The Awakening

Kate Chopin’s 1899 Novel The Awakening, encompasses itself on defying the stereotype of a “Mother-woman”and a woman trying to fit into strict cultural demands. The protagonist Edna Pontellier ruined many expectations of what a woman should be like in the nineteenth century. The Awakening not only embraces the process of self-discovery, and conflict between an individual and society, but also includes family as major theme throughout the novel. Chopin geniously captivates the reader by giving…

The New Woman was a feminist ideal that emerged in literature in the late nineteenth century and continued to have a profound impact on twentieth century literature. Kate Chopin’s novel, the Awakening, and Virginia Woolf’s novel, To the Lighthouse, contained characters heavily influenced by New Woman ideals. Edna Ponteiller and Lily Briscoe are “unlike the odd woman, celibate, sexually repressed, and easily pitied or patronized as the flotsam and jetsam of the matrimonial tide” (Showalter 38).…

Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening is primarily about the limitations and struggles of women in the 1800’s, however; it seems conceivable that Edna suffered from psychological issues (Ryan). She had the same limitations and struggles that all women had at the time, but her coping skills seem to be debilitated. It is common knowledge that early childhood experiences shape adult lives. Considering that Edna lost her mother at an early age and was raised solely by a cold and strict father, her…

realization, which eventually is the cause of her death. In my opinion, the intended audience is more mature people who, like Edna, needs an awakening. Perhaps the reader could be someone who feels like Edna and is restricted in a relationship or freedom. I found that this book could additionally be intended as feminist literature. The central issue in The Awakening is Edna’s desires to be free from marriage and obligation. The whole book revolves around Edna’s need for emotional and physical…

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is about a woman’s transformation from an obedient traditional housewife and mother into a self-realized, sexually liberate and independent woman. The novel published in 1899 back in a time when women were not thought of as people but as property of their husband’s. Throughout the novel Edna Pontieller expresses her progress, in The Awakening, as a new woman by using the symbolism of the caged birds, art and music, houses, and the sea. From the very beginning of…

A Search for Independence in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening The Awakening by Kate Chopin centers on the Pontellier family – Leonce, his wife Edna, and their two sons, Etienne and Raoul – residing in New Orleans during the end of the 19th century. The family spends their summer vacationing on Grand Isle at a resort ran by Madame Lebrun and her two sons, Robert and Victor. During this time, Edna’s emotions begin to shift as she wrestles with her traditional patriarchy duties and her desire for social…

throughout the course of the novel is the image of the sea and the image of birds. The imagery of the sea is repeated in The Awakening and comes to be a major symbol of Edna awakening. “The sea is a symbol of Edna's subconscious” (Anastasopoulou 23). The first time that she manages to swim on her own, is used by Chopin to represent the first major step that Edna takes in her awakening. It is through the vast and untamed expanse of the sea that Edna is able to realize that there is something…

Edna Pontellier - Edna is the protagonist of the novel “The Awakening”. The twenty eight year old is the wife of a New Orleans businessman Léonce Pontellier. Edna suddenly finds herself dissatisfied with her marriage and the motherly, matronly, and conservative lifestyle that follows. She discovers her own identity and acts on her desires for emotional satisfaction, through a collection of experiences, or “awakenings”. Unlike the other women around her, she doesn’t have a motherly…

The Awakening by Kate Chopin showcases the metaphorical awakening of a married woman named Edna. Throughout the novel, Edna deals with the temptation of her raging hormones and desires for other men. Edna also seeks to separate herself from the idea of a typical mother-woman and identify as equal to man. While I am all for the empowerment of women and equal rights, I feel that Enda fails to properly address pressing issues within herself. This leads to Chopin’s book leaving readers to shake…

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is an artfully crafted piece of literature in the late nineteenth century. During this time, The Awakening is seen as vulgar and distasteful to many critics, but the book gave a much-needed “eye opener” to the perspective of women’s suffrage. This story is told in the eyes of Edna Pontellier, a wife and mother, who struggles with the ideas of freedom and self-awareness. Society’s expectations of women are to be a “stay-at-home” caretaker of the home and children…