Of all the uses of imagery portrayed in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the mentioning the ocean is one of the most significant tools of symbolism throughout the novel. The main character Edna Pontellier is faced with the confinements of societal ideals that a woman can only fit into the defined molds of what is proper and what is nonconventional. There were no opportunities for women to be fluid in the ways in which they chose to live their lives; meaning women could either be the traditional wife and mother, or reject such traditional positions and be perceived as bizarre.
As Edna’s journey unravels, she cannot find the escape that will lead her to her true freedom. This discovery ultimately results in her death by suicide; the only escape that compels her. It is important to examine Edna’s death and the role the sea plays into the scene. Beyond literary terms, water and the ocean are often symbols of purification. Edna’s awakening was her realization of not being able to live a life that was not confined by societal boundaries and expectations. It can be inferred that her choice to commit suicide by drowning in the sea was her way of cleansing herself of the boundaries, expectations and responsibilities that consumed her.
The sea was the place where Edna could find her peace and escape that of what drained her from happiness and liberation. In the final scene of the novel the imagery is described as, “The water of the Gulf stretched out before her, gleaming with the million lights of the sun. The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude,” (chapter 39).
The imagery of the sea also symbolizes ideas of rebirth and the unknown. From a reader’s perspective, I believed that Edna’s feelings of the sea and death represented the unknown, yet held a sense of comfort. This can be seen by the depiction “How strange and awful it seemed to stand naked under the sky! How delicious! She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known. The foamy wavelets curled up to her white feet, and coiled like serpents about her ankles. She walked out. The water was chill, but she walked on. The water was deep, but she lifted her white body and reached out with a long, sweeping stroke. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace,” (chapter 39).
The Awakening by Kate Chopin 