Ruichen Wang

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, a classic of 19th-century American women’s literature, depicts the predicament of women in the late 19th century and their spiritual awakening. This paper explores the role of “sound” as a significant signifier in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, analyzing how sound constructs the meaning of the work and reveals the complexity of Edna Pontellier’s awakening. It examines three dimensions: the social codification of verbal sounds, which reflects the dominance and oppression of male voices in patriarchal society as well as the resonance and divergence among female voices; the metaphorical system of non-verbal sounds, including natural sounds symbolizing freedom, confinement, and fate, and bodily sounds revealing repressed desires and inner conflicts; and the interplay of multiple voices, which forms a polyphonic structure to present Edna’s struggle between social constraints and individual freedom. The study concludes that sound, as a rich signifier, not only enriches the novel’s artistic expressions but also reveals the predicaments and rebellious spirit of 19th-century women, deepening the feminist themes of the work.

Sound Signifiers; The Awakening; Verbal Sounds; Non-Verbal Sounds; Female Awakening.

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