Figurative Language In The Awakening

Brendan Moxley
Mrs. Barton
AP Lang & Comp/p.6
28 October 2014
The Awakening Essay Throughout her novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin utilizes clear, picturesque diction to create a independent tone, bold extended metaphors, and varied syntax in order to express the necessity for women to discover and act as themselves at their own discretion despite society’s limiting standards. Chopin employs eloquent, depictive diction in order to create an unconstrained tone, to illustrate the setting, and to further emphasize that women should not be bound by society. An excellent example is found in Mademoiselle Reisz, a friend and role-model of Edna who voluntarily has not conformed to society’s expectation of her: she has never married, has no children,

For example, Edna is metaphorically being related to “one who awakens gradually out of a dream,” and her wishes for a relationship outside of her dull, unsatisfying marriage are alluded to through the contrasting diction describing, “a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream.” However, when she “awakens,” she is depressed by the harsh reality that a relationship of this nature is unlikely due to society’s standards. Additionally, the reader can infer that Edna remained outside in a subtle act of defiance to her husband’s overbearing authority over her. Because of this, her fatigue ultimately signifies submission to her husband’s command, a command which “left her helpless and yielding to the conditions which crowded her in.” This drowsiness terminated “the exuberance which had sustained and exalted her spirit.” The metaphor comparing Edna to one who awakens from a dream shows that this submission was equally as disappointing to Edna as realizing that an enjoyable scenario is not a reality would be to a dreamer. Because of this, the reader knows that Edna longs for a forbidden relationship outside of her marriage and therefore has discovered herself and her