Upon finishing the novel, The Awakening, I began thinking about how art/music has played an important part of her awakening. The art has allowed Edna do not something that she enjoys for herself. It demonstrates her individuality and strength to expand beyond that everyday chores and duties of a woman. The art and music also bring up an interesting comparison to the “new women” quality. The “new women” would write, paint, or play music in order to explore and expand her individuality. The music in the novel helps to symbolize the “new women” that Edna is becoming. Though Edna appears to struggle with finding herself after the awakening, her art helps her to discover her individuality and her true feelings for Robert. Art and music are what brings Edna happiness into life. When Robert and Edna kiss for the first time, it brings emotions forward that have never been discussed between the two of them. When Edna leaves Robert to take care of Mademoiselle Reisz the music between Robert and Edna dies. It forces Edna to the conclusion that she needs to set herself free from the world in order to understand what freedom truly is.
I also noticed that music and art had a role throughout the novel, but I did not think about it until I read this post. Edna addressed her love for painting and listening to music several times in the story. When she listened to Mademoiselle Reisz play the piano, it brought her to tears every time. At first, I was confused by this and wondered why the music affected Edna so much. I like how you connected Edna’s emotion for music to a symbol of her becoming a “New Woman.” Edna’s feelings for Robert also seemed to play a large role in her journey throughout the book. I noticed that her feelings for Robert were somewhat brought out through music when Mademoiselle Reisz played the piano for her in the city. As Edna listened to the music, she read Robert’s letter and started to sob. Mademoiselle Reisz later found the letter on the floor as it was “crumpled and damp with tears,” (62).
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that some of the only parts in the novel where Edna has intense physical and emotional reactions are either when she is moved by music, or sexually aroused. She has an attraction to both the intellectual and artistic nature of music and art, and also to the primal sway of sex. This reminds me of the dichotomy of mind and body that we talked about in class, and people's perceptions that there needed to be a balance between the two. Perhaps the Edna's "imbalance" could be seen as the source of her unrest and the driving force behind her suicide.
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