The Awakening Literary Criticism

Even the greatest literary masterpieces have critics and criticisms. The Awakening by Kate Chopin is not an exception. Christina R. Williams literary criticism of The Awakening titled, “Reading Beyond Modern Feminism: Kate Chopin’s The Awakening” is an accurate and fair judgment of the Chopin’s work. The positions taken in the criticism are all ones that support my own analysis of the book. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is frequently mentioned to be an early novel of feminism. While the book has complex themes of self-identity and sexual exploration, the main focus of the book is not one of feminism in the modern era. According to Williams Chopin does not have Edna break through the patriarchal structure of the society she is written into, failing to meet the idea of feminism that most people are familiar with. There are multiple examples of how Edna does not meet the criteria of a modern feminist and therefore leaving the novel lacking true feminism. One major thing lacking in the Chopin’s work mentioned is the other female characters in …show more content…
For others, the William’s analysis can bring a new prospective into how they view the novel. Many people view Chopin’s work as one of women empowerment and by having someone fairly and accurately refute that can lead to discussion on truly what the intent of the book is. The intent that I found was to show that women of the time period could be unhappy and want to change things in their lives. I concluded however that the book did not fit the definition of feminism because of how Edna ends everything at the end of the book. She goes through a change, that I now see is not of her own will, but at the end goes back to something lower than what she was before. After reading the literary criticism and how it fits in to what I thought the intent was, I feel more confident in my