Gilbert uses many viable points about the text in supporting her theory. She refers heavily throughout the essay to the scene in the novel where Edna has her dinner party. This seems like a scene that would be easy to overlook among all of the others, but Gilbert says that the scene is important. She points to several details including the dazzling decorations, fancy drinks, and Edna's own appearance. She goes on to point out how the scene is one of the "longest sustained episodes in the novel." This, along with references to the goddess Venus (another name for Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation), suggest a perhaps subconsciously written underlying fantasy of yearning and desire. Gilbert points out how the romantic transfiguration becomes a fantasy through its uses of and references to such events as this dinner. She points to the short length of the chapters, its use of the same image multiple times, and the "air of moral indeterminacy" as all parts of a shadowy fantasy. These, along with other details she continues to point add much support to her theory of a "second coming of Aphrodite."
Gilbert had what I considered to be a tough argument to prove. The way in which The Awakening is written is so very realistic that it is hard to imagine it as something of a fantasy.However, Gilbert did an excellent job in supporting her ideas. Her thoughts throughout the article were well-organized and easy to follow. My one criticism for this essay is that it was rather repetitious which made it rather lengthy and hard to get through the whole thing.
After completing the essay, I would have to agree with Gilbert's theory on the story. Her points all seem very valid and certainly created a new way for me to examine the literature. What I particularly liked, and also agree with, was how Gilbert pointed out that she does not mean to be discrediting of other literary analyses. There are many other great analyses out there that may in fact work with this theory. This really really made me want to agree with Gilbert and it soon happened!
"The Second Coming of Aphrodite: Kate Chopin's Fantasy of Desire" by Sandra Gilbert was a really interesting essay which took a new look at The Awakening by Kate Chopin. What I liked most about it was that Gilbert's ideas were different from most others. I know that I never would have thought of the connections made in this essay, so I have the utmost interest in the new angles of analysis taken by Gilbert.
