Introduction

The Awakening was written by Kate Chopin and published in 1899. It is set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, Louisiana. Kate Chopin, also the author of the short story "The Story of an Hour," was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1851. Chopin drew from personal experience to write The Awakening; at the age of 20 she married, by the time she was 29 she had already given birth to six children, and she eventually became submerged in the Creole culture of New Orleans. The novel, which centered around Edna Pontellier and her inability to accept the motherly and wifely duties she was expected to have, was a social commentary on the role of women in an oppressive society. The Awakening became a staple in the world of literary feminism.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Analysis

I was confused by the rapidity in which Robert transformed from unimportant to an essential aspect of Edna’s life. I then realized that since her stay on Grand Isle, from the moment she had one night in the ocean that first put the title into the minds of the audience, Edna equated Robert with her awakening. Robert reinforced this delusion that she was free of a responsibility to her husband, children, and a society of sexist or at least narrow-minded Creoles when she really wasn’t. Without his presence, she was aware of the mere idealism of such a belief. His return gave her hope that she really could escape and live the life she desired.
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