-called friends, and her life.  In moving to the pigeon house, she feels as though she can lead a simpler life, a life that she’s always wanted.  But in the end it’s not enough, because society just won’t let it be.  She moved into the pigeon even before she received Léonce’s response, which in the end turned out to be no and he was furious when she had gone ahead without his permission.  So to cover it up, he said that there was work to be done, so as to not be embarrassed by his wife’s sudden change of thinking for herself.  In the end, she is a free woman, no longer caged in by society.

             In order to read this novel, it is important to know the meaning of these symbols, or else when reading it the reader may only see the words and not the meaning behind them.  Chopin is trying to make a point and to prove that marriage isn’t all that it’s cut out for.  She’s mainly emphasizing this for women back in the 19th century.  They weren’t free, they never could be free.  They had to live under society’s expectations and only those.  Today it’s different though.  It doesn’t matter if a woman marries or has sex before they’re married.  They can date, not just be given to a man because he has a wealthy dowry.  Today, women are free, with strong wings and independent wills.