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Summary: Finding Individualism
Review: "For the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation which she felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her earliest teens, and later as a young woman. The recognition did not lessen the reality, the poignancy of the revelation by any suggestion or promise of instability. The past was nothing to her; offered no lesson which she was willing to heed. The future was a mystery which she never attempted to penetrate. The present alone was significant; was hers, to torture her as it was doing then with the biting conviction that she had lost that which she had held, that she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded" (XV)Kate Chopin created a work on individualism, on self; Self is what is being awakened, it is the solitary soul. In Chopin's time there were many such Ednas, women struggling to become something more significant than a prized possession but not knowing how. Creative expression through brush or pen was held as little more than another form of capricious coquetry. The development of Edna's character is tragic. Edna acknowledges her pull toward individualism, she knows it to be true and right. But Edna is only just beginning to understand and doesn't know where to go with it. She discovers there is no place for her to go, and so chooses death over conformity. I'm certain Chopin's message was to illustrate individuality and worth separate from spouse, family, religion, etc., as well as to demand that self-worth and individuality be recognized before entering 'the social fabric of connectedness and sustain the dream and the illusion.' Edna awoke in a cage with no escape, except one. She was buried in a sea of right and wrong, both within herself and without. Edna was eventually overcome by the impetus of her awakening: sexuality. But because she became aware, awakened, did not necessarily imply that she would act out on her feelings. Her illusion of Robert grew in his absence. Edna became certain of her need to consummate. She was lost. What could have been a jumping off point into self and growth and giving, instead became a dash for freedom. Freedom was first Robert and then no one. The early 20th century critics' comments were fascinating. Of special note was John May's essay on Chopin's masterful use of textile imagery. Chopin became an artist on sensuality. I also admired Ringe's notes on symbolism: The Lady in Black who was lost in God combined with the couple lost in love, contrasted to Edna who never could achieve loss of self in love for another -- this symbolism is consistent throughout. George Arms makes a strong case that the children represented a stable society and unbroken home. Edna turns to the children time and again in her confusion of self. Larzer Ziff noted well how Chopin rejected 'family' as the equivalent of feminine self-fulfillment -- it is a way to emphasize the equal worth of self in all people not just men... part of the awakening process. I disagreed with Spangler, that Edna's suicide diminished her character. Suicide was an inevitable end for the person struggling to recognize her significance independent to all others, ...and losing. Edna's displays of strength and self that Spangler admired so much, I saw as efforts at understanding. The fact the Edna almost understood but kept slipping made her slide all the more tragic. Wolff's Freudian analysis is well thought out and deep -- maybe too deep. Edna's attempt at fusion seemed more a result of her confusion at being adrift. Though I loved the analogy of a newborn with the birth of a soul. In all, one must first know themselves as a solitary soul, and then join the connectedness of those around them.
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Summary: Not usually my type of book, but I loved it!
Review: The Awakening is one of the few books I could read over and over again. I'm usually into more cheerful, cheesy romance novel types of books, but I loved this book even though the plot frustrated me. It is one of those books that really gets you thinking about the underlying issues and it is also a great way to learn a little bit more about history, and since I love stories set in old New Orleans Creole society it was really a joy!
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Summary: Wonderful History; Exquisite Inner Conflict
Review: Kate Chopin's tale of a married woman discovering herself--apart from her marital identity--still resonates. Set in 1890s Louisiana, Edna Pontellier meets a young man on Grand Isle while vacationing with her husband and two sons. Mrs. Pontellier is young, beautiful, genteel, and wholly innocent of herself. That is, she is what she was raised to be--an obedient wife and mother. Ah, but this Summer, something stirs within her, some unknown creature which she had scarcely dreamed of, begins to squirm and demands "Recognize me; don't let me wither." Her defiance of social standards is subtle at Grand Isle, then blossoms into a revolution once she and her family return to New Orleans. The question of her marriage becomes clear: She does not love her husband. And what of that young man she met at Grand Isle? Robert LeBrun, young, handsome, well-mannered, and remarkably sensitive to Edna Pontellier's desires . . . she has fallen hopelessly in love with him. Kate Chopin's writing is sensuous, to wit: "The sea was quiet now, and swelled lazily in broad billows that melted into one another and did not break except upon the beach in little foamy crests that coiled back like slow, white serpents." This story is something to savor.
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Summary: hmmm--Plath, where are you?
Review: A highly reverved novel that left me numb. I prefer Plath when it come to the self-loathing female. Indeed, a southern writer at heart, he short stories seem to be more effective and less heavy-handed.
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Summary: Very draggy but good story
Review: The Awakening by Kate Chopin is the story of a woman who is not enjoying her married life. The story begins with the narrator telling us quite a bit of detail about the characters. We learn about Mr. Léonce Pontellier, and his wife, Mrs. Edna Pontellier, the character who will be "awakened" in the story. It is important to know that she is the only person in the story who is not a Creole. The Pontiellier's spend their summer on an island off of New Orleans called Grand Isle with their children. We later find out that Edna is not enjoying her husband, but all her friends think Léonce is a perfect husband. When they later go back to New Orleans for the winter, Mr. Pontellier has to go to New York for business purposes and the children go away with his mother. Mrs. Pontellier does not want to go. During this time, Edna moves to another house without her husband's approval. She begins to "awaken" and see other men, but her first love has always been Robert, a man she met on Grand Isle last summer. But Robert went to Mexico for a job, but probably he goes because he loves Edna but does not want to enter into an affair with her. Later, Alcée Arobin is another man whom Edna flirts with. Mrs. Pontellier also has a couple woman friends. One of those friends is Adèle Ratignolle, who is a married Creole woman with many children. She is quite different from Edna because she enjoys her married life. She also knows Madamoiselle Reisz, an unmarried musician who Edna likes to visit and to listen to her play the piano. Mrs. Pontellier gets the idea about doing some painting from her. These fine friends of her guide her to her "awakening" which changes her life. Throughout the story, things are going on in Mrs. Pontellier's mind. She's constantly evaluating her married life with Léonce and the children. Although she loves the children, Edna is unable to commit her life to them. The main theme of this story is that she is struggling within her own boundaries trying to awaken herself. She is married to a Creole, but not one herself, which adds to her life trouble of being with an incompatible husband. Perhaps some women around the turn of twentieth century were coping with similar struggles, but with no feasible solution.
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Summary: Chronicle of a lonely and disturbed woman
Review: The Awakening is one of my more-read classic books--it allows the reader to slip into the identity of another human being who is totally unlike them. Edna is an average, middle-class mother married to a respectable yet dull man with a pair of fairly nice children. Yet she realizes that her life is stifled--she is expected to fall into a mold of behavior and thinking that a thousand other women fall into. In addition, she is attracted to a young man working with her husband. Edna soon breaks free of all ties, living as she wishes and doing as she wishes, but her newfound freedom comes with a price... I think that Edna may have had a mood disorder--her sometimes random swings of emotion and her interactions with her husband and children point that even if there were no physiological reason for her dissatisfaction, I think that she may have been disturbed in some way. Even after finding her "satisfaction," she still doesn't seem happy. A book that was originally condemned for being scandalously immoral, "Awakening" is a fairly tame tale with an un-Hollywoodish ending that leaves the reader feeling sad, yet not regretting their choice to read it. I don't think this is a feminist tale-more the tale of a human being pinballing into unknown waters.
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Summary: Great Book---I think...
Review: Nobody really wakes up in this book so I dont get the title. But I did like it anyway, particularly the picture on the cover---Stan Wertheim, Wm Patterson College
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Summary: A masterpiece.
Review: I was given this book as part of an assignment for an advanced literature class. When I picked it up I thought, "Great, a romance novel." However upon reading the first twenty pages I was the one falling in love. The characters, both major and minor, are real. The complexity of every person that the reader meets is stunning. I found myself imagining where these people lived and how they spent their weekends. When relationships began to develop they had a quality of realism that I had never experienced before. Like a stunning painting the book expresses a feeling and an idea, instead of merely conveying a thought. This book is amazing. Few writers have ever come so close to uncovering and examining the human soul. Kate Chopin touched it.
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Summary: Good symbols and story, but terrible advice
Review: I was a juniow in high school, and I had to read this for my summer work. I like reading books, so since I've never heard of the book before, I was in anticipation to see what's it all about. The story started out plainly in a good written style. The imagery towards the sea, and all the symbols that include the parrot, the sea, the piano, and Adele, were very smart and intellectual. But as I kept reading, I was horrifid at what Chopin is trying to say in this book.( I am not a chauvinist or anything, and I do believe in a person having it's total freedom in deciding, and doing whatever he/she wants.) Edna decides to leave her husband, and all society, for her whims. At one point, Chopin describes Edna like an animal, and that is exactly what Edna is. She doesn't care for her children, her friends, anybody around her, but for 2 guys that are totally shallow and dumb. Suddenly, in chapter 23, Edna is sounding like a whore. Looking at guys, and ignoring her kids and husband. This may sound harsh, but I agree with those critics that condemned the novel. Society gets worse if people read this book.(not just women). If we need to become animals, to find ourselves then you go ahead. And one more thing. this book could have had a better lead character. edna can't make her mind,and instead gives up on her "war". (Although people say it's a victory. It's not bad, for its literary symbols, but don't take this book any more seriously than you have to.
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Summary: excellent novel - must read for women especially
Review: Kate Chopin, a woman far ahead of her time, did a remarkable job in writing The Awakening. She most likely felt many of the same things as her fiction character, writing them through her novel. It is so unfortunate that the book was rejected when first published, that people could not accept such a revolutionary and dynamic female character like Edna Pontellier. She was a strong-willed woman who discovered her independence, self-worth, inner strength and sexuality. In a time when wives were submissive and subservient, Edna breaks free of the confines of society's traditional role for women. Empowered by the realization that she can make her own decisions and act according to her will alone, not simply her husband's, her life becomes more fully real. It is then that she can also truly love. Edna had always been quietly rebellious and independent, but had slowly given in more and more to society's rules and the males in her life. She did not want to be seen and esteemed only for being a mother and proper woman. It was refreshing to see such a strong woman, especially considering the time period the novel was written, long before the times of civil or women's rights. Edna's happiness and freedom, her true self and being, are the most valuable things in the world to her. She does not want to be treated as a possession any longer. Edna's thoughts and actions were quite radical for the late 19th century, but many of the ideas from the novel still apply today, even in a time of supposed equality and freedoms. People must learn to look inward for true happiness; self-realizations and preservation. Today, people, women, tend to look outward for their contentment and acceptance, basing it on other people and material things. Kate Chopin and her character were attempting to break free of this a century ago. Reading The Awakening was a pleasurable experience from start to finish. We both really enjoyed the novel and definitely recommend it to others, especially women.
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