Oceanic Consciousness in Chopin's The Awakening

Abstract

This paper examined and analyzed how the sea functions as a decisive force in shaping Edna Pontellier’s self-discovery in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. This study employs the theoretical lens of Blue Humanities to explore Edna’s transformation. It employs the dynamics of the qualitative approach, with an interpretive research design to examine how ocean itself plays an active and agentive role in her evolving consciousness. It draws concepts from numerous sources like oceanic studies, phenomenology, vibrant materialism, and affect theory, to examine Edna’s sensory encounters with the sea­­­­­­­­ -its sound, touch, rhythms, and expansiveness. These sources demonstrate how Edna searches for identity and autonomy through her intimacy with water. She swims due to her emotional attachment to the Gulf and shorelines she often visits them. It analyzes her oceanic consciousness and her attachment with water. Critics around the globe become fascinate to her attitude and explore her possibilities of her immersion to the sea. Though they term her act as a tragedy, they also label her act as a means of her search for a self, free from the societal bondages. This study also contributes to the ecological study to a greater benefit within the framework of Blue Humanities.