The self as solitary soul

The Self as Solitary Soul Bibliography Biography Abstract In this master's thesis, I trace Edna Pontellier's relation to art to show how this medium invites Edna to access passion about her self and her life, which has been suppressed by patriarchal institutions like marriage and motherhood. Her awakening occurs on various levels: sexual, physical, spiritual, and creative. Yet none ofthese awakenings prove as useful as those which seek to move Edna forward while simultaneously inviting her to return to a figurative home, constructed by her self and her desire for art. With assistance ofLuce Irigaray, in particular, I attempt to construct a dialogue among Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier, and Luce Irigaray about what self means, how it relates to art, and how it moves Edna to persist in her awakening even after death.In this master's thesis, I trace Edna Pontellier's relation to art to show how this medium invites Edna to access passion about her self and her life, which has been suppressed by patriarchal institutions like marriage and motherhood. Her awakening occurs on various levels: sexual, physical, spiritual, and creative. Yet none ofthese awakenings prove as useful as those which seek to move Edna forward while simultaneously inviting her to return to a figurative home, constructed by her self and her desire for art. With assistance ofLuce Irigaray, in particular, I attempt to construct a dialogue among Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier, and Luce Irigaray about what self means, how it relates to art, and how it moves Edna to persist in her awakening even after death. Introduction: Woman Artist, Know Thyself She had all her life long been accustomed to harbor and which voiced themselves. They had taken form of struggles. They belonged to her and were her own, and she entertained conviction that she had a right to them and that they concerned no one but --The Awakening (1899), Kate Chopin Of key importance in this passage is stultification of heroine's thoughts and emotions. As a twenty-eight-year-old woman in late-nineteenth century, Edna Pontellier's self is narrowly prescribed and defined by Victorian social standards, which ill-fit her with roles of mother and wife. Since her innermost thoughts and emotions are prompted or encouraged by other individuals in her life, Edna does not participate in struggles relevant to cultivation of a true self; instead, she remains static throughout most of her life until she begins to awaken to possibility that these thoughts and emotions... belonged to her and were her own. Her recognition in this passage, positioned halfway through novel, serves as a pivotal moment in Edna's life as she awakens to the conviction that she had a right to them and that they concerned no one but herself Such reclamation of these and emotions, and her eventual possession and protection of these intangible aspects of her life, signal an attempted maturation and identification of self, free from narrowly-assigned roles or insufficient social constructs of who she as a woman should be. Not easily named or even identified, self eludes Edna for greater portion of her life. She is unable to exactly define what self means and how it assists her \vork and her art in productive and liberating ways. Part of this struggle is due to suppression of her thoughts and emotions for much of her womanhood. Since these were never voiced: we can rightfully conclude that they were often silenced by