Regionalism and Naturalism
1) What is going on in the country that sets up the development of Regionalism and Naturalism?
2) Define
Regionalism:
Local Color:
3) What are some of the elements of naturalistic literature?
4) How did women writers displaying naturalistic elements?
5) How does Chopin’s writing demonstrate Regionalism and Naturalism?
6) What experiences of Chopin’s might make her a Realist, Regionalist, or Naturalist?
1. Naturalists saw human beings as
a. masters of their fate.
b. helpless to forces out of their control.
c. ruled by their emotions and not logic.
d. fated by God to live a pre-destined life.
2. Given the time period in which this novel is set, it is safe to assume that Edna was
a. free to do what she wanted.
c. forced to work in a factory.
b. not able to read or write.
d. not free to make independent decisions.
3. "Edna walked on down to the beach rather mechanically" (1). The use of the word "mechanically" here suggests that
Edna's actions are done
a. with joy.
c. with anger.
b. without her husband.
d. without thought or feeling.
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Lines 5-6 indicate that Edna realizes
no man can fulfill her life and make her the person she wants to be.
her children mean everything to her and what she's doing is wrong.
Robert was a jerk, and she shouldn't dwell on the past.
she would be happier if she had never met Robert!
5. Why does Edna view her children "like antagonists" (6)?
a. They are keeping her from living her dreams
b. They are ill-mannered children who fight with her
c. They are draining her family of their limited finances
d. They wouldn't accompany her to the beach
6. "[G]leaming with the light of a million suns" (9). They hyperbole here exaggerates
a. the size of the Gulf of Mexico.
c. the coldness of the water.
b. the heat coming off the sand.
d. the light reflected off the water.
7. "The voice of the sea is seductive" (9-10). This sentence is most clearly an example of
a. personification.
c. hyperbole.
b. simile.
d. allusion.
8. Line 13 contains an example of
a. personification.
b. simile.
9.
a.
b.
c.
d.
c. hyperbole.
d. allusion.
The title of the novel, The Awakening, most likely refers to
Edna's realization that her children are horrible people.
Edna's realization that she could be free if she weren't married.
Edna's realization that she shouldn’t kill herself.
Edna's realization that Robert never truly loved her.
10. Edna most likely kills herself (by drowning) because
a. she hated her husband.
b. she missed Robert.
c. she felt trapped.
d. her paintings didn't sell.
11. This short excerpt represents Naturalism in that
a. Edna is accidentally by a vicious wave.
b. Edna was not in control of her own life.
c. Edna dies at the end. Everybody dies.
d. Edna was eaten by wolves. Chomp.
12. TRUE/FALSE: Realists depicted a real society; Romantics depicted an ideal society.
13. Regionalists writers like Twain and Chopin showed local color by depicting
a. a realistic society and how people actually spoke.
c. foreign cultures they had never experienced before.
b. an ideal society they hoped everyone could live in.
d. fantasy realms like in The Hobbit.
Name: ________________________________
The Awakening by Kate Chopin is set in the late 1800s in Grand Isle, a summer beach community for the wealthy citizens of
New Orleans. Edna Pontellier is holidaying there with her husband Leonce and their children. They are a wealthy family
who want for nothing. But it is clear at the beginning of the book that Edna and Leonce do not have a close relationship,
and during their vacation, Edna meets Robert, the eldest son of a wealthy Creole woman. Their relationship is innocent at
first but soon blossoms into love, and they openly discuss their feelings though never act on them. Edna becomes
increasingly disillusioned with her marriage and the unwanted responsibilities of raising two children (neither of whom she
wanted despite being well-mannered and bright) and begins to fondly remember the independence she had as a single
woman. When the summer is over, the Pontelliers return to New Orleans, and Leonce goes on a business trip. Edna begins
to have an affair with a local man and takes up her old hobby of painting, finding a freedom of expression she never had
while confined to her marriage. She becomes "awakened" to the possibility of a life of freedom. Those dreams, however,
come crashing down around her. Robert returns, and though he is clearly in love with Edna, he cannot betray his friend
Leonce by engaging in a sexual relationship with Edna.
In the first of the two included excerpts from the novel, Edna is compared to another wife in her social circle, Adele
Ratignolle. Adele Ratignolle defines what it means to be a "mother-woman." The comparison and contrast between her
and Edna helps create the theme of individual freedom.
It would have been a difficult matter for Mr. Pontellier to define to his own satisfaction or any one else's wherein
his wife failed in her duty toward their children. It was something which he felt rather than perceived, and he
never voiced the feeling without subsequent regret and ample atonement.
5
10
15
20
If one of the little Pontellier boys took a tumble whilst at play, he was not apt to rush crying to his mother's arms
for comfort; he would more likely pick himself up, wipe the water out of his eyes and the sand out of his mouth,
and go on playing. Tots as they were, they pulled together and stood their ground in childish battles with doubled
fists and uplifted voices, which usually prevailed against the other mother-tots. The quadroon* nurse was looked
upon as a huge encumbrance*, only good to button up waists and panties and to brush and part hair; since it
seemed to be a law of society that hair must be parted and brushed
In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman. The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand
Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary,
threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and
esteemed it a holy privilege to efface* themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels.
Many of them were delicious in the role; one of them was the embodiment of every womanly grace and charm. If
her husband did not adore her, he was a brute, deserving of death by slow torture. Her name was Adele Ratignolle.
There are no words to describe her save the old ones that have served so often to picture the bygone heroine of
romance and the fair lady of our dreams. There was nothing subtle or hidden about her charms; her beauty was all
there, flaming and apparent: the spun-gold hair that comb nor confining pin could restrain; the blue eyes that were
like nothing but sapphires; two lips that pouted, that were so red one could only think of cherries or some other
delicious crimson fruit in looking at them. She was growing a little stout, but it did not seem to detract an iota*
from the grace of every step, pose, gesture. One would not have wanted her white neck a mite less full or her
beautiful arms more slender. Never were hands more exquisite than hers, and it was a joy to look at them when
she threaded her needle or adjusted her gold thimble to her taper middle finger as she sewed away on the little
night-drawers or fashioned a bodice or a bib.
quadroon (8): a slave who is 1/4th white often involved in taking care of children
encumbrance (7): a hindrance; something in the way
efface (13): make oneself insignificant; lessen oneself
iota (20): one tiny little bit
1. How is Edna failing in her "duty to [her] children" (2)?
2. How is Edna not a "mother-woman"?
3. What defines a "mother-woman"?
4. How is the definition of a "mother-woman" similar to a Victorian woman?
5. How does Adele exemplify the characteristics of a "mother-woman"?
In this final scene from the novel, Edna has become resolved to the fact that she cannot be free in society. She takes the
only action left to her.
Edna walked on down to the beach rather mechanically, not noticing anything special except that the sun was hot.
She was not dwelling upon any particular train of thought. She had done all the thinking which was necessary after
Robert went away. [ . . .]
5
10
15
There was not one thing in the world that she desired. There was no human being whom she wanted near her
except Robert; and she even realized that the day would come when he, too, and the thought of him would melt
out of her existence, leaving her alone. The children appeared before her like antagonists* who had overcome
her; who had overpowered and sought* to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days. But she knew a
way to elude* them. She was not thinking of these things when she walked down to the beach.
The water of the Gulf [of Mexico] stretched out before her, gleaming with the light of a million suns. The voice of
the sea is seductive*, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in the abysses*
of solitude. All along the white beach, up and down, there was no living thing in sight. A bird with a broken wing
was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water. [ . . .]
The foamy [waves] curled up to her white feet, and coiled like serpents about her ankles. She walked out. The
water was chill, but she walked on. The water was deep, but she lifted her white body and reached out with a
long, sweeping stroke. [ . . .]
She went on and on. [ . . . ] She did not look back now, but went on and on, thinking of the blue grass meadow
that she had traversed* when a little child, believing that it had no beginning and no end.
Her arms and legs were growing tired.
20
She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a part of her life. But they need not have thought that they
could possess her, body and soul. [ . . . ]
Exhaustion was pressing upon and over-powering her. [ . . . ]
[I]t was too late; the shore was far behind her, and her strength was gone.
25
She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. [NOTE: Here, Edna
begins to remember scenes from her childhood growing up on a plantation during the Civil War.] Edna heard her
father's voice and her sister Margaret's. She heard the barking of an old dog that chained to the sycamore tree [at
her childhood home]. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. There was the hum
of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air.
Antagonists (line 6): forces that oppose, opponents, enemies
Elude (8): evade, avoid, escape
Abysses (10): depths especially in reference to water
Sought (7): past tense of seek
Seductive (10): attractive, enticing
Traversed (17): traveled