Controversial, scandalous and almost universally censored and criticized upon its first release in 1899, Kate Chopin’s ‘The Awakening’ is a pioneering novel of female independence and sexual exploration and was one of the earliest American works of fiction to examine the societal oppression that beset married women in the last 19th century.
Set in the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, the plot centers around young Edna Pontellier, a married woman who is chafing under the strictures of her relationship with her husband Léonce. While on vacation with her family – she and Léonce have two sons – Edna forms an attachment with Robert Lebrun, a charming young man who loves her, but realizes their relationship is doomed. Robert flees Edna to avoid scandal and Edna is left to contemplate what to make of her life. Torn between conformity and independence, Edna’s journey reflects the frustration and societal pressures placed on women – particularly married women – during this era.
Dismissed and almost forgotten upon its initial publication, ‘The Awakening’ was rediscovered by feminist scholars in the 1970’s as the feminist movement took hold and it has since become a literary classic, an early and rare exploration of women’s struggles in the late 1900’s.
It is presented here in its original and unabridged format.
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Kate Chopin (1851-1905) was a late 19th century short story writer and novelist. Based in Louisiana (and later, the Midwest), Chopin was not properly recognized for her progressive and forward-thinking prose during her lifetime and, in fact, much of her writing was considered immoral and controversial when it was first published. Born Katherine O’Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri, she married Oscar Chopin and the couple settled down in Oscar’s home town of New Orleans where they had six children. Following a series of catastrophic events – the death of her husband, the failure of the family business and oppressive, mounting debts – Kate moved back to St. Louis to live with her mother (who also died shortly thereafter). Suffering from depression following these devastating occurrences, a family doctor suggested she take up writing as an outlet for her creative energy, to distract her from her troubles and as a potential source of income. Chopin soon began producing short stories in prodigious numbers and they were regularly picked up by local periodicals and various literary magazines. The publication of her second novel, The Awakening, brought her a lot of media attention, but most of it was negative, with critics assailing her story of oppression, sexual exploration and marital infidelity as morally offensive. Though she never made much money at writing (she survived mostly on wise investments and the inheritance from her mother), she returned to short story writing and continued to produce works until her untimely death, of a brain hemorrhage, in 1904 at the age of 54. Chopin’s works were largely out of print until the 1970’s when her stories enjoyed a resurgence during the feminist movement and The Awakening has since become a revered and celebrated literary work around the world.
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