The Awakening

The Awakening is Kate Chopin’s second novel. It was first published in 1899 and is considered one of the first examples of feminist fiction.

The novel opens in the 1890s Louisiana, at Grand Isle, a summer holiday resort popular among wealthy Creoles who live in nearby New Orleans. Edna Pontellier, her husband, Léonce, and their two children are vacationing at the cottages of Madame Lebrun. Léonce is a kind and devoted husband, but he is often preoccupied with work. Due to his frequent work-related absences, Edna spends most of her time with her friend, Adèle Ratignolle, a married Creole woman who exemplifies female submission and elegance. Looking at Creole women, and especially at Adèle, Edna begins to see what it means to be free, even if this freedom is limited only to one’s speech. Creole women had many restrictions when it came to their behavior, but they could be frank and unreserved in their speech. Such openness at first surprises Edna but then helps her liberate her own long-repressed emotions and desires. This also begins Edna’s process of “awakening,” which is the focus of the novel.