The Awakening

Jacqueline Procter
Journal #13
February 29, 2008
Kate Chopin

Quote:
“She could not have told why she was crying…an indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. I was like shadow, like a mist passing across her soul’s summer day. It was strange and unfamiliar; it was a mood.

Summary:
Edna, for some unexplainable reason has an emotional release – during a time when she should be enjoying her charmed life -- She feels a pervading -- oppressive vibe.

Response:
Kate Chopin sets the tone through vivid imagery of shadow -- mist – like a veil nature – storm -- like a dark cloud passing through.

Edna’s soul/conscience, soul-consciousness is crying out. This is the first evidence that things are beginning to unravel. Chopin’s use of “soul’s summer day” implies that at a moment when Edna should be enjoying her life she cannot because there’s an indescribable sensation generating from a part of brain which she’s not in touch with.

Women at this time were beginnng to explore other possibilities for themselves -- beyond the confines of more traditional roles – especially women from metropolitian areas.