Kate Chopin’s ‘The Awakening’: the role of Mademoiselle Reisz in The Awakening of Edna Pontellier

Mademoiselle Reisz introduces herself to us as “… an unpleasant little woman, who is no longer young, who has quarreled with almost everyone …”. She is not married, has no children and has dedicated her life to her passion: music. The narrator also describes Mademoiselle Reisz as a home woman who has no taste in dress. Some people even argued that she “always chose apartments under the roof … to discourage the approach of beggars, rowers and callers.” Isolated in her ever-changing attics, she attests to the likely seclusion imposed socially by any 19th century woman who dared to challenge the tolerable pattern of female achievement. She is an unconventional woman and seems relatively insignificant when we begin to read the novel.

Although remote and reserved in her communication with the other Grand Isle guests, Mademoiselle Reisz likes the novel’s heroine, Edna Pontellier, and becomes the most persuasive person in her awakening. Their first encounter, when Mademoiselle Reisz plays the piano for Edna, leaves Edna shaking and choking in tears. It was an experience Edna had never had, not even when her dear friend Adle Ratignolle played for her. “The first chords … sent a sharp tremor down Ms. Pontellier’s spine” and her agitated physical reaction to playing the piano attests to the capacity for her impending self-discovery. Although Mademoiselle Reisz is often called upon to entertain people in meetings with her expert piano performance, she also testifies that Edna is the only one of the guests who is truly touched and moved by the music. Edna’s reaction to Mademoiselle Reisz’s music reflects the central theme of awakening in the novel.

Unlike Adle Ratignolle, who lives a socially accepted lifestyle, Mademoiselle Reisz is a living example of a completely self-sufficient woman, governed by her art and passions, rather than the expectations of society. In a way, she is representative of the feminist movement that began to emerge in the 1890s, but was still overshadowed by prevailing attitudes. Edna’s association with Adle suggests that she will abandon her rebellion and return to her marriage, the standard expected at the time the novel was written. However, his association with Mademoiselle Reisz suggests that he will lose everything except his art and pride. In a way, both the author and her heroine will do something revolutionary and liberating for the women of the future.

Edna is seemingly caught between two influences: a strong desire for individuality and autonomy, as exemplified by Mademoiselle Reisz, and the social conformity and comme il faut that she sees in Adle Ratignolle. Admire the figure of Madame Ratignolle, “Mrs. Pontellier liked to sit and look at her beautiful companion as if she were looking at an impeccable Madonna”, but the “musical notes, well played”, by Mademoiselle’s art of playing the piano Riesz, “had a way of conjuring up images in his mind.” These “images” are the “very passions … awakened within her soul, rocking her, whipping her, while the waves daily beat her splendid body.”

From the beginning, the text points to the imperative relationship that Edna and Mademoiselle Reisz are going to live. The story begins with the talk of the parrot by Madame Leburn who speaks English, French and a little Spanish. He also speaks a “language that no one understood, unless it was the mockingbird hanging on the other side of the door …” Confined and misunderstood, the parrot represents Edna who speaks a language that no one, not even her husband, friends or lovers – understand. It seems that all Edna needs is a nightingale, someone who can understand her strange language. Mademoiselle Reisz becomes this mockingbird for Edna, the melodious bird who instigates her freedom later in the novel. Like the nightingale, Mademoiselle Reisz is valued by society for her musical talent and Edna (as the parrot) for her physical appearance.

Their second encounter takes place when Mademoiselle Reisz searches for Edna shortly after Robert’s departure for Mexico and strikes a chord by echoing “the thought that was always on Edna’s mind … the feeling that constantly possessed her” . She asks Edna, “Do you miss your friend a lot?” Miss Reisz is the only character in the novel who understands and nurtures the love between Robert and Edna, and serves as a true confidant.

Miss Reisz’s exchange with Edna on the shore cultivates a connection that continues after her return home to New Orleans. Edna seeks the camaraderie of Mademoiselle Reisz when she begins to ardently pursue personal independence. Miss Reisz, in turn, warns Edna that an artist must be brave, possess “a brave soul … that dares and challenges.” Seeing how happy Mademoiselle Reisz is as an unmarried artist inspires Edna to become more self-reliant and to pursue her desire to paint. This ties into the meaning of the novel: a woman’s struggle for individuality while still married. Mademoiselle Reisz recognizes in Edna the same desire for escape and independence with which she has lived her own life. A woman who dedicates her life entirely to her art, Mademoiselle serves as an inspiration and role model for Edna, who continues her process of awakening and independence. As Edna feels estranged from her former confidant Adle, she grows closer and closer to Mademoiselle Reisz, whom she begins to resemble.

It is during their first meeting in New Orleans that Mademoiselle plays “Isolde’s Song” for Edna, which foreshadows Edna’s final scene on the beach at Grand Isle, where a bird with a broken wing sinister sinister in the air to its death in the air. Water. The image of the bird follows when Mademoiselle Reisz warns Edna that “the bird that rises above the plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.” Through her relationship with the pianist, Edna increases her awareness of herself as a woman capable of being passionate about art and passionate love. While the two capabilities are interconnected, Miss Reisz serves to promote each one specifically. Nothing soothed Edna’s confusion of senses like a visit to Mademoiselle Reisz. She seems to “reach out to Edna’s spirit and set it free.”

It was Mademoiselle Reisz who made Edna realize that she does not leave her home because she is tired of caring for her and does not feel a real connection to her as if it were her own, but because the smaller house will allow her to be independent and free. Instinct has driven her to put aside her husband’s reward and never again belong to someone else than herself. Furthermore, it was with his help that Edna was able to admit her love for Robert and it is in her attic that she finally meets Robert when he returns from Mexico.

However, torn between the two worlds, represented by Adle Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna could not accept her new reality. In the words of Elaine Showalter, “Both the author and her heroine seem to oscillate between two worlds, caught between contradictory definitions of femininity and creativity …” Mademoiselle Reisz dramatically expresses Chopin’s sense of the need for independence and individuality in writing. His voice in the novel seems to speak for the vision that the author of the art and the artist have. In a way, in addition to helping in the awakening of the heroine, Mademoiselle Reisz is also fundamental in the literary awakening of its creator, Kate Chopin.

Mademoiselle Reisz is the woman Edna could have become if she had lived to old age and remained independent from her husband and children. However, instead of running away somewhere and living alone, perhaps relying on herself as an artist in the manner of Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna can only think about her children’s reputations and how they would be treated when she leaves. She was unwilling to define her position in the world because doing so would mean giving up the dream of total fulfillment. Thus, while Mademoiselle Reisz could control, create and direct her work, Edna was at her mercy. He felt that he could only be free if he ended his life. He knew that once Lonce returned, he would still tell him what to do. He also knew that he could not leave his children in Iberville forever. Edna could never have the true freedom she desired with her children and her husband around her. She also knew that Robert wanted her to be the traditional Creole wife, and she is no different from Lonce. Edna realized this for herself, but she knew she couldn’t live that way, no matter how much she loved the man. Due to the conversations with Reisz, Edna was able to see this on her own.

What Edna chooses for her identity is a combination of Adle Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, more honest in self-awareness than Adle, more dependent on human relationships than Reisz. She is no longer Edna, Lonce’s possession, Raoul’s mother and Tenene, Arobin’s toy, Robert’s invincible deity, but a newborn being who, tragically, wants to live according to her own impractical desires, not male or female. Edna’s awakening has only brought with it the desire to break the confines of her life. Edna’s suicide is an awakening in itself. The symbolism of the bird offers a slightly different alternative: as a bird with a broken wing, Edna is a victim of fate and her society. Edna’s wings are not strong enough to overcome gravity; she is overwhelmed by the forces that society imposes on her. Edna takes a chance and tries to escape tradition. She is able to escape, but only in death, only drowning in water. Faced with the choice between dying quickly on his own terms versus the prospect of committing suicide again every day, he chose a more merciful suicide.

Kate Chopin is often considered the first literary voice of the feminist movement, writing years before the beginning of the movement in the United States. In the time period in which Chopin wrote, “feminine” was the only description of women that still existed. Unquestionably, The Awakening is a clear break, a rebellion from the female gaze. Edna’s awakening is also the author’s awakening to the fact that her bold choice of female self-discovery and self-reliance will be an outrage in her society. As a woman, Chopin’s status as a writer was severely limited by the expectations of a powerfully intolerant public. When she broke all expectations by producing a work that clearly transcended not only regionalism but also the established list of sentimental themes that were deemed suitable for women, the uproar was extreme. By giving his work an open ending where suicide has just been suggested, Chopin refuses to condemn Edna, which was another worrying factor for his contemporaries. Both Edna and her creator were “feminine.” Miss Reisz awakened them to the “feminist” way of thinking, but was unable to initiate them into the “feminine” world.

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