Ranging from caged parrots to the Kentucky prairie, the symbols and settings of The Awakening are prominent and provide deeper meaning than the text alone Throughout The Awakening by Kate Chopin, symbols and setting are recurring, representing Edna's current progress in her awakening. The reader can interpret them and see a timeline of Edna's changes and turmoil as she progresses. as she undergoes her changes and her awakening The context in which Edna finds herself directly affects her temperament and her awakening: Grand Isle gives her a feeling of freedom, the "dovecote", the; relief from social constraints. In Grand Isle, Edna feels more freedom than in her conventional home in New Orleans…staying in the living room all afternoon receiving visitors” (Chopin 84), Edna has freedom. to go for walks and spend time with Robert, rather than being forced to stay at home during her stay in Grand Isle. Crossing the bay to the Cheniere Caminada, “Edna felt as if she were being carried away by an anchorage that had held her, whose chains had loosened – had broken the night before” (Chopin 58) . La Cheniere Caminada in Grand Isle gives Edna an outlet from the social constraints she is subjected to at home and at the Grand Isle cabin. As Edna moves away, she can feel the “anchor” crumbling: social oppression, gender roles, and monotonous life disappear; the same feeling and sense of wakefulness that she experiences when she sleeps for “a hundred years” (Chopin 63). New Orleans brings Edna back to reality: oppression, society, and depression cloud her mind as she lives a life she doesn't want to live. New Orleans is the bastion of social rules, of realism...... middle of paper...... the novel. Ranging from the clothes to the birds to the “dovecote,” each symbol and setting gives the reader insight into Edna’s personality, thoughts, and awakening. Works Cited Euripidies, Medea. ""In the realms of the semi-celestials: from mortal to mythical in The Awakening." Galegroup.net. 2005. Internet. January 3, 2010. .Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: Avon, 1982. Print. " The importance of the sea in Chopin’s Awakening”. 123HelpMe.com January 3. 2010.