The Awakening
(Kate Chopin)

Published in 1899, The Awakening is a book that takes place in that era, as it’s noted that Edna’s father was part of the Confederate army 30 years before the events of the book. Deep in the Victorian era, the role of women continued to be one of matronly duty despite the fact that they were legally marginalized. It’s for these reasons that the theme of a woman treating her family like a burden and attempting to free herself from them was considered so controversial.

Stylistically, Chopin’s terse prose was more akin to writing that would become popular in the early twentieth century as opposed to the rich, verbose writing of her era. It was because of this that the greater literary community did not pay her works any attention. Thematically, Chopin’s unromantic depiction of womanhood went against the moral grain of society during the Victorian era, and it wasn’t until later that her work was recognized as proto feminist. Her work in general also set the stage for writers of the South to be noted as such, with William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor heirs to Chopin’s literary legacy.

Kate Chopin: Mini Biography

Kate Chopin was born to February 8, 1850 in Missouri to an Irish immigrant father and a mother who was known in the St. Louis French community. Though she was one of five children, a series of deaths led to her being the only one to live past the age of 25. At the young age of 20, Kate married Oscar Chopin and moved to New Orleans where they lived until her husband’s brokerage went under and they moved to Cloutierville in north-central Louisiana.

It was three years later that Oscar died, and Chopin was left with six children and a crushing debt of $12,000. She was forced to sell the small interests she had control over in Louisiana and then moved back to St. Louis with her father. Her mother died soon after and Chopin was left depressed. Her doctor suggested writing as a way to deal with her emotions, and thus her career in the field began.

Chopin was mainly a short story writer and gained popularity by being published in both local and national papers. It was during this time that she wrote The Awakening, which was criticized for both its moral implications and literary style. Discouraged, she continued with short stories.

She died in 1904 at the age of 53 of a brain hemorrhage.

Settings

Grand Isle

This strip of land that lies south of Louisiana is home to a resort that the Pontelliers have been attending for the summer. To Edna, it’s an idyllic land that is the place where she first woke up from the dream of her life and the one she returns to when she is despondent.

New Orleans

The metropolitan city is the place to where most all of the vacationers of Grand Isle resort to the rest of the season. It is the place of the Pontellier mansion from which Edna escapes from to a smaller home in the city.