Epiphany and Revelation "The Awakening"

Paper Summary:

This paper contends that in Kate Chopin's "The Awakening", we need not go any further than the title to realise that not only is some sort of revelation taking place, but that it is also the theme of the novel. The paper examines how every word uttered by Edna Pontellier, every action made and everything described by the narrator gears the audience towards the inevitable awakening. By distinguishing between epiphany and revelation, the paper attempts to show that the epiphany occurs much earlier in the novel and that although there is a revelation at the end of the novel, one cannot consider it as the promised spiritual awakening.

From the Paper:

"In trying to define when Edna's awakening took place, one first must establish the difference between epiphany and revelation. A revelation is, quite literally, that which is revealed and therefore brought to recognition. As described by Aristotle in On Poetics recognition [anagnorisis] is "a change from ignorance [agnoia] to knowledge [gnosis]" which is "most beautiful when it comes to be at the same time as a reversal" (which is simply "a change into the contrary"(18)). These are the two of the parts which make up the Aristotelian idea of tragedy, the third being that of suffering. All three of these criteria are admirably met in The Awakening, with Edna's final earth-shattering revelation which is brought about from the note which Robert leaves, the suffering which ensues during the night, and the actions which follow contrary to what Robert's note intended."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aristotle. On Poetics. Trans. Seth Benardete and Michael Davis. South Bend: St. Agustine's Press, 2002.
• Beja, Morris. Epiphany in the Modern Novel. London: Peter Owen Ltd., 1971.
• Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. The Norton Introduction to the Short Novel. Ed. Jerome Beaty. 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1999.

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