In this article, Sandra M. Gilbert explores the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin by viewing it in a feministic and fantastical light. Gilbert’s purpose for writing this essay is to shed a new light on the novel by viewing it through a literary lens that we might not have considered before, in hopes that it will help to explain parts of the novel that have often been questioned and misunderstood. To support her argument, Gilbert claims that the story’s writing, though intended to be realistic, is in actuality more fantastical and mythical than anything else. She mentions mythical figures, like Aphrodite, and uses this to support her belief that The Awakening is a feminist novel. A Greek myth states that Aphrodite herself emerged from the sea. Therefore, the sea embodies femininity and helps to awaken Edna to the world around her. In addition, Gilbert coins maternal longing as the reason for why Edna acts as she does. It has been said that the absence of a strong female figure in Edna’s life causes her to end up in the relationship she does. Daughters look up to their fathers their entire lives, so it only makes sense that often women end up marrying men that emulate their paternal figures. Edna’s father is very controlling and powerful, so it should come as no surprise that Edna marries a man who possesses the same qualities. Did, perhaps, the absence of a strong maternal figure seal Edna’s fate from the beginning? Her search for femininity and independence could be the result of the unhappy relationship she found herself in. Gilbert presents her argument well. She is persuasive in how she states and supports her argument. I do agree with what Gilbert says about the novel being fantastical. Though Edna searches through the entire novel for freedom, she never truly experiences the complete liberation she strives for. Therefore, the things she wants she cannot even grasp, because they don’t exist. The novel, in this sense, is very fantastical and theoretical. So, because I agree that the novel’s tone is abstract, I do not think that all the characters’ motives and actions can be fully described, as Gilbert strives to do throughout the essay. I disagree with some of that points she makes, because I feel that they are a bit far-fetched. Some of the characters’ actions simply cannot be understood, and I think it just needs to be left at that.
