Overcoming the Constraints of Society Essay -- literary Analysis, Kate

he focus of this paper will be to examine Kate Chopin’s The Awakening chapter ten, specifically paragraphs five to ten. Throughout The Awakening Edna is constantly fighting with the expectations of society and her desire to be a free woman. As a woman, Edna is expected to be the perfect wife and mother, however she longs to embrace and free her creative self. Because of this battle within herself she shows many of the characteristics of depression. The passage mentioned above is very symbolic of Edna’s fight to overcome her mental illness. The thesis of this paper is that Edna’s yearning to swim is a metaphor for her longing to overcome depression, patriarchal expectations and societal constraints. By taking an in-depth look into the author’s word choice, a parallel can be found between learning to swim and the ability to overcome the depression within. The water mentioned in the passage is symbolic of Edna’s depression, and the fact that she had been trying to learn how to swim shows that she is trying to conquer it. Edna’s inability to swim shows that she was struggling to defeat her depression, however she was actively trying to find help by asking others for assistance. Edna describes that â€Å"A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in the water† (Chopin 73), this shows her fear of succumbing to the depression but also her anxiety to rise above it. By giving in to the depression Edna would accept society’s expectation of her, she would have to become the perfect mother and wife at any cost. Meanwhile, in order for her to rise out of the depression she would have to give in to her desire to be free of these expectations. Before Edna was able to swim, she describes herself as a â€Å"tottering, stumbling, clutching chi... ... the water in this passage, and her decision on whether or not to conform to the expectations of society. Her inability to swim in the beginning exhibits how Edna has been conforming to the expectations of society by becoming both a wife and mother, and as a result has developed the depression. Edna was able to defeat her depression, represented by her learning how to swim, by choosing the more solitary path. It can also be seen that Edna’s hold on her depression is very unsteady and wavering, which shows that she might not be able to control it. In the end she was â€Å"reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself.†(Chopin 74), which shows that she is unable to contain her creative self within and she is looking for an escape from society. It also represents that she cannot keep control of her depression and that she is also looking for an escape from life.