Use of Imagery in Chopin’s The Awakening Essay -- Chopin Awakening

Use of Imagery in Chopins The AwakeningSeveral passages in The Awakening struck me because of their similar imagerya bird, wings, and nudity. The first passage I looked at is in Chapter 9 where Edna Pontellier has a vision of a unclothed man standing beside a desolate rock (47) on a beach who is watching a bird fly a focal point. This image was evoked by a one particular piece that Mme Ratignolle plays which Edna significantly calls Solitude. Apparently Edna frequently envisions certain images while listening to music Musical strains, well rendered, had a way of evoking pictures in her mind (47). Listening to this piece Edna envisions a solitary, naked man with an attitude of hopeless resignation (47). This scene presents solitude in many incompatible ways. The figure standing alone and naked near the desolate rock illustrates the mood of solitude and resignation. I was reminded of that scene at the end of the novel in chapter 39 where we find a description of a very similar situ ation. Now it is Edna Pontellier herself standing alone on the beach at Grand Isle. She takes ...