Symbolism in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present an interpretative analysis of the imagery and symbolism in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. This analysis has been undertaken from a feminist perspective while always taking the reader response theory of Wolfgang Iser into consideration. Chopin depicts the awakening of Edna Pontellier, the main character, who revolts against the established conventions of the patriarchal society of 19th-century America. The text offers an abundant presence of symbolism, such as bird and sea imagery as literary resources to fill the gaps and implied meanings left unexplained by Kate Chopin’s subliminal narrative. The result was that, in spite of the constraints of the age, the novel was published. However, it was immediately banished and consequently forgotten for more than fifty years. Since its revival, the novel has been the subject of many literary studies. Accordingly, this essay offers one of the many possible interpretations of the reading of a canonical literary work written by a woman who challenged literary and social traditions.