The Masculine Sea and the Impossibility of Awakening in Chopin's the Awakening

Kate Chopin has a firm place in American women's writing. A persistent theme in her works is said to be women's emotional liberation. The Awakening (1899) as a feminist novel is no exception. In the novel, Edna's inner voice and desire for escape from a male-dominated society awaken in her. Edna's suicide has been interpreted as her victory over the society however, this study argues that the idea of female defeat has been ignored to a great extent the main reason for which is the ignorance or a misreading of sea imagery. The sea of the novel that dissolves Edna is a signifier of male society and language signifying Edna's failure to find a place within the male dialogue of the society. Extra-marital relationships with Alcee or Robert are not promising, for the climax of such relationships is no more than the old requirement of becoming the good wife and mother that the society prescribes to women. By her ultimate suicidal choice, Edna determines to find a voice and be seen but is totally perished instead to prove that women cannot speak. This study intends to argue and conclude that Chopin had this Kristevaesque belief that the male socio-cultural formation does not let women experience freedom. A new interpretation of the sea as a patriarchal element is offered which makes Edna's drowning a total defeat rather than victory as suggested by many critics.


INTRODUCTION
.DWH &KRSLQ KDV D ILUP SODFH LQ $PHULFDQ ZRPHQ ¶V writing. The reason for this seems to be the persistent theme LQ KHU ZRUNV PHDQLQJ ZRPHQ ¶V HPRWLRQDO OLEHUDWLRQ The Awakening (1899) as a feminist novel is no exception, and H[SORUHV LWV SURWDJRQLVW ¶V LQQHU FRQIOLFWV DQG GHVLUH IRU VHOI-H[SUHVVLRQ 0XFK KDV EHHQ VDLG DERXW (GQD ¶V LQQHU YRLFH that awakens in her as well as her desire for escape however, the idea of female defeat has been ignored to a great extent the main reason for which is the ignorance or a misreading of sea imagery. In other words a more exact look at sea imagery²discussed in the first sub chapter² will change the interpretation of the concluding part of the QRYHO RU (GQD ¶V VXLFLGH ZKLFK PDQ\ FULWLFV KDYH referred to DV (GQD ¶V YLFWRU\ , GR QRW DJUHH ZLWK %UDGOH\ (2005) who HPSKDVL]HV (GQD ¶V YLFWRU\ DQG UHIHUV WR ³(GQD ¶V « GHOLJKW´ DQG HQWHULQJ ³D ZRUOG´ ZKHUH VKH FDQ ³QHJDWH DOO SDWULDUFKDOLVP´ (p. 60). Nor do I see eye to eye with Gray (2004) who interprHWV (GQD ¶V HVFDSH DQG GURZQLQJ DV OLEHUDWLRQ ³(GQD HVFDSHV RSSUHVVLYH LGHRORJ\´ (p. 72). Ramos (2010) is not different who concludes that obstacles ³FRXOG XOWLPDWHO\ EH RYHUFRPH´ (p. 161). Having read a good number of essays, Ramos refers to a common view WKDW ³WKH SDWULDUFKDO VRFLDO SUHVVXUHV IRUFHG XSRQ VXFK D woman were either inescapably deterministic or, somehow, entirely avoidable through a kind of mythical rebirth DFKLHYHG WKURXJK WKH DFW RI VXLFLGH´ S 146). Barbara +RFKPDQ VHHV (GQD ¶V VXLFLGH DV ³D UHIXVDO WR UHHQWHU WKH F\FOH RI VH[XDOLW\ DQG ELUWK WKDW PDNHV WKH SUHVHQFH RI ³D OLWWOH QHZ OLIH´ LQHVFDSDEOH´ as cited in Pizer, 1999, p. 230). 7KLV DJDLQ LV DQ HPSKDVLV ODLG RQ (GQD ¶V LQGHSHQGHQFH and active role in resisting the patriarchal system. This study, however, intends to argue and conclude that Chopin had this Kristevaesque belief that women do not and cannot exist. Kristeva who provides her readers with an exact vision of women and their place in the society, discusses the socio-cultural formation of women and concludes that ZRPHQ ¶V FKDQFH IRU H[LVWHQFH LV YHU\ VOLP ,W ZLOO EH DUJXHG that the society and specifically the sea as a shaping force OHDYHV QR URRP IRU ZRPHQ ¶V WUXH H[LVWHQFH Kate Chopin can be identified with her protagonist confined within biological and cultural circumstances²marriage and childbearing²with the desperate need to transcend limits through art. Parvulescu (2005) Havener, 2008, p. 196). The following part discusses that Chopin believed that in the face of restrictions in a patriarchal society and material conditions of patriarchal rule nothing could be done. Even after defying roles of wife and mother, it is impossible to adopt a sustainable identity which leaves Edna morally, emotionally and spiritually empty and senseless. Accordingly this study offers a new interpretation of the sea as a patriarchal element which PDNHV (GQD ¶V GURZQLQJ D WRWDOO\ GLIIHUHQW H[SHULHQFH Discussion

The Patriarchal Sea
The sea is a very important element in the novel regarding &KRSLQ ¶V YLHZ RI ZRPHQ $ UHUHDGing of the novel reveals meanings other than freedom and escape for the sea suggested by many critics. The way the sea is used in the novel makes it the masculine language and a male discourse that dissolves Edna for her trespasses and transgressions: Edna practices swimming and painting in order to change her position in the society and adopt a different identity.
It is important to pay close attention to some lines from the QRYHO (GQD WHOOV KHU KXVEDQG ³, WKRXJKW , VKRXOG KDYH perished out there [sea] DORQH´ Chopin, 1899, p. 38). 7KLQNLQJ RI WKH VHD (GQD ³UHFDOOHG WKH WHUURU´ p. 156); she IHHOV WKH ³ROG WHUURU´ p. 157). The sea is always associated with fear and horror, for Edna is afraid of going against the waves (of convention and discourse) and conquering the sea RI PDOH GLVFRXUVHV (DUO\ LQ WKH QRYHO ZKLOH DW VHD ³D quick vision of death smote her soul, and for a second of WLPH DSSDOOHG DQG HQIHHEOHG KHU VHQVHV´ pp. 37-38). Edna as a construct has always been paralyzed by the sea and shaped by it. The sea comes next to such discourses as the &KXUFK KHU IDWKHU DQG KHU KXVEDQG ³+RZ VWLOO LW ZDV ZLWK RQO\ WKH YRLFH RI WKH VHD ZKLVSHULQJ WKURXJK WKH UHHGV « ,W PXVW KDYH DOZD\V EHHQ *RG ¶V GD\ RQ WKDW ORZ GURZV\ LVODQG (GQD WKRXJKW´ p. 48). It is noteworthy that only the VHD ¶V YRLFH FDQ EH KHDUG DQG DW LWV SUHVHQFH (GQD FDQ RQO\ think. Barbara Hochman is one of the critics that believes WKDW ³WKH VHD-voice is neither articulate as language nor FRQGXFLYH WR GLIIHUHQWLDWLRQ RU DXWRQRP\´ as cited in Pizer, 1999, p. 218 VLJQLILHV &KRSLQ ¶V YLHZ RI ZRPHQ caught within the complex web of socio-cultural discourses from which it is hard to escape, and within which it is hard to speak and quite impossible to be heard.
(GQD ¶V DWWHPSW WR OHDUQ VZLPPLQJ DV D SK\VLFDO FRQTXHVW finds double importance here. It is one way to cope with the overwhelming sea but to no avail as the final scene is (GQD ¶V GURZQLQJ ³(dna had attempted all summer to learn WR VZLP´ p. 36). The serpent-like sea is a phallic symbol. $W WKH HQG RI WKH QRYHO VWDQGLQJ QDNHG (GQD IHHOV ³WKH foamy wavelets curled up to her white feet, and coiled like VHUSHQWV DERXW KHU DQNOHV´ p. RU ³Post of them walked into the water as though into a native element. The sea was quiet now, and swelled lazily in broad billows that melted into one another and did not break except upon the beach in little foamy crests that coiled back like slow, white serpHQWV´ p. 36). Edna is raped and devoured by the male seductive sea that represents the surrounding reality and pressures of environment, and is intolerant of resistance and a language different from the native language of mascu-OLQLW\ (GQD ¶V VWUHQJWK LV gone in the sea, and terror fills her whole being. She is silenced at sea and is not able to tell her WDOH 7KHUH VKH FDQQRW VSHDN DQG MXVW WKLQNV ³+HU DUPV DQG legs were growing tired. She thought of Leonce and the FKLOGUHQ´ p. (GQD KHDUV ³WKH KXP RI EHHV ´ DQG VPHOOV ³WKH PXVN\ RGRU RI SLQNV´ p. 157) but no word is produced. It is interesting that in chapter five Chopin refers WR WKH ³VHGXFWLYH RGRU RI WKH VHD´ p.
(GQD ¶V ILQDO attempt results only in self-effacement and her selfrepresentation is erased in the sea where the privileging of masculinity over femininity is obvious. The sea is associated with the sun, and femininity with darkness. One LQVWDQFH LV WKH GHVFULSWLRQ RI WKH VXQ DQG WKH VHD ³WKH VXQ was low in the west, and the breeze soft and languorous that came up from the south, charged with the seductive odor of WKH VHD´ p.
RU 'H %HDXYRLU ¶V ZRUGV LQ The Second Sex are noteworthy: ³KXPDQLW\ LV PDOH DQG PDQ GHILQHV ZRPDQ QRW LQ KHUVHOI EXW DV UHODWLYH WR KLP ´ 6KH FRQWLQXHV WKDW ZRPDQ ³LV QRW UHJDUGHG DV DQ DXWRQRPRXV EHLQJ « VKH LV WKH LQFLGHQWDO the inessential as opposed to the essential. He is the Subject, he is the AEVROXWH VKH LV WKH 2WKHU´ S xvi). This is why Judith Butler (2007) who rejects the normative notion of a social construct, concludes that for Beauvoir women are ³GHVLJQDWHG DV WKH 2WKHU´ DQG ³WKH QHJDWLYH RI PHQ WKH ODFN against which masculine identit\ GLIIHUHQWLDWHV LWVHOI´ (p. 13). Chopin shares many of these mentioned ideas²at least in The Awakening²and shows Edna as a negative image ZKR LV QRW UHFRJQL]HG LQ WKH VRFLHW\ %\ SRUWUD\LQJ (GQD ¶V death, Chopin has shown that woman as a social construct is not free to change her situation and stand before the male law. (GQD ¶V JHQGHU UROH LV FRQVWUXFWHG WKURXJK UHSHWLWLRQ RI PDOH practices and discourses that construct subjects and are EH\RQG FRQWURO ³+XPDQ VXEMHFWV ´ DFFRUGLQJ WR /RRPED (2000), ³DUH QRW fixed essences, but are discursively FRQVWLWXWHG´ (p. 233). The sea as discussed in the previous sub chapter is a striking example of male language which implies that Edna fails to communicate and find a place within the male dialogue of the society. Gender cannot be separated from politics and culture, for according to Butler (2007) ³JHQGHU LQWHUVHFWV ZLWK UDFLDO FODVV HWKQLF VH[XDO and regional modalities of discursively constituted iden-WLWLHV´ (p. (GQD ¶V JHQGHU LV WKH FXOWXUDO PHDQV E\ ZKLFK she LV UHSUHVHQWHG ,QGHHG (GQD ¶V JHQGHU LV QDWXUDOL]HG through repeated male practices that leave no room for (GQD ¶V ZLOO WR PDNH D FKDQJH $V SUDFWLFHV ZLWKLQ VXFK D patriarchal system cannot be natural but conditioned by processes of power, Chopin has showQ (GQD ¶V OLWWOH FKDQFH of violating the norm as well as acting against maledominated ideologies, i. e. the impossibility of awakening. The impossibility of change is due to the discursive formation of identities. Edna is culturally conditioned into womanhood which is why her attempt to seize power and dominate her husband seems useless. The male-dominated society also leaves no space, from a Spivakean point of view, for Edna to speak from as a liberated woman. This UHPLQGV XV RI %HDXYRLU ¶V EHOLHI WKDW ³DFWually, there are YHU\ YHU\ IHZ WUXO\ OLEHUDWHG ZRPHQ´ as cited in Card, 2003, p. 194). Edna takes care of her husband slave-like, has a secondary role in relation to her husband, and has no chance in any physical or intellectual conquests. The desires to learn swimming and become an artist are, respectively, physical and intellectual conquests she explores in mind providing that she can free herself from the circles of duties imposed by the male society. This means that man is

WUDQVFHQGHQW DQG ³WKHUH LV Qo arena where she [woman] can EH UHFRJQL]HG DV D VXEMHFW ´ 7R WKLV 'H %HDXYRLU DGGV WKH IDFW WKDW ZRPDQ ¶V ³VWUXJJOH WR EHFRPH WUDQVFHQGHQW LV « LQYDULDEO\ EORFNHG´ S 151).
Chopin, herself a subject and discursively-formed construct, is not able to show (GQD ¶V LQGHSHQGHQFH 0DQ LV VKRZQ WR be a privileged signified, and male discourse the producer of PHDQLQJ DQG KLVWRU\ &KRSLQ ¶V VKRZLQJ /HRQFH ZLWK glasses is an implication of male power and desire to GRPLQDWH $FFRUGLQJ WR ,ULJDUD\ VLJKW LV ³DVVRFLDWHG with the male desire to see things clearly and logically and to PDVWHU WKHP WKHRUHWLFDOO\´ as cited in Rivkin & Ryan, 2000, p. 573). Cultural compulsion demands submission of femininity and production of masculinity. It is interesting to notice that Edna lives in a capitalist setting or a consumer society that produces men. Therefore the female is colonized and structured by male economic and political GHYHORSPHQWV WKDW LV UHPLQLVFHQW RI +HQU\ /RXLV *DWHV ¶ (1991) VXJJHVWLRQ ³DOO GLVFRXUVH LV FRORQLDO GLVFRXUVH´ (p. 466). The sea as mentioned above²associated with the male world²conquers Edna, dissolves her, and leaves her space outside the patriarchal system. The final act of the QRYHO LV &KRSLQ ¶V DIILUPDWLRQ RI WKH IDFW WKDW LQ RUGHU WR represent or express herself, Edna must first exist. The disappearance in the sea shows the impossibility of awakening within the very structures of power that have shaped her.
This puts the possibility of a language to represent women under question since subjects are made through language. 'H %HDXYRLU EHOLHYHV WKDW ODQJXDJH LV ³FRQVWLWXWHG WKURXJK FLUFXODWLRQ LQ WKH PDVV RI SHRSOH´ as cited in Card, 2003, p. (GQD ¶V YXOQHUDELOLW\ LV VKRZQ LQ WKH IRUFHV EH\RQG KHU control, and her decision to change herself by learning to swim or trying to become an artist. Throughout the novel the inadequacy of language is, beautifully, shown in such women as Edna and Mme. Ratignolle not understanding each other well. Pizer (1999) (2007) believHV ³(GQD KDV no language by which to express an authentic feminine H[SUHVVLRQ DQG WKXV VKH UHPDLQV VLOHQW´ (p. 410). Therefore Chopin, in the last scene, confirms the failure of feminine OLEHUDWLRQ DQG WKH LPSRVVLELOLW\ RI WKH VXEDOWHUQ ¶V YRLFH %\ her ultimate suicidal choice, Edna determines to find a voice and be seen but is totally perished instead to prove that the subaltern cannot speak.

Interpellation and Identity
%XWOHU EHOLHYHV WKDW ³LQWHUSHOODWLRQ´ LV ³WKH WZR-way process of hailing or calling D VXEMHFW LQWR EHLQJ´ DQG ³WKH VXEMHFW « FRPHV LQWR EHLQJ WKURXJK WKH SRZHU RI LQWHUSHOODWLRQ LW LV D IRXQGLQJ DQG SRWHQWLDOO\ LPSULVRQLQJ JHVWXUH´ as cited in Lane, 2006, pp. 50-51). Althusser (1998) believes that KHJHPRQ\ DFWV WKURXJK ³LQWHUSHOODWLRQ´ ZKLFK LV ³WKH UHFRJQLWLRQ DQG DGRSWLRQ RI DQ LGHRORJ\ DQG LWV SUDFWLFHV´ (p. 299). Edna wishes to resist interpellations of patriarchal ideologies by violating the wife/mother role. Gray (2004) sees (GQD ¶V DZDNHQLQJ DV H[DFWO\ (GQD ¶V DWWHPSW WR ³WHPSRUDUily resist the interpHOODWLRQV RI SDWULDUFK\´ (p. 60). Edna is an interpellated subject that is constituted through the male discourses and practices of the society. As a regional stereotype, she has been brought up where men have been dominant and women have been dependent on men for years. Butler (2007) VD\V LGHQWLW\ LV ³FLUFXODWHG E\ D V\VWHP RI VLJQLILFDWLRQV RSSUHVVLYH WR ZRPHQ´ (p. 154). ,GHQWLW\ LV D VRFLDO FRQVWUXFWLRQ DQG (GQD ¶V LGHQWLW\ LV socially instituted and discursively produced. Edna wishes to create a new and different role / identity for herself which falls outside the restricting cultural forces and the complex web of male discourses. The naturalist overtones of the plot and the setting where women like Edna are brought up show the difficulty or impossibility of change and making a new identity not in line with male-defined codes.
Feminine weakness is part of the constructed female identity. Edna is not a feminist. She is weak to want, possess or change anything. As a social outcast unable to make peace with the patriarchal society, she is neither able to remove herself from her former life nor powerful to win over the society. This signifies that any attempt in making a female logic is doomed to failure. Many critics have seen this otherness as a result of physiological lack but De Beauvoir (1961) JRHV HYHQ IXUWKHU WR VWDWH WKDW ³ZRPDQ Kas QR DXWRQRPRXV KLVWRU\´ (p. xix). This reduces the woman to an imitation or image lacking originality shown in many passages in which Edna is compared with children: Edna WKLQNV RI ³WKH WLPH , KDYH ORVW VSODVKLQJ DERXW OLNH D EDE\´ (Chopin, 1899, p. 37). This is why I do not agree with Streater (2007) ZKR DUJXHV WKDW (GQD ¶V UHWXUQ LV D UHWXUQ WR ³WKH ZRPE DQG WKH ORVW PRWKHU´ (p. 415). Edna is so weak that is not able to do such a heroic action as making a critical return. Edna is not able to have everlasting resistance; she cannot become an artist either, for this means liberation from the complex discursive traps set in language and the practices of the sRFLHW\ (GQD ¶V FKDOOHQJH LV PRUH like being caught in a vicious cycle where the sea is a father ILJXUH WKDW GLVVROYHV KHU IRU YLRODWLQJ WKH IDWKHU ¶V ODZ +HU FKDOOHQJLQJ KHU IDWKHU ¶V 3UHVE\WHULDQLVP DQG &KULVWLDQLW\ and escape from her husband and the Grand Isle result in MXVW JRLQJ EDFN WR WKH PDOH VHD ,Q WKH VHD (GQD ¶V ³VWUHQJWK ZDV JRQH ´ (GQD ORRNV ³LQWR WKH GLVWDQFH´ DQG DQ ³ROG WHUURU IODPHG XS IRU DQ LQVWDQW ´ (GQD KHDUV ³KHU IDWKHU ¶V YRLFH´ (Chopin, 1899, p. (GQD ¶V H\HV DUH RSHQHG WR D ZRUOG she had never known; she never gained knowledge about; and she had never power over. One way Edna adopts in order to express her identity and own her mind and body is the expression of her pleasure² &KRSLQ ¶V EROG DQG VHQVXRXV GHVFULSWLRQV DUH QRWHZRUWK\² aQG KHU DWWHQWLRQ WR EHDXW\ DQG PXVLF ³(GQD KDG D VHQVXRXV VXVFHSWLELOLW\ WR EHDXW\´ p. 18) and she calls KHUVHOI ³YHU\ IRQG RI PXVLF´ p. 34). This is precisely the reason Streater knows Adele as an active and passionate feminist who resists those conventions that suppress female beauty. After Edna is more concerned about her appearance she selects her partners as a reaction to the very process of LQWHUSHOODWLRQ 6HOHFWLQJ $OFHH DQG 5REHUW LV WR WKH UHDGHU ¶V surprise, a heroic act of defying the ideology of female passivity but the point to ponder is to what extent she will be able to change male look, and do something to change 5REHUW ¶V YLHZ RI KHU DV DQ\WKLQJ RWKHU WKDQ D VH[XDO REMHFW (GQD WKLQNV ³WKH WRXFK RI WKH >PDVFXOLQH@ VHD LV VHQVXRXV enfoldinJ WKH ERG\ LQ LWV VRIW FORVH HPEUDFH´ p. 18). Extramarital relationships with Alcee or Robert are not promising, for the climax of such relationships is no more than a vicious cycle: a requiring to become the good wife and mother she used to be. Before her suicide Edna thinks WKDW ³WKHUH ZDV QR RQH WKLQJ LQ WKH ZRUOG WKDW VKH GHVLUHG There was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert; and she even realized that the day would come when he, too, and the thought of him would melt out of her e[LVWHQFH OHDYLQJ KHU DORQH ´ &KRSLQ FRQWLQXHV WKDW ³WKH FKLOGUHQ DSSHDUHG EHIRUH KHU OLNH DQWDJRQLVWV ZKR KDG overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag KHU LQWR WKH VRXO ¶V VODYHU\ IRU WKH UHVW RI KHU GD\V´ p. 155). It is significant to note that the same as the Lady of Shallot who writes her name upon the boat and dies while moving on water, and who is praised by Sir Lancelot for her sensual beauty, Edna decides to defy the orthodoxy though she knows that a curse will fall upon her, dies in water and would probably be regarded as a beautiful object.
The new roles²DUWLVW DQG 5REHUW ¶V ORYHU²Edna adopts cannot be sustained in a society that itself interpellates roles and identities. By experiencing new roles, Edna is neither able nor willing to go back to her former roles. Since she is not allowed to stay in these roles, her death is not hard to JXHVV (GQD ¶V VHHNLQJ UHIXJH LQ DUW PHDQV FUHDWLYLW\ DQG emotion. She practices intellectual and physical conquest in her learning to paint and swim respectively. The role that WKH VRFLHW\ SUHVFULEHV WR ZRPHQ LV ³GHILQHG LQ UHODWLRQ RQO\ WR PDUULDJH DQG WR PRWKHUKRRG´ *UD\ S 57). Adele, accordingly, is known as the perfect mother but with no sense of self. Ramos (2010) (Powell, 2009, p. 277). Like Adam and Eve who were expelled from paradise for gaining knowledge, Edna is dissolved in the sea for violating the fatherly law of not gaining knowledge or power. After making sure that new roles are not sustainable, and a new position is hard to achieve, Edna finds death as the only way of liberating herself from the society-defined roles and SRVLWLRQV WKDW DUH VRFLDOO\ FRQVWLWXWHG 2QH ¶V position is ideologically made in the society, and Easthope (1991) GHILQHV LGHRORJ\ DV ³PHDQLQJ ZKLFK LV VRFLDOO\ FRQVWLWXWHG´ DQG ³LW LV VRFLDO QRW LQGLYLGXDO EHLQJ ZKLFK GHWHUPLQHV FRQVFLRXVQHVV ´ ,GHRORJ\ ³FRQIRUPV WR WKH LQWHUHVWV RI WKRVH IURP ZKRP LW FRPHV´ (pp. 130-131). Scofield (2006) states that The Awakening LV DERXW ³IHPDOH sexual self-GLVFRYHU\´ DQG QDPHV ³WKH HPRWLRQDO OLEHUDWLRQ RI ZRPHQ´ DV D SHUVLVWHQW WKHPH LQ &KRSLQ (p. 98). The idea of liberation or rebirth must be rethought, for Chopin has VKRZQ WKH DQQLKLODWLRQ RI (GQD (GQD ¶V EHLQJ UHVLVWDQW WR ideologically-made constraints, and being subject to those constraints have made some critics dissatisfied with the conclusion. Such a critic as Spangler (1970) believes in the LQFRQVLVWHQF\ EHWZHHQ (GQD ¶V FKDUDFWHU DQG WKH ILQDO DFW +H EHOLHYHV WKDW WKH ILQDO SDUW ³XQGHUFXWV WKH RWKHUZLVH VXSHUE FKDUDFWHUL]DWLRQ RI WKH SURWDJRQLVW´ (p. 250). Perhaps what these critics see is that Edna risks her freedom in which she might be able to express herself.

CONCLUSION
Of course one cannot be so strict with the idea of marginal expression or suppression. However, one cannot miss &KRSLQ ¶V DQ[LHW\ DERXW KHUVHOI DQG ZRPHQ IRU ZKRP WKHUH may be no hope and salvation. Chopin begins a question by ending her novel: Is awakening really possible or is it just an LOOXVLRQ" 3HUKDSV WKH DQVZHU FDQ EH IRXQG LQ )RXFDXOW ¶V ZRUGV WKDW ³MXVW EHFDXVH ZRPHQ DUH H[FOXGHG IURP FHQWUHV of cultural production, they are not left free to invent their WH[WV´ as cited in Walkowitz, 1989, p. 30). Edna is a cultural sideline, a marginalized subject and the construct of the very patriarchal system and culture to which she shows resistance. Edna is outside centre but not outside power, and this makes female awakening a very complex issue to explore since both men and women shape and are shaped E\ FXOWXUH &KRSLQ ¶V ORRN LV PRUH .ULVWHYDHVTXH ZKHUH VKH shows the masculine sea not allowing a liberated, new-born, and different Edna to exist.