Paper Summary:

This paper briefly examines how, in Kate Chopin's "The Awakening", the sea is a physical and an emotional representation of the character of Edna's aspiration to find her own identity and how being near the sea helps her discover what she truly wants to achieve in her life. The paper also discusses how it is no coincidence that the sea presents itself at the beginning and the end of Edna's life at Grand Isle, because the sea is her life.

From the Paper:

" Edna has a turning point and realizes she needs to start a new life. Being with Robert has opened her eyes up to a new light. Robert is a single, free man. He is allowed to do whatever he wants, when he wants, because no one is ever telling him what to do. This description of the sun setting "...Low in the west, and the breeze soft and languorous that came up from the south..." (12) represents her turning point. The sun setting in the west symbolizes Edna's old life, the beginning of an unhappy ending. When something ends there is always a beginning of something new. The breeze coming in from the south represents the beginning of Edna's new life. This breeze is slowly creeping in and is trying to tell her that "this is the way of life that you need to live." It is trying to persuade Edna into the right way of life to make her happy but because she is still living her life blindly, this sign is nebulous to her."

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