ea of being able to swim a symbol of empowerment. “But that night she was like the tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who all of the sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over-confidence. She could have shouted for joy. She did shout for joy, as with a sweeping stroke or two she lifted her body to the surface of the water” (McQuade 1668). Swimming gives Edna both strength and joy. She also attaches the thoughts of staying afloat, and getting in over one’s head to swimming. Edna manages to do both. The words Chopin uses to describe the event shows how Edna has felt throughout her life. She has been like a child, just waiting to unleash her capabilities. Edna is not getting new powers; she is realizing them, for they were always within her. A third note-worthy symbol is the Gulf itself. Edna has an intimate relationship with the water. “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in the abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace” (McQuade 1657). The sea seems to be calling to Edna. In the end she runs to it, it is her “perfect lover, speaking to the soul while caressing the body” (Skaggs, 110).Chopin’s novel, though controversial in its time, has proven to be of interest to feminist critics and writers. Chopin wrote the novel at the turn of the twentieth century, and it was received with mixed reviews. The novel, although published in 1906, was not appreciated until it was studied and reprinted in 1969. Today The Awakening is considered to be one of the texts of both American realism and the feminist movement. It has become a classic in American literature....
