Edna Pontelleir: A Modern Diagnosis

In Kate Chopin’s novel of self-discovery, The Awakening, the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, undergoes a metamorphosis and emerges as a changed, self-aware woman. Edna’s actions and feelings, however, are difficult to comprehend; as they follow no set pattern that can be discerned from the reader’s point of view. The complexity of Edna’s emotions and actions, as well as the awakening itself, prove to be baffling to those who surround her, as well as to the audience. Kate Chopin uses images, specifically of birds, in particular, the parrot to express the psychological makeup of Edna Pontellier, which can be analyzed using modern techniques to gain a clearer understanding of this perplexing woman.
“A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door…the mocking-bird that hung on the other side of the door,” (Chopin 1) begins the novel. How strange it seems to some, to begin on such a note, but upon closer inspection, one realizes that there is great sig...