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Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. Short Stories. HTML:The Awakening shocked turn-of-the-century readers and reviewers with its treatment of sex and suicide. In a departure from literary convention, Kate Chopin failed to condemn her heroine's desire for an affair with the son of a Louisiana resort owner, whom she meets on vacation. The power of sensuality, the delusion of ecstatic love, and the solitude that accompanies the trappings of middle- and upper-class convention are the themes of this now-classic novel. The book was influenced by French writers ranging from Flaubert to Maupassant, and can be seen as a precursor of the impressionistic, mood-driven novels of Virginia Woolf and Djuna Barnes. Variously called 'vulgar,' 'unhealthily introspective,' and 'morbid,' the book was neglected for several decades, not least because it was written by a 'regional' woman writer. This edition also includes selected stories from Kate Chopin's Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie, and an introduction and notes by Nina Baym.… (more)
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The Awakening is remembered as an early feminist work. When Chopin
No longer content to remain in her traditional role, Edna awakens to a desire to live as she feels inside and finds it impossible to conceal her innermost passions from the world. But her desires conflict with the conventions of society. Women have come a long way since then, but we can still relate to how Edna feels and the obstacles she faces.
Published in 1899, the novel roused quite a bit of shock, horror, righteous scolding, and that whole brouhaha. The story of a young married woman with children who tires of society's stifling customs, routines, and rules, who
After its initial publication, The Awakening went out of print and was forgotten. In the 1950s (I think) it was reprinted and emerged as a respected novel.
The author, Kate Chopin, was Irish-American, born as Katherine O'Flaherty. She married a Creole businessman and settled with him in Louisiana (the setting of The Awakening). Mr. Chopin's cotton brokerage failed. Upon his death, his widow and six children were saddled with considerable debt. She turned to writing.
The Awakening is a low-key, exquisitely written, and only 130 pages long. Chopin tackles the issues and ideas that fuel the novels of Edith Wharton, Theodore Dreiser, Henry James, and other turn-of-the-century writers. She does very well.