Awakening EssayBreaking the “so-called” customs/norms of society incorporates a wide range of value, inspiration, and most importantly, individuality. Society imposes standards on its inhabitants in order to maintain stability and often tradition. Specifically, gender roles, such as women raising children; Men being the only source of profit, must also be broken in order to establish uniqueness and distinction in a conventionally themed culture, such as Victorian society. Kate Chopin's The Awakening is perhaps the only novel that fully illustrates the struggle of abandoning Victorian ideals and tradition from a woman's perspective. Although often considered a feminist text, The Awakening can be considered a novel that depicts and promotes individuality using symbolism. Instead of plastering readers with boring literalism, Chopin uses symbols, such as birds and music, to relay subtle ideas. In each fictional part, Chopin brings symbolism that readers must understand in order to appreciate the novel as a whole. As caged animals, birds represent internal feelings of confinement and boundedness. When roaming and flying freely over open seas, birds emit emotions of autonomy and independence. The imprisonment or freedom of the birds throughout the storyline of The Awakening is the symbolism that Chopin uses to discursively illustrate the societal limitations and limitations placed on Edna. Throughout the novel's duration, vivid images of birds illuminate both the struggle and freedom she constantly encounters. An example of this includes how Edna notices the "green and yellow" parrot hanging outside Madame Lebrun's house. Edna is somewhat irritated by the middle of paper...... Reisz's piano performance makes her an ideal bohemian who uses music to create self-exploration and individuality. Nonetheless, Chopin lets readers know that although the act of playing the piano seems generic, it is quite different, especially to anyone who notices this difference, like Edna, who does not imagine "pictures" while Reisz performs as she does during the Farival Twins performance. She only internalizes the “passions” that are “awakened in her soul” and “beat on her splendid body.” (Chopin 44) Chopin's use of music as a symbol allows readers to understand Edna's slow transition from Victorian customs to a more individualistic state of mind. Chopin's use of symbolism throughout the text establishes a method of conveying to readers in a beautiful way the opposition of structural gender roles in Victorian society..