False Roles and Fictitious Selves in “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin
Subtext: Conversations about Classic Books and Films
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The Voice of the Sea
There's a lot of childhood imagery associated with edna. She has these moments where she acts like a child or feels like a child. And this idea of swimming out alone and having this newly conquered power, it's like an element of adulthood that had been closed off to her now accessible. This idea for the creols, the water is their sort of natural element. i think this also ties in with this idea that going into the water and being able to swim represents a certain independence for her. But yes, but i think that' symbolically, like, it's really important that she swim on her own.
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