Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

The bird's failure to fly symbolizes Edna's suicide.

Words regarding Edna's flight are often spoken by Mademoiselle Reisz. She recognizes that Edna is challenging social conventions, knowing the journey will be difficult, and foreshadows the possibility of failure.

Both are on a solitary flight. The bird's failure represents Edna's own failure to fully free herself. The broken wing symbolizes that Edna is a victim of fate and society; her wings are too weak.

The Broken Winged Bird

Just before Edna commits suicide, she watches this injured bird's attempt at flight.

"The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth" (p. 116).

"A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water" (p. 159).

The mockingbird symbolizes Mademoiselle Reisz.

The Mocking bird

She is the only one who seems to understand Edna (the parrot).

She provides music with her piano, although her songs are not her own.

The mockingbird is also trapped.

“[The parrot] could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood, unless it was the mocking-bird that hung on the other side of the door, whistling his fluty notes out upon the breeze with maddening persistence” (p. 11).

The Parrot

Madame Lebrun's caged parrot shrieks "Allez vous-en! Sapristi!" at Mr. Pontellier (p 11). *Go away! For Heaven's sake!

Symbolizes Edna Pontellier: both are trapped, longing for freedom and space. This reflects Edna's desire to leave her middle-class life.

Parrots can only mimic what they have heard. Edna struggles to express her desires because no one else openly does so in this time period.

The Pigeon House

The pigeon house serves as Edna's new "nest," a place where she only keeps the items that are truly hers and not her husbands. The acquisition of the house indicates Edna's nearing attempt of "flight" from social norms.

"The pigeon house pleased [Edna]. It at once assumed the intimate character of a home, while she herself invested it with a charm which it reflected like a warm glow" (p. 132).

The Symbolism of Birds in "The Awakening"

Women Are Caged Birds

They are trapped by the constraints placed upon them by a male-dominated society.

Both Edna and Mademoiselle Reisz are symbolized by caged birds.

Anne Mulderig & Joshua Choi

References

For Pictures

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/

For Analysis

http://awakening.hostoi.com/symbols

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=the%20awakening%20parrot&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0CEEQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walnuths.net%2Fapps%2Fdownload%2F2%2F5MjcT3THl1VCmBudl0p5CgCaA48DcG8tl1gLy6B5clS6sroa.doc%2FSymbols%2520_%2520Motifs.doc&ei=g8dsU4jEHaXmsATwvIGYBA&usg=AFQjCNGnx-sJzsi1f9FD2ORJjT65_HvbRg

http://www.yellowpigs.net/classes/awakening

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi