Ananalysis Of The Awakening As A Bildungsroman

Initiation, as a universal cultural phenomenon and an important individual experience inhuman life, offers infinite space for literature creation and becomes an everlasting theme ofliterature. In American history, a large number of famous writers have produced a lot ofworks concerning people’s journey of initiation. Consequently, a special genre of literature isformed in America--initiation stories.Kate Chopin is a distinguished American woman writer in the late nineteenth century.Chopin is usually considered the first writer who has the awareness of freedom and identityas a woman in the special period when women were taken as the private property of men inAmerican history. The Awakening is acknowledged as Chopin’s masterpiece in literary worldtoday. The novel focuses on the awakening and initiation of Edna, the protagonist.Chopin inherits the mode of traditional Bildungsroman in her creation of The Awakeningin which typical characteristics of Bildungsroman can be observed. And this thesis attemptsto discuss The Awakening from the perspective of Bildungsroman, analyzing how the noveladopts the traditional Bildungsroman in the aspects of the theme, the structure, and thecharacters, and finally does a comparatively comprehensive research of the novel as aBildungsroman.This thesis is divided into five parts.The introduction provides some background knowledge about Kate Chopin and her TheAwakening, makes a literature review of the novel since its publication, and gives a briefintroduction of Bildungsroman and initiation stories.Chapter One explores the initiation theme in The Awakening from two aspects: theautobiographical components and Edna’s maturation process. The first part of this chaptermakes a comparison of the life of Chopin and Edna, showing that Chopin and Edna havemany similarities and share the same destiny. Chopin has placed all her emotions andexpectations on Edna, which is a good demonstration of the autobiographical components.The second part mainly interprets Edna’s choice of life, Edna’s physical awakening, and Edna’s spiritual awakening. By observing the life style of Adele and Reisz, Edna is unwillingto be a housewife like Adele, nor is she willing to be an odd woman like Reisz. Edna has thedemands of being independent and having the rights to pursue freedom in love and spirit aswell as her social identity. And in her process of initiation, Edna gains her physical andspiritual awakening, having a sensitive feeling of her body beauty and body need, getting herfinancial independence by painting, and finally living a life at her own will.Chapter Two expounds the structure to show the general characteristics of initiationstories in The Awakening by analyzing the formulated plot pattern and the open ending. Thenovel follows the formulated plot pattern: innocence—temptation—leavinghome—trials—bewilderment—epiphany—salvation. It reveals Edna’s difficult initiation inthat society. And in the novel, Chopin leaves Edna’s suicide in ambiguity, which is coincidentwith the open ending in initiation stories.Chapter Three probes into the characters in The Awakening. In the novel, the characterscan mainly be divided into positive initiation guides and negative initiation guides accordingto their different influence in Edna’s initiation process. And it is the guides that help Ednagain her awakening. In addition, nature is also viewed as an important spiritual guide in thenovel, especially the sea.The thesis ends with the conclusion that The Awakening is a Bildungsroman of Edna andher initiation to maturity. In a sense, the protagonist’s initiation from innocence to maturitywill provide some implications in real life with its reflection and revelation of the commonfate of all human beings.