The Awakening

A detailed Summary of The Awakening

" I'd first read her when I was given a copy of The Awakening by a woman who said to me, "You should read this book," and the big question that we asked ourselves was how did Kate Chopin know all that in 1899?" Kate Chopin's novels and essays can be attributed very much to her childhood and her upbringing. Because of how she lived her life, the themes of women's sexually and emotional independence were seen repetitively in her writings.

Kate Chopin was born Catherine O'Flaherty on February 8, 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was one of five children, but unfortunately, both her sisters died in infancy and her brothers died in there twenties. When she was five years old, Kate was sent to a Catholic boarding school named The Sacred Heart Academy. Just months after she got there Kate's father died in a train accident. Extremely upset, she was sent home to live with her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, all of which happened to be widowers. Kate spent two years in the care of these women, before returning to her school.

Both at home with her family and at her school, Kate grew up surrounded by intelligent and independent women. Because of her father's death, her childhood lacked male role models. Thus, she was rare

In her novel, The Awakening, Chopin focuses on a character named Edna Pontellier. The novel focuses on Edna's sexually awakening, and how she discovers her own identity. In the beginning of this novel, Edna was portrayed as a twenty-eight year old wife, who was dependent on her older and successful businessman husband. She fulfilled the typical wife and woman role at this point in history. Throughout the novel, Edna realized that she was not happy and eventually acted on her emotions. She soon became very independent and started doing things for herself and started to act on her desires and emotions. " I know I shall like it, like the feeling of freedom and independence" and "she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself"(pg 86). This demonstrated the final turning point in Edna's independence. After she left her husband she started a new life for herself in the Pigeon house. "You have been a very, very foolish boy wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free. I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose" (pg. 116). This quote truly expresses Edna's fe

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Approximate Word count = 804
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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The Awakening

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