The Awakening's Lady in Black

[englshfrk]

Hello All,

I just finished reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin for a class. I am looking for opinion's on what the "Lady in Black" symbolizes. Is it the death of Edna she symbolizes or the death of her old identity as she searches for a new one? Maybe something to do with Robert...I can't put my finger on the symbolic meaning and it's making me crazy! Any thoughts on the subject would be great!!!

[Jay]

Try looking here (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/awakening/themes.html).

[BassoonPatch]

She is usually portrayed somewhere near the lovers, so perhaps she could be that sort of black, death-like hinderance, that shadow that follows her footsteps. Perhaps she symbolizes Edna's independence, her solitude, her difference from the rest of society. You know how she's alone, how she chooses to be alone sometimes. We just finished that book too.