Setting
Time: The novel is set in 1899, at
a time when the Industrial
Revolution and the feminist
movement were beginning to
emerge yet were still not
accepted.
Place: The novel opens on Grand
Isle, a popular summer
vacation spot for wealthy
Creoles from New Orleans.
The second half of the novel is
set in New Orleans, mainly in
the Quartier Français, or
French Quarter.
The Awakening
Character Analysis
Edna is a young mother
in her late twenties,
who over a period of
months awakens to her
own sexuality. She
rebels against the New
Orleans social system
by abandoning her role
as a “trophy wife” and
as a mother.
The Awakening
Character Analysis
• Leonce: Edna’s husband who is somewhat
prudish and believes Edna is his property
because she is his wife. He is a successful
business man of New Orleans.
• Mademoiselle Reisz : A self-sufficient and
unconventional old pianist who adopts Edna as
a sort of protégé, warning Edna of the sacrifices
required of an artist. Edna is moved by
Mademoiselle Reisz’s piano playing and visits
her often. Edna looks up to Reisz.
The Awakening
Character Analysis
Dr Mandelet: He is hired by Leonce to understand why
Edna is rebelling her duties as a wife. He suspects Edna
is having an affair (which she is) but isn’t entirely sure.
Robert Lebrun: The love interest of Edna in which she is
very fond of that devotes himself to satisfying a woman
every summer. Edna is his interest for that summer.
Alcee Arobin: The town seducer that Edna seeks an affair
with after Robert goes out of town. Although he satisfies
her sexual needs, she is only in love with Robert.
Introduction
The book opens
with a parrot in
a cage. This
symbolizes
Edna’s life. It is
a metaphor for
her situation.
The Awakening
Themes
• Flesh vs. Spirit- Edna learns to swim, further
experiencing the power of the connection between mind
and body.
• Women as property- The Awakening chooses a time
period and culture which regards women as the property
of their spouses.
• The demands of society vs. the needs of individuals
• Escape from control- Edna feels controlled by not only
her husband but society as well.
• The call of the art- Art exposes Edna to beauty and
escape.
Summary
Edna is the wife of a successful Lousiana
business man that seeks freedom from her
duties as a wife and mother. She longs for
an awakening and the ability to have a
choice which leads her to have an affair
and abandon her family and
responsibilities. This eventually takes her
to her grave in the ocean for she was not
able to accept her place as a trophy wife.
Edna’s Dual Life
The Conflict
Edna’s dual life is that outwardly she
conforms to her “role” or duties, inwardly
she questions her life.
During her AWAKENING she longs for a
choice. Edna was clearly a mother by
accident. Not by choice.
Symbolism
Although THE AWAKENING has various symbols
throughout the entire book, the most important are:
The Sea- Represents freedom and escape. In addition
water is also related to baptism which means rebirth.
In The Awakening Edna learns how to swim which
gives her power and gives her an AWAKENING.
Birds- The caged birds represent Edna’s entrapment.
Edna is limited by society as birds are limited by their
cages. The Victorian women in general use their
“wings” to protect and shield, never to fly as birds.
The Awakening
Protagonist: The protagonist of course is
Edna. She seems to go against what
society expects her to do.
Antagonist: Lust and passion are what
eventually led Edna to her death
because she was unable to survive the
only existence left to her.
The Meaning of Suicide In
The Awakening
In The Awakening Chopin leaves open the question if
ultimately Edna’s suicide was a cowardly surrender or a
liberating triumph.
Did Edna give herself to the sea because she was giving up and
couldn’t accept her “role” in society?
OR
Did Edna see suicide as the power to rebirth and protest?
Kate
Chopin
Biography: Kate Chopin was born Kate O'Flaherty in St. Louis,
Missouri in 1850 to Eliza and Thomas O'Flaherty. In 1870, at the age
of twenty, she married Oscar Chopin, twenty-five, and the son of a
wealthy cotton-growing family in Louisiana. He was French catholic
in background, as was Kate. By all accounts he adored his wife,
admired her independence and intelligence, and "allowed" her
unheard of freedom. After their marriage they lived in New Orleans
where she had five boys and two girls, all before she was twentyeight.
Her first novel, At Fault, was published in 1890, followed by two
collections of her short stories, Bayou Folk in 1894 and A Night in
Acadia in 1897. The Awakening was published in 1899, and by then
she was well known as both a local colorist and a woman writer, and
had published over one hundred stories, essays, and sketches in
literary magazines. The content and message of The Awakening
caused much controversy. So much that she was denied admission
to the St. Lois Fine Art Club.
Like Edna in The Awakening, Kate was also seeking artistic
development until she died of a cerebral hemorrhage on August 22
1904.
Bibliography
CliffsComplete- The Awakening
(book)
WEBSITES:
www.myriad.com
www.sparknotes.com
www.enotes.com
www.wikipedia.com
“The Awakening”
The Awakening
By
Kate Chopin