Gautham Sezhian IB Language A HL2 Mr.

Armstrong 2 March 2014

Venus/Aphrodite in The Awakening

An understanding of the myth and backstory of the Greek/Roman god of love and beauty Aphrodite/Venus gives allows for a better understanding of The Awakening. The backstory of the myth can in many ways be seen to reflect the course of events that take place throughout the novel. The Awakening is used as a sort of allusion to the myth. Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus
and Dione in the Iliad, and is said to have been born of water. Edna Pontellier in this case begins her awakening when she first discovers how to swim. She was like the little tottering, stumbling,

clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, (Chopin 27). This is the new Edna being born through the use of water. In the myth, Zeus married her to
Hephaestus, god of fire, to keep the other gods from fighting over her. The contrast between someone like Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, and Hephaestus is about the same as between Edna and Lonce. The dull description of Robert at the beginning of the novel He was a man of forty, of medium height and rather slender build; he stooped a little is contrasted greatly by the elegant descripti on of Mrs. Pontellier as rather handsome than beautiful. Her face was captivating by reason of frankness and a contradictory subtle play of features (Chopin 1, 3). This difference in the myth causes Aphrodite to have an affair with Ares, the god of war. This can be seen in the shape of Edna having her arousal with Alce Arobin. Kissing him passionately is her way of going against her marriage with Lonce. At the end of the novel, she returns to the sea once again. In the myth, Aphrodite was returned to the sea as a way of renewing herself and relieving her of her previous actions. This is seen in the novel as Edna continues to walk into the sea until it has completely taken her. Since Edna is not a god, she does not reawaken from this. An understanding of the myth of Aphrodite and its many parallels seen in The Awakening by Kate Chopin allows for a better comprehension of the reasons why the story has such a unique order of events.