The Awakening

Kate Chopin

Edna Pontellier is married to a New Orleans businessman and has two small sons. She is 28; the year is around 1899. While spending the summer at Grand Isle with her family she is aware of changes in her feelings. She loves her sons, but will not give up her inner essence for them. She respects her husband, but does not love him.

This is an American novel of self awareness. Edna knows that she cannot stay static. She decides to do things because she wants to, not because someone else expects her to. She finds herself attracted to another man. When he suddenly leaves the area she is lonely. As the summer turns into winter, the family returns to New Orleans. Her feelings do not diminish.

This novel, published in 1899, explores how not all women are content being wife and mother. Edna realizes she needs more. Because of her upbringing and her social status she does not know what she needs. She discovers the strength of will to explore what she can be. Women were not to seek an affair, part of her desire. Does she have the strength of will to carry it out?

The Awakening was a very avante-guarde novel for its time. A woman did not think of rebelling against a comfortable life with a caring husband and children she loved, let alone have an affair. While the premise for the story would be different now, this novel can still speak to the woman trying to find where she fits in her life. As we get older our views change. Does that mean we have to change our whole lifestyle?

I couldn't identify well with The Awakening. Perhaps it is because I have been encouraged to be my own person most of my life. I have chosen to be a wife and mother, but am not limited into those roles alone. More than once I puzzled over Edna's feelings and decisions. Yet it is books like this that have brought our country to its current belief system. I probably wouldn't have the choices I now have if it weren't for writers like Kate Chopin. Although a feminist book, this could speak to anyone trapped in a role not of their own making.