Edna begins to pay attention to the things that make her feel happy, excited, aroused, strong and powerful. “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her.” (Chopin 15) She finally finds the courage to abandon her fear the evening that Mademoiselle Reisz’s playing moved her to tears by swimming out into the surf for the first time. “A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before.” (Chopin 27)
“She began to do as she liked and feel as she liked.” The sea plays a major role in Edna’s awakening. A lot of her epiphanies, or moments of self-discovery are tied in with the ocean. The first moment of awakening for Edna is as she learns how to swim, despite previous attempts. Edna suddenly learning how to swim creates the image of her longing for freedom. It also made Edna realize she was capable of learning things on her own.
This shows she has little impact in the family, and could be the result of her nervous nature. The way in which Austen immediately describes other members of the family in greater depth to that of Anne's character also shows how she is at the start inferior in comparison to the rest off her family. It seems that her lack of superiority in the family has resulted in her eldest sister being the favourite with her father, and her youngest being married. Shes seems at the beginning of the novel that she was once easily influenced, and this downfall resulted in her being persuaded by Lady Russell to refuse Captain Wentworth's marriage proposal. However with the Elliot's family move to Bath, Anne is somewhat forced to emerge from her sheltered shell, and starts to flourish as a character.
Throughout the novel Ethan is continuously drawn to Mattie, as she was much more attractive and friendly than Zeena. Ordered by Zeena to send Mattie away Ethan has to make a decision; either run away with the woman he loves or stay with the miserable woman he married. Torn between the two without money and the dreadful guilt to leave the sickly woman he is bound to by vows; on the night of Mattie departure they decided to kill themselves but the plan went terribly wrong, as Mattie became cripple and Zeena “miraculously” recovered and took care of them both. In “Ethan Frome” the theme silence plays a major role when describing the three key characters as they all are encased in their own silence: Ethan silent by nature, Zeena whom fell silent and Mattie young and new to a household who fell in love and unable to express it openly. When Ethan and Zeena had first met, "Zeena's volubility was music to his ears" (qtd.in Lauer 29), after his father’s death, his mother fell sick and silent for years.
After a short while, she begins to become aware of what she must do, and tries half-heartedly to achieve what she must. The result is that she is not quite welcomed by her uncle, and the entire colony disapproves of her. After a while, she really opens her eyes and decides to work since she would have to do so anyway. When she meets Hannah Tupper, she then gains a new confidence, and is not so scared of the other people in the colony, though she still keeps her rebellious personality. Near the ending of the novel, we can really see Kit’s matured self.
After her awakening after the swim, Edna began to neglect her motherly and wifely duties more so than before. Before the awakening, Edna did not attend to her children the way a nurturing mother would. Her husband noticed that she was not as tentative to the children as she should have been, “he reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children”, (p. 7 paragraph 4). After her husband left for his trip, Edna allowed the children’s grandmother to take them in. She became rebellious towards her husband and she no longer submitted to his commands.
Confidence is Key “We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot“ (Roosevelt). The former first lady explains that people gain confidence by the experiences they travel through and to use more confidence, people must accomplish goals they have never thought to achieve. In the novel, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, a vulnerable, uneducated southern teenager, Celie, is being abused and feels she has no voice. Her only love is for her younger sister, Nettie, and their bond of sisterhood is eternal. Their father sells Celie, and the sisters are separated to grow up into two completely difference worlds.
Yet Edna is not the typical woman, as she believes in expressing herself and living freely without society’s rules and oppression holding her down. Throughout the beginning of the novel it is shown that Edna is not the typical creole woman. For example: “Mr. Pontellier returned to his wife with the information that Raoul had a high fever and need looking after”. “If it was not a mother’s place to look after children, then whose on earth was it?”(1) Edna being improper by not being attentive to her husband or not the mother figure proves that she is not a typical creole mother and wife.
If you can find them again. If you havn’t gone cold forever.” Up to this point his mother has been evasive of saying how she feels about Ishmael in the blunt manner , however this point shows that she is tired with Ishmaels stubborn attitude towards his feelings and how he should have approached this child instead of this childish way to act. This shows that even his mother now doubts him as a human being as well as many other characters in the book doubt him. This is critical changing point in the novel as Ishmael has one of the biggest choices given to any of the characters regarding the outcome to kabuo, and he is being blinded by his emotions for
As you can imagine, the pressure to marry well is high. When Elizabeth is slighted with the opportunity to meet a ravishing young fellow named Mr. Darcy, she is drawn in by his wit and charm. Mr. Darcy is by far the passionate choice in the war between passion and responsibility. Elizabeth didn’t much like Darcy at the beginning of the novel but once he admits what he does for Elizabeth’s younger and older sisters, she realizes that he couldn’t possibly be a bad man. The conflict begins with Elizabeth’s parents.