The Awakening

Discussion Questions -- Day #3

(NAAL edition)

1.) Discuss the contrast between the city and the sea. How and why is the sea so important? See especially pp. 643, 645-646, 654-655, and 722-723.

2.) Discuss Mademoiselle Reisz. What must she sacrifice for her art? Why does Edna seek her out? What is her effect on Edna? Is Edna an artist in the same way that Reisz is?

3.) Throughout the novel, Chopin employs several symbols, such as birds, the lady in black, the lovers, etc. What are some other symbols? How do they function?

4.) Focus specifically on the several instances of “bird imagery” or “symbolism.” How is this particular imagery or symbolism important to the novel?

5.) Discuss Edna’s awakening. How does it begin? How does it end?

6.) Discuss the theme of the “dual life” (real vs. fictitious self).

7.) Discuss the theme of romance vs. reality.

8.) What makes this novel particularly “sensual”?

9.) Is Edna’s suicide an heroic act or a regression?

10.) Does Edna finally realize her “real self”? What does this mean?

11.) Is Chopin a feminist? A “classist”? A racist? Why or why not?