Wednesday, June 1, 2011
PERIOD 4: The Awakening
Post your summary of Tuesday's small-group discussion about chapters 1 - 14 of Kate Chopin's The Awakening here. Your first paragraph should be a concise summary; your second paragraph should be your reflections and reactions following the discussion. Be thorough, clear, thoughtful and organized.
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In our group discussion we talked about the different characters, making clear the role they each play and how they are related to each other. Mr. Pontellier is married to Edna, Mrs. Pontellier, but their marriage is not going well. Robert is a man who likes to date married women, his intentions with Mrs. Pontellier are becoming more than just friends. As seen, Edna has a thing for Robert as well. What I think is that Edna knows that she does have a thing for Robert but she doesn't want to admit it to herself. I think this because they have been out alone but she still keeps back, as if not sure of what she is doing. Even though Edna is married she is having thoughts about being with another man. The way Edna thinks was immoral for Americans in this time period that's why this work was banned in the US. Women were not allowed to be sensual or have affairs with other men while married. In the chapter 13 Edna creates a sensual scene, this image created was a bad thing to expose because it could have influenced other women to do what Edna was doing.
ReplyDeleteIn the group discussion on Tuesday on The Awakening by Kate Chopin several things were discussed, like an analysis of the characters. As the novel started of we all immediately noticed that Mr. Pontellier was married to Edna also known as Mrs. Pontellier. The thing about Mrs. Pontellier is that she claims not to be in love with Mr. Pontellier but she still misses. him when he goes somewhere without her. Another character discussed is Robert and plans to go to Mexico one day. Robert also has a habit for liking married women or widows.
ReplyDeleteI had several reactions to the novel because at first i did not know Edna was Mrs. Pontellier, and it really changed my understanding of the book. Another reaction that I had was toward Mrs. Pontellier and how she doesn't love Mr. Pontellier but yet misses him. I don't know how that is possible and other group members claim that she got used to bieng with Mr. Pontellier. Another thing that i noticed strangely after the novel is how Edna is imagining herself with another man and having sensual affairs while the US did not allow this
In our group discussion we were trying to understand where the setting was taking place,if Mr.Pontellier was white or dark skin since they are Creoles, and why was Robert trying to "seduce" Edna.We asked Ms.Rozmiarek if Creoles are white or black and she told us that they are a mixture of two races,they do not necessarily have to be Blacks with French.Then we noticed how these people live together-how they stay in the island for the whole summer.Furthermore, we discussed how Robert was trying to seduce Edna and the people even know!(How can the people permit that!)So as Robert is seducing Edna,I realized that she is falling for him.When Robert announces that he is leaving to Mexico,Edna becomes impulsive.So as we got further into the discussion, we learned that Edna is seeking individualism, she is "peculiar" becomes she seeks to have her rights, individualism, and seek her own path.
ReplyDeleteFrom our discussion I noticed that the lovers,who always appear in the background setting when ever Edna goes to the beach, reflect and are a symbolism of what true love is.They demonstrate Edna what love is actually, how it drives two people together.As Robert tries to seduce Edna,I noticed how the people from the island know that Robert tries to seduce marry women and they don't stop him. I am disappointed how the Creole society live-how they accept such vulgar things.When Edna mentioned that her wedding was an "accident",I became curious as to why it was an accident, but ideas began to pop into my mind.I started thinking that Edna married Mr.Pontellier to be a rebel,to disobey her father wish to marry a rich white man.Sensuality is created by the way Madame Ratignolle moves gracefully, the way she moves her body like a queen and her hand movements.When Yanel mentioned that Madame Ratignolle like Edna, as in lesbians,I was shocked.Madame Ratignolle does not like woman and when they were at the beach Madame Ratignolle and Edna were sitting and treating each other like friends, not as lovers.As i mentioned before, i believe the two lovers are symbol of the meaning of true love.As Edna keeps staring at the lovers, I believe she will realize and understand what love means.Also, i noticed that Edna does not care about her children nor her husband.She seems to go as if her family did not exist.Base on her actions, from the death revelation at the beach and her crying at night when the moon was shining, I believe she seeks to be independent-free from her responsibilities.She seeks individualism,who does whatever she wants-whatever her hearts seems to seek or want.
As the story develops, i noticed how the author seems to slowly create suspense and the plot, it seems to be going as the same length as Edna seeks her individualism and escapes from her responsibilities.
oops, the second paragraph begins in "From our discussion...".
ReplyDeleteDuring Tuesday's group discussion of The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the group mostly discussed the character's analyzing their actions and even personalities. We began by discussing the fact that Edna, whom is an American, lives along side her husband Mr.Pontellier, a creole, in a creole community. Edna expresses somewhat of an isolationist mood in her interactions with the community, children, and husband. She tends to ignore traditional roles of mother with her children, such as caring for them, and even with her husband when she refused to go back into the house when he told her to after shhe got back from the beach, in which case at the beach she also swam farther than anyone else had in order to get away from everyone and everything, or so it appeared to me personally. Other character's discussed were Robert, and the interactions he comes acroos with Edna, and his habit of liking married woman or widows. Our group discussion was mostly centered on the analyzation of the characters in the book so far.
ReplyDeleteI had a strong reaction to Edna's isolationist mood and personality, and trying to figure out why she acts accordingly. She called her marriage an "accident", yet when her husband goes away to work she expresses missing him. Personally, I don't believe she loves her husband because she doesn't miss, or long, or seem to crave to spend time or be with her husband. In the story, late at night, when Edna and her husband went down to the beach with other people in the community, she swam away, and continued to swim. Placing more and more distance between her and the community, and especially her husband. She only decides to return after her near-death experience. Then as they make it back home, she refuses to go back into the house when her husband tells her. On a side note it demonstrates the breaking of traditional roles of a "good wife", one who adheres to her husband's wishes and demands. Also, Edna doesn't seem to care for her children on a deeper level, only on a superficial level. And on the night of the beach, she asks Robert, whom is not her husband and whom she finds irrating, why he hadn't joined them at the beach, and as he leaves her during the night she watched him walk away twice. My reaction towards Edna's actions and personality where stronger than the other cheacter's and topics discussed in the group.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin centers on twenty-eight year old Edna Pontellier, wife of Leonce Pontellier and mother to two children. During the Pontelliers’ vacation at a cottage village in Grand Isle, owned by the Lebrun family, she soon starts to find her true identity and desires freedom from her fears and the womanly roles she felt subjected to towards her husband, kids, and the people who surround her. Although there are other characters in the novel that serve important to Edna and the story, such as Mademoiselle Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, the most important is Robert Lebrun, son of Mademoiselle Lebrun. Although Edna initially felt indifferent towards his presence around her, the more that Robert stayed and lingered around with Edna, especially during her newly found desire for freedom, the more appreciation (and possible attraction) Edna had towards him. She did not realize she had these feelings for Robert, though, until the very next day from having spent a whole day out with Robert at Cheniere Caminada, when Robert announced that he was leaving to Mexico without having talked to Edna prior to his decision to leave Grand Isle.
ReplyDeleteAfter discussing with my group, I believe that the reason Edna is so appreciative and sort of “borderline obsessed” with Robert is that he was the only one who was there for her and understood her desires and needs. After all, he was there for Edna when she soon started to realize her desire to be free from her fears and subjections to typical womanly roles. At first I was sort of confused and quite irritated as to why Edna treated her husband so rudely and her kids so negligently especially as she started to realize this desire, as I felt that the husband wasn’t as mean or demanding as I thought he were to be, but after comparing the qualities of Robert with that of Edna’s husband I was able to see why Edna felt that way towards her husband. For one thing, Edna’s husband is hardly ever home with her and the kids. Although he sends her many fancy things, it still does not make up for the fact that he is hardly ever there for her, which brings a greater load on Edna to pick up the “slack” at home. There are also times where whenever Monsieur Pontellier is home, he can be “naggy” with telling Edna what she needs to do at the moment or what she needs to do better with the kids or with her own life. I can sense the tension starting to rise between Edna and her husband and am excited to see where their relationship goes, as the same with Robert. Also, I wish I knew French!!!!!!!! :(
During our discussion, one of the things we did was to clarify the characters and their relationships between one another. We discussed how Edna Pontellier is the main character and is married to Mr. Pontellier and how Robert is a man who enjoys getting involved with widows and married women. We also discussed how Edna is unhappy with her marriage and likes Robert even though she tends to hold herself back and seems to miss him when he is gone. Furthermore, we talked about how Edna is removed from society because although everyone thinks she has the best husband of all, she is actually not content with her marriage and therefore feels alone.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main topics we discussed was how Edna is not content with her marriage to Mr. Pontellier and has feelings towards Robert. The reason why she probably feels discontent is because she married Mr. Pontellier without fully wanting to. She described how she was in love with a few other men over the years before and during the time she met Mr. Pontellier but only married him because she felt swayed towards marrying him because he adored her. As a result of that, she now feels unhappy with her marriage and spends a lot of time with Robert, who tends to try to be with married women. She further demonstrates her lack of happiness with her marriage when she does not pay much attention to her children. She does not care for them much probably because they are the product of her unhappy relationship with Mr. Pontellier. She also did not want to take care of the child who Mr. Pontellier though had a fever but when she was forced to she began crying. Furthermore, later in the novel she illustrates that she has grown tired of her marriage when she refuses to go into the house when Mr. Pontellier ordered her to although she usually obeys without thinking. Through all her actions, Edna depicts her discontent with her marriage that causes her to begin liking Robert.
What my group mainly talked about was Robert. Many clarifications were needed about him. Like his age , which is 28 and his motives, which is that their must be a "fling" between Robert and Edna.
ReplyDeleteI felt like it was a developing love story and I personally didnt clearly see how it related back to the title. Maybe im taking it to literal but the only thing Edna did realize was her growing feelings for Robert and she had a diffrent perspective than Mr.Pontelleir in duties as a wife. In the begining Edna was some what annoyed with Robert in the begining of their stay at the Grand Isle but then eventually she started to crave his prescense everyday , Chopin didnt exactky say it but it was hinted in a way. You can clearly see how Edna's attitude started to change toward's her husband. She had little acts of defiance , like when Mr. Pontelleir told her to get off the hamock and she refused. That was brought about because of the new feeling she got from hanging around Robert or their rising "fling".
During our group discussion that we had on Tuesday, my group went over the several characters that are in the book. We identified that Edna was the protagonist and that she was married to Leonce, Mr. Pontellier. We also identified Robert, who is another character who seems to have a thing for Edna although she is married. Robert tends to go after women who are married or taken. We also discussed how other characters in the book view the Pontellier's marriage as perfect, in a way, although deep down Mrs. Pontellier begs to differ.
ReplyDeleteAfter the discussion i realized why Mrs. Pontellier has been acting the way she has around Mr. Pontellier. For example, when she waited for Mr. Pontellier to get home she refused to come inside with him and turned down Mr. Pontelliers wine. I believe she is acting this way because she is clearly unhappy with her marriage. She probably isn't satisfied. Also, the feelings she has for Robert could play a part in her behavior towards Mr. Pontellier. I also wonder why Mrs. Pontellier doesn't say anything when people tell her that her marriage is perfect, even though she feels like it isn't. Another thing that came to mind after the discussion was if Edna would have an affair with Robert, even though it is morally wrong.
The biggest thing talked about in my groups discussion was the clarification of the character roles in the story. With so many characters being developed it was important to take a step back and separate them in importance and actions they play. We discussed Mrs. Pontellier and her importance in being the protagonist. The discussion then switched over to that of her husband, who appears to be the most successful man presented so far.
ReplyDeleteEdna who is married to the most prominent male in the story thus far is obviously not content with her marriage. She seems to have a thing for Robert and the group went on to discuss him. He is seemed to be presented as a man who enjoys flirting with married women. Edna just made the mistake of possibly taking him too seriously.
In our discussion on "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin, we analyzed the relationship between Robert and Mrs. Pontellier, for they are the main characters and the root of conflict. Edna and Robert have a deeper relationship than just "friends" or than that of Edna and Mr.Pontellier's. They spend more time together than Edna does with her family and husband. Mrs.Pontellier lives an ordinary wealthy life but is tired of her role as a mother and as a wife. Furthermore, she sheds tears when Mr.Pontellier acts foolish and complains about her responsibilities as a mother. Mr.Pontellier loves his family but is becoming bitter due to his jealousy towards Robert and Edna's careless actions. We also discussed the role of women in general, as in Mrs.Pontellier, Madame Ratignolle,and Mademoiselle Reisz.
ReplyDeleteWe assume that Mrs.Pontellier and Robert will eventually participate in an affair due to their interest in one another. Mrs.Pontellier is also tired of her life and wishes to escape as she feels that she does when swimming. However, her happiness only lasts a moment, for she returns to disappointment. Mrs. Pontellier is also fed up with her husbands acts of control and decides to lay out on the hammock at night despite his demand for her return inside the cottage. In addition, Robert seems to make Edna fall for him but ends up leaving her with mixed emotions as he leaves to Mexico without her consent. Hence, Edna is left with a broken heart that misses Robert's presence and detests her husband's companionship.
During the group discussion, we mainly focused on Edna's relationships with other characters, including Robert, her husband, Mr. Pontellier, and her children. We recognized that Edna's marriage to Mr. Pontellier wasn't necessarily out of love, but rather as a type of rebellion against her family, but the marriage pushes her into the oppressive role of wife and mother, with high expectations that she may not be trying to reach. Also, the sensuality in the text led us to believe that she will most likely have an affair with Robert. Additionally, we believed that if an affair does occur, it is because Robert sees it as a challenge- the taking of a married woman- regardless of his feelings toward her. Edna is beginning a shift in personality: her outer self usually remains quiet, whereas her innner self questions the structure of life and society, with the latter beginning take over the former.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with the majority of opinions my group members presented. We had a lot to say and were very communicative with each other. I think because we were an all female group, we had a lot to discuss, and not only understood but also related to some of the ideas of gender roles the author lays out. We also had fun imagining what Robert must look like in order to stir up Edna's inner sexual being. One thing though that came up was that if everyone has different books, everyone will have a different summary on the back of the book. The back of my book directly stated that Edna will have the affair with Robert, which I brought up, but no one else knew because it was not revealed by back summaries of the other books.
Class discussion of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was constructive; our group members shared comments, questions and information about chapters 1-14. The setting was first debated about, until finally there was an agreement that the protagonist Mrs. Pontellier was an American who lived in the South – New Orleans- as a wife and mother. The themes of feminism, women’s roles in society, sexuality and power were addressed, the culture of Creole families of the New Orleans I thought played a significant role for the author in developing the setting. The fictional characters Edna Pontellier, Adelle Ratignolle, Robert Lebrun, Madame Lebrun and family, Mr. Pontellier and the children were analyzed. Predictions were made of possible events that may occur as the story progresses, one that Mrs. Pontellier will have an affair with Robert Lebrun. A synopsis of chapters 1-14 is that Edna Pontellier is jaded of her role as an American woman, mother and wife in the early 1900’s and seeks to find inner-peace, power and love.
ReplyDeleteTo reflect upon the class discussion, I learned that the un-idealistic community the characters live in The Awakening serves a purpose, this is to show the audience how Edna is emotionally distressed. The character Mrs. Pontellier seems exasperated, and when reading about the characters living in her community I also became impatient. Edna would like to remove herself from her society and does not feel comfortable as mother and wife to her family. I asked my group members if they thought she was a good mother, and although no one had one answer – it was agreed that she did take care of her children’s needs. Group member, C. Reyes also believes the author’s reason for using the beach and ocean as a setting is because many scenes take place in the water for it is where Mrs. Pontellier feels empowered and free. I enjoy Kate Chopin’s odd diction use of lovers, to describe main characters; the Creole French and the word intoxicated, that is used multiple times to describe feelings of pleasure.
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ReplyDeleteOur group discussion began by addressing what a Creole was. Jesse and I take French and came to a conclusion that Creole people were known to be African and from a French descent. However, my group still had doubts so we asked Ms. Rozmiarek. She said that Creoles do not necessarily have to be black but can have a mixture of ethnicities. With this topic set aside, we all asked, “What is up with Robert?” Robert and Edna have a nice walk at the beach and when Leonce ask him to go play billiards he refused because he is going to stay to talk with Edna. Edna enjoys talking with Robert but when Leonce tries to speak to her she give half answers. Therefore, we found that this was very suspicious and think that Robert and Edna might be having an affair. ( :o ) Then we began to discuss how Edna is not like other loving mothers. Edna is not the typical mother she lets her children literally raise themselves and doesn’t seem to care about her husband. These actions stood out to me because people would expect Edna to be loving and caring but she is totally the opposite.
ReplyDeleteAfter the discussion, all of my doubts were cleared. I was really confused because there are many characters involved and could not distinguish what was happening with each character. I also researched the Creole culture. The creole culture can be found in Louisiana, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. They are descendants of the French and Spanish settlers but a lot have Native American and African ancestry. I look forward to more discussion because my questions are answered and I understand the text more. I also cannot wait to see what is going to happen with Edna and Robert. : o
LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THE REST :)
In our group’s discussion on Tuesday, the discussion was basically a character analysis. In this analysis we discussed that Mr. Pontellier is married to Mrs. Pontellier (Edna), we also learned that Robert is attracted to widows and married women for some reason. We also talked about Robert being attracted to Edna, and Edna being unhappy in her marriage although she says otherwise.
ReplyDeleteDuring the discussion it became clearer that Edna is truly discontent in her marriage she claims to not love her husband but misses him when he is gone which is a paradox. She misses him not because she loves him but because she is accustomed to having him around. An interesting part in the book was when they came back from the beach and Edna refuses to go back in the house. The discussion made me think that Robert and Edna will have an affair.
The significance of the background characters lady in black, young lovers, and pregnant Adele Ratignolle represents many thing about the characters.The two lovers represent the form of young love accepted by society between Robert and Edna appearing in conjunction with the lady in black, the lovers represent the stage of a woman’s life that precedes her maternal duties. The pregnancy of Adele Ratignolle represents the Victorian feminine ideal, she idolizes her children and her husband which makes her the embodiment of womanhood, Adele is not really pregnant its just an allussion created to emphasize on how full of herself she is, she is full of the fruit of life. However, she does have kids and her nature of having babies every two years, because she adores children. Their repeated presence are necessary because the characters having fully develop into their expected roles yet, so until this happens then they can be free of the names.
ReplyDeleteSensuality is an occurring action in the book, because Edna Pontellier and Robert lebrun are both passionate to one another in the novel, Edna realizes her dissatisfaction with her marriage and she is not that intereted in it anymore. However, she decides to emerge from her motherhood and wife state, but when she does this she discovers her own identity and true character leading her into acts of emotional and sexual desires. Which immediately creates a connection between Robert and herself. Robert to me has love for Edna but I see it as an obbsession because he takes it to the limit where there relationship might get downhill in the end. However, Robert has an act of a philanderer because he has alot of interest in women which creates a tension between Edna and Adele, this action ocurrs because Robert messes around with both characters. Chopin views on sensuality is not really that sexual because to me she seems to have fun with characters creating a sought of playground with them.