Rating: 
Summary: Excellent literature
Review: "The Awakening" was excellent. I would recommend this novel to anyone. Many may view this novel as feministic, and rightly so. I prefer to look at "The Awakening" more open minded. I loved the plot. A woman breaking free from her societies "norms" to reinvent herself as a woman. Bravo, to this timeless classic....
Rating: 
Summary: Some Heroine
Review: Woman marries man, woman cheats on man. Woman has children, woman abandons children. Woman kills herself. Man stays with children, and fulfils his commitments to family while financing woman's "awakening." I think we need to reexamine how the heroes and villains are in this book. One star.
Rating:
Summary: Giving up on life
Review: I'm offended that people consider this book a feminist statment. It is not a statment, it is a pity party. The language and imagery of the book was decent enough.But Edna did not supply the book with the heroine it needed. She considered only herself, ironically accusing Robert of selfishness. In her "awakening" she was totally self-absorbed. If this book is meant to empower women what is it meant to drive then towards? Suicide? She gave up on life and love. If I could I would have given it 0 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Tale of a self-pitying housewife
Review: Ms. Chopin's language is lyrical and beautiful, but the story is rather weak. Why is it that we should feel so sorry for poor Mrs. Pentellier for having to keep up her beautiful house and take care of her children and conform to social roles, when Mr. Pentellier has his responsibilities too, and fulfills them, and is rewarded only by infidelity from his wife? And we are to applaud this?
Rating: 
Summary: thought provoking book
Review: I just think this would be a grand book for a book club to discuss. Lots of depth. My granddaughter, who is a college freshman,had to read it for a class and knew I would like it. Very thought provoking
Rating:
Summary: How painful it is to be a woman
Review: One of the greatest female stories ever told, a la "Madame Bovary" and "The House of Mirth."
Rating:
Summary: An awakening that transcends modern feminism
Review: This book is dear to me not because it is some sort of feminist statement - but because in many ways Edna Pontellier is a role model for all women, both traditional and iconoclastic. One hundred years ago, before women's awakenings were politically correct and expected, Edna did the unexpected. She left a stagnant marriage to follow her ideals, defying a stifling society in the process. Although this is a more of a novelette than a novel and can be read rather rapidly, I prefer to digest the Awakening slowly - taking in the lush language and scenery. The pure escapism of being transported to 1899 Creole society and New Orleans is enough to entice me back to this book time and time again.
Rating:
Summary: A bit of self-indulgent tripe
Review: This is a total rip-off of Madame Bovary or The Doll's House written 50 years and 20 years before, respectively. I can see why it is popular with the self-centered culture of today. Just because a woman can write a book doesn't mean it is the greatest book ever written on the female psyche or female self-discovery. The Peter Pan principle keeps jumping into my mind. Edna never did a meaningful thing for anyone including herself. She just became more and more self-induldgent without ever considering the consequences of her disconnect from her family and society. Occasionally, she would feel a pang of guilt regarding the abandonment of her children and proceed to send them a box of bon-bons or indulge in some over-the-top emotional scene. If the children had been girls would she have treated the same? The men in her book were cardboard characters who either provided for her monetarily or emotionally depending on her whim. She couldn't understand why her lover Robert left her. He was doing the honorable thing, she was a married woman with two children. Her husband did not know how to deal with her - he left her to her own devices (with a bank account and servants, mind you). She considered no one except herself and feels no guilt about it. She comes back to this theme over and over again. No one will ever "possess her". If I could have given this book zero stars, I would have.
Rating:
Summary: Wide Awake
Review: Striking an inadvertant blow for personal independence, Edna Pontellier is a wealthy New Orleans housewife who is unhappy with the physical and emotional constraints placed upon her by 19th century civilization. Unlike most other fictional heroines of the day, Edna isn't rescued by a handsome stranger; instead, she virtually abandons husband and children to seek her own bliss. Sure, there's another man in the picture--men actually, but Chopin's startlingly vivid prose is not employed for pat endings. Carried away by her own internal music and by the sea itself, Edna begins to live life on her own terms. The book was squashed by male critics of the time because of its positively racy subject matter. A St. Louis reviewer even went so far as to label it unhealthy. Sadly, the infamy marked the end of the author's brief career. Rediscovered only in the last twenty or thirty years, Chopin's brand of vivid lyricism and captivating imagery is not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: Kate Chopin is so talented. The Awakening is a story that one will always remember. Don't just read it once: it ought to be re-read from time to time. I have found new meaning and feeling throughout the years. This version is by far the most economical, and the tale is spectacular no matter it's trappings!
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