The Awakening

"The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace."

"At a very early period she had apprehended instintively the dual life - that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions."

"Edna began to feel like one who awakensgradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing into her soul."

"I know I shall like it, like the feeling of freedom and independence."

"The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhauted, fluttering back to earth."

"There was something in her attitude, in her whole appearance when she leaned her head against the high-backed chair and spread her arms, which suggested the regal woman, the one who rules, who looks on, who stands alone."

"The years that are gone seem like dreams - if one might go on sleeping and dreaming - but to wake up and find - oh! well! perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's life."

Kate Chopin