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1、Eco-feminist Thoughts in The Awakening
Abstract: Kate Chopin’s famous novel The Awakening portrays a woman’s social, sexual and spiritual awakening vividly and successfully. In describing the protagonist Edna Pontellier’s awakening, the author uses many complicated images, such as the sea, the
2、birds, the field. Through these images, the novel presents the close relationship between nature and women. The paper analyzes the eco-feminist thoughts expressed in this novel by the colorful images.
Key Words: nature; awakening; eco-feminist thoughts
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening astonishes the
3、 canon of the late nineteenth-century American literature with a frank portrayal of a woman’s social, sexual and spiritual awakening when it was published in 1899. Chopin’s feminist ideas challenge the ideology of the female identity in the patriarchal society. That is the reason why the novel recei
4、ved overwhelmingly negative response. The first review of the novel in St. Louis Republic called The Awakening “the story of a lady most foolish.” The reviewer of the St. Louis Mirror said the novel “l(fā)eaves one sick of human nature,” while the Globe-Democrat called it “a morbid book.” The St. Louis
5、public commented that the book committed “unutterable crimes against polite society” and “should be labeled poison.” The Chicago Times-Herald criticized Chopin for entering “the overworked field of sex fiction.”
With the rapid development of feminist movement, people begin to realize the importa
6、nce of this book in the 1960s. There has been widespread interest in the work: it certainly holds a unique place in the canon of American literature. Keneth Eble describes The Awakening as “a first-rate novel,” praising it for its “general excellence.” Larzer Ziff called it “the most important piece
7、 of fiction about the sexual life of a woman written to date in America”. Chopin’s editor, Per Seyersted, Emily Toth saw The Awakening as feminist criticism in the form of fiction, and Edna as the embodiment of the nineteenth-century feminist criticism. Carley Rees Bogard assessed The Awakening as a
8、 classic Bildungstroman, novel of development. Anna Shannon Elfenbein examined that Chopin challenges American racist and sexist concept about sexuality in “The Awakening.” Radcliff Umstead explores the complicated aspects expressed by the nature imageries in The Awakening .
Edna is a daughter o
9、f nature: her social, spiritual and physical awakening is through the help of nature. Nature is her permanent home. This thesis, mainly from eco-feminist approaches, traces Ednas life in the fiction so as to clarify her development, and analyze the relationship between Edna and her environment. Thro
10、ugh destruction of patriarchal culture, eco-feminism emphasizes the psychological and physical distinction between men and women, claims on the respect of the distinction and changing the long-term depressed position of women. Besides, eco-feminism worships the beauty of nature, stresses on the func
11、tion of nature in constructing people’s spiritual world and discovering oneself, and initiates harmonious relationship between human society and nature. The depiction about Edna and her environment shows that Chopin concerns herself with womens situation in society and that she holds a positive atti
12、tude toward womens awakening and influence of nature.Through the eco-feminist thoughts, the hypocritical patriarchal society is bitterly criticized and Edna’s strong longing for freedom is highly praised by Chopin.
Edna is awakened to her life, to her inner being step by step as the story develo
13、ps. We see how she gradually grows independent and gains her self-awareness spiritually and physically through the help of the nature: the sea. In the end, Edna also completes her self-assertion by merging herself with nature, the blue sea and the green meadow. Thus the novel is circular in way of n
14、arrative, for its opening and ending are both set on the sensuous, promising Gulf of Mexico; the novel is circular in its spirit in that it opens with Ednas state of drowsiness while ends with her final awakening.
At first, Edna’s like a sleeping beauty in the warm and drowsy breeze of Grand Isle
15、. Edna Pontellier is often half-awake. She "half heard" voices of Robert "little half utterances;" she could at times only "half-comprehend" what was said; agrees with others in a “half-hearted” way; "half-remembered" her past experiences. The beautiful Grand Isle is far away from the patriarchal Cr
16、eole society. It is the paradise for women and children, which has charming views, a lot of intimate contact with the nature, and plenty of leisure time. It is just like the Garden of Eden, the half-awake Edna is like Eve who gains her self-awareness through establishing a close relationship with th
17、e sea.
The function of the sea is of great importance. In Chapter VI, the sea is described as the serpent of the Garden of Eden: “The voice of the sea is deductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in m
18、azes of inward contemplation”. By the strong temptation of the sea, Ednas mind is gradually lighted: she feels “[a] certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her, — but the light which, showing the way, forbids it.” Ednas body also echoes the nature in that her sexuality awakened with its “so
19、ft, close embrace.”
To swim in the sea signifies the rebirth of Edna. Her swim has been a surpassing of limits. By swimming she for the first time tastes the joy of unity of body and soul. The swimming has both sensual and spiritual meaning. When the “old” self is still in various bonds of social
20、 rules, Edna could not swim. Actually, she has been trying to learn swimming the whole summer but she simply couldnt do it. However, once the woman is awakened, things begin to change. She finally found the courage to swim without any assistance. Overtaken by a feeling of exultation, she learns for
21、the first time how to control “the working of her body and her soul.” She enjoys alone the beauty of nature. Just like a new-born baby, Edna grows more and more curious with the world about and within her.
To sail to Cheniere is an important journey for Edna’s awakening. When she returns from the
22、 evening swimming, Edna for the first time resisted her husband’s request. The next morning she goes to Cheniere with Robert. It is a significant journey during which Edna’s spiritual and physical sense is awakened. Cheniere is like a fairy land for Edna, where she is not limited by many traditional
23、 rules. She can think and act freely. After escaping from the church, Edna takes off her clothes and falls asleep at Madam Antoines place. She sleeps quietly and happily without any restraint of social conventions. And when she wakes up, she speaks like the sleeping beauty: "How many years have I sl
24、ept?" she asks. “The whole island seems changed. A new race of beings must have sprung up, leaving only you and me as past relics”. And Robert answers like the prince in the fairy tale: “You have slept precisely one hundred years”. Now, she has been fully awakened. “Her eyes were bright and wide awa
25、ke and her face glowed”.
Edna’s love for nature and life is expressed through her long-forgotten memory of walking in a meadow when taking a walk to the beach with Adele Ratignolle. She recalls her innocent childhood and girlhood when she walks through a vast bluegrass meadow a summer day in Kent
26、ucky. Walking is something similar to swimming in both emotional and spiritual aspect. For Edna, walking gives her freedom. “I always feel so sorry for women who dont like to walk,” she says later. “They miss so much-so many rare little glimpses of life...”Her stiff body has already felt the sensuou
27、s touch of the sea, which in this novel stands for nature.
When Edna returns to her charming home in New Orleans, she is fully awakened both physically and spiritually. She holds a party to announce her departure of her splendid house to seek freedom. But in such a hostile patriarchal society, w
28、omen are not allowed to live independently. Rumors are spread for the relationship between Edna and Arobin. Edna’s lover Robert can’t accept her passionate true love for the fear of losing his social position. Now Edna is totally awakened socially: the hypocritical society can’t understand and permi
29、t her new self, even her dear lover. Edna returns to nature — her only home.
Sea is signified rebirth for many western writers. Retuning to the sea is a symbol of Edna’s rebirth and eternal life. Naked Edna stands by the sea; feeling so “delicious.” The water of the Gulf stretched out before her
30、, gleaming with million lights of the sun. The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in the abysses of solitude. She seems to return to the “blue-grass meadow” that she has “traversed when a little child.” The "blue-grass meadow,"
31、 as well as the sea, stands for the Nature. Both are beautiful and lure her to walk into them by simply following her impulse. Instead of walking to death, Edna is walking to life.
Reference
1. Cott, Nancy R. 1978, “Passionlessness: An Interpretation of Victorian S
32、exual Ideology”, Signs, No.4.
2. Cully, Margaret ed. 1976, The Awakening: An Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism, New York: Norton.
3. Gilbert, Sandra.1984, The Introduction to The Awakening and Selected Stories, Penguin, Harmondsworth.
4. Wendy Martin ed , 2007, New Essays on The Awakening，Peking University, Peking
5. 左金梅，2007， 西方女性主義文學(xué)批評(píng)，中國(guó)海洋大學(xué)出版社在；青島
Ecofeminist Thoughts in The Awakening英語畢業(yè)論文
