The Awakening (Twelve-Point Series)

Rating:
Summary: Awakening the sensual woman in society.
Review: Kate Chopin amazes the reader with her insightful book written at the turn of the century about a character, Edna Pontellier. During the course of the novel Edna grapples with her personhood in a society whoconsidered women as property with specific mother and wife duties. The duties didn't include passionate sex or the expression of the desire to experience more of the world than that which was provided between four walls with children climbing them. Chopin takes the reader to New Orleans society in the middle of a steamy summer to watch a tableau unfold. The short novel is full of interesting characters and will appeal to the reader interested in the minds of women writers during the early 1900's

Rating:
Summary: A must-read, though you may not enjoy it.
Review: I hated this book! I mean I really hated it. But at times it is best to step back and ask yourself what is good for your own intellectual and emotional well-being. I think many women in the world today can relate to what Chopin's protagonist, Edna, is going through. I may not enjoy Chopin's bland writing style, (though this novel is quite dated, and I probably should not critisize the style because it is so old, but I will anyway) but when a person can actually relate to the characters in any novel, the writing is effective. It may not be enjoyable, but it is effective.

Rating:
Summary: The Awakening
Review: The first time I began reading The Awakening (for my 11th grade honors English class), I was not particularly taken in by the actual story; instead I noticed how quickly I finished the assigned pages. The prose was breezily written, and I enjoyed Chopin's description of the setting.

In class the next day, students were commenting on how dull and somewhat confusing the book seemed. Even my teacher admitted that the story was hard to understand. At first, I did not agree with my teacher's or classmates' opinions, but as their dissatisfaction with the book increased -- eventually, so did mine.

The highly-descriptive prose began to wear on me at about the same time I began to dislike Edna Pontellier. In class discussions, various students -- both male and female -- noted how irresponsible she acted towards her children. One example I remember my teacher pointing out is the part that Edna's husband Leonce remarks on the low quality of the dinner one evening. Had Edna prepared the meal herself, any frustration with her husband would have been more justified. Unfortunately, she and Leonce are wealthy enough to have a cook who goes through the work of making dinner each night. In fact, they have servants to take care of all domestic chores.

In a way, I can see her feeling put upon when she has to take care of her husband's clients and can understand that a mother is not always thrilled about her children. But to say she is highly oppressed is pushing it. Leonce is described as a monster of a person, but his words and actions come across as relatively tame. Even as he wonders what's "wrong" with Edna when he visits the Doctor, he comments that he is wary of confronting her.

Throughout the story, Edna does not grow very much as an individual. The fact that she found love with Robert was touching, but the fact that she abandoned her husband without so much as a word that she was feeling stifled by the relationship was disrespectful. As I said before, Leonce was not abusive and controlling. I wish Mrs. Pontellier had learned that finding oneself does not require avoiding current responsibilities, no matter how hastily acquired. The ending was unfortunate, but did not change my opinions about Edna.

Overall, this isn't a terrible book. I just don't consider it a work of great depth and meaning. I give this book three stars because there are a couple of memorable scenes.

I would suggest this book for anyone looking for a quick, occasionally enjoyable read. The story will seem better if one does not expect to finish the book with heightened self-awareness or a radically altered view of society.

Rating:
Summary: A Long Wait for Awakening
Review: Edna Pontellier spends her summers on Grand Isle, a fashionable place for the wealthy. She lives there with her husband and children, in a dull existence with no identity of her own. But something happens to Edna one summer. She grows tired. She practically burst with the feeling that she must live before she dies and that she has yet to really lived at all! She emerges into vibrancy and womanhood only to do the unthinkable in the end.

The story begins with Edna on the beach while her husband, Robert Lebrun, contemplates whether he should spend the evening at his club, which would benefit them socially, or dine with his family. This is the reader's first insight to the importance Mr. LaBrun places on his social standing. It is quickly understood that Edna does not share her husband need for societal gains. The book grows more intriguing as the tension mounts between Edna and her husband. As long as she takes her social duties seriously, he is happy. It is when she chooses to ignore her social obligations, however, that their relationship and the story takes its most interesting turn.

In writing The Awakening, Kate Chopin was well ahead of her time. The novel was met with a great deal of controversy. Even fans of her work prior to this novel, shunned her. She was a pioneer creating women characters beyond the role of wife and mother. She wrote about women's feelings, sexuality, and independence. It took America decades to catch up with Kate Chopin. It is important to add that Chopin used a lot of symbols in all of her work and that The Awakening is full of them. These symbols serve to add meaning to the text and to underline some subtle points. Understanding the meaning of these symbols is vital to a full appreciation of the story. Some of the major symbols include birds, art, sleep, piano playing, the gulf, the moon, and learning to swim.

For information about Kate Chopin's life and other book reviews of southern authors visit www.southernlitreview.com

Rating:
Summary: Still Fresh, Still Elegant
Review: THE AWAKENING is Kate Chopin's best known work, and it is also the last novel she produced, largely owing to the fact that it scandalized Americans when it was published at the end of the 19th century. Critics were dismissive; Willa Cather suggested it was a Bovary wannabe. It enjoyed a revival with the coming of feminism in the 1970s, featured on women's studies' syllabi and as a frequent pick for feminist reading groups. The question begs, "Is it still fresh or is it a period piece?" I say it's still fresh, a classic worth reading beyond its obvious affinity for women's studies. Given its short length and velvety, vivid prose, it is also an easy read, so there's no reason not to give it a go.

This is the story of a 28-year-old wife and mother in fasionable New Orleans Creole society of the 1890s, who begins to respond to socially unprogrammed feelings about her desires in life. She gives into feelings for a man not her husband, resists her husband's efforts to control her life and indulges her artistic side. She sets herself on a difficult trajectory that requires, as a friend tells her, strong wings. Whether those wings are strong enough forms the tension of the novel. Don't read any critical introductions or biographical detail before reading this book, because most give away the ending. Chopin is a master story teller and a deft literary writer. The story of a woman trying to salvage the self in a social pressure cooker was not totally unheard of in the late 19th and early years of the 20th century, and it has had several outings in the last 3 decades, but Chopin writes as if she were the first and last to tackle the theme, and her twists are original. The eye on the affluent Creole society and the character development are superb.


Rating:
Summary: Good, But Lesser than the Hype
Review:


This book is labeled a classic most likely because it is considered to be one of the earliest feminist novels. I suspect the message of "The Awakening" may not be as feminist as the feminists would like. It seems to me to have much more to do with the contrast between two cultures, Anglo and Creole, and about the difficult balance between reserve and over-indulgence.

But many consider that it must be a feminist novel, because the main character engages in a profound and courageous assault on the domineering patriarchal establishment: she commits adultery and then kills herself! I know adultery is the darling of the feminist (c.f. "Madam Bovary"), but could it be that neither of these acts are a part of a profound awakening? Could it be that these are the pitiful actions of a weak woman who is unable to experience a true spiritual awakening?

To pity oneself is not the same as to courageously rage against the establishment, especially when the establishment is (like Edna's husband) rather mild and non-oppressive. Nor is suicide inherently profound.

"The Awakening" is an easy read and it makes for a rich study in symbolism. But it is not quite the treasure chest the literary critics have so gleefully mined.



Rating:
Summary: the awakening
Review: In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, the protagonist of the story, Edna Pontellier, is a woman in the late 1800's who has been living a life of the expectations of the women of that time. She is a devoted wife and mother. After a vacation in Grand Isle, she meets new friends and new surroundings that influence the way she thinks. These influences also help to establish herself as an independent woman and break free from the traditional everyday womanly duties. But, will this road to becoming independent consume her so much that she will lose everything that she has come to known? It all starts with the new friends she meets while she is on vacation with her family at Grand Isle.

While Edna is on her vacation, she meets Adele Ratignolle, the epitome of the typical 1800's woman. Chopin describes these women as "women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it as a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels." (Chopin 10) She also says women, in particular Creole women, were impressive because of their freedom of expression about anything, including things society doesn't speak openly about like romantic gossip. Edna on the other hand is the complete opposite and is not the "mother-woman" type. She admires Adele because of her quality of being outspoken and it inspires her to think about old times in her youth of romantic dreams or fantasies. This is the start of Edna beginning to think in depth about her life. It also makes her begin to be more outspoken, especially to her husband. With her being more outspoken, she is able to break free from the natural hold her husband has on her and becomes free. It also begins the unspoken love that she has for another character in the story, Robert Lebrun.

Robert is what the people at Grand Isle call a big flirt. Every year he courts a different woman but this time, when he chooses Edna, everything is different. Since most of the women that Robert courts are Creole women, they find his flirting funny and they enjoy his company. Edna on the other hand, takes it seriously and begins to develop feelings for Robert. She sees in Robert everything that she doesn't have with her husband: love and devotion. They develop a relationship where they're together all the time but they never admit their feelings for each other. One day, Robert announces that he will be leaving for Mexico for business. With Robert's absence, Edna drives to become more and more independent. After she has left Grand Isle, she becomes more defiant with her husband, doing whatever she pleases. This causes her to really discover how she has no feelings for him whatsoever. She decides to move out of the house and into a smaller house because she felt like it was not homely. All these things that Edna are very uncommon for women of this time to do. Another important aspect of change that Edna experiences is her drive to succeed in art, which Mademoiselle Reisz pushes her to fulfill.
Mademoiselle Reisz is what most would call an old hag. Edna is the only person that she shows some sort of respect to. The Mademoiselle plays the piano exquisitely and Edna admires her. One night, she is asked to play some pieces on the piano and as soon as Edna hears it, she is moved. "She waited for the material pictures which she thought would gather and blaze before her imagination. She waited in vain. She saw no pictures of solitude, of hope, of longing or of despair. But the passions themselves were aroused within her soul, swaying it, lashing it." (Chopin 34) The author is describing how instead of typically seeing certain images that she normally does every time she hears this particular pieces play, Edna actually felt certain passions from the music itself. Edna sees that music is Reisz' passion and soon she seeks to follow her own passion of painting. These three characters in this novel have truly been the reasons to why Edna has changed to become an independent person.

In books, usually the plot and themes stand out the most to what makes the book good or bad. In this novel, Chopin has made complex characters that affect the protagonist of the story. I think that with Chopin doing this, it has made the story more interesting to read as to how this rebellion has been inflicted to Edna. Although these characters unintentionally drove Edna to her success of freedom, it also had its downfalls as well. Edna could have been labeled independent, she still had two things that were bound to her: her husband and children. "They were part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her body, soul and mind." (Chopin 156) Edna couldn't except that her children would always be affected in society their opinion of her, so therefore, she kills herself by drowning in the ocean "accidentally." This may be a sad ending, but I liked it because I thought of it as Edna accepting the consequences of leaving something so important behind only for her self. Overall, I think that this was a well-written story, although at times it was hard to understand because there were a lot of French phrases in it. Reading it has inspired me to become independent, while watching out for not neglecting others I care about for selfish desires.




Rating:
Summary: Great book, even a great feminist book, but...
Review: ...but many reviewers, especially those who do hail it as the great 19th Feminist work, miss some glaring problems with the text. Before I get into that, let's go ahead and satisfy the skimmers: This book's only mildly entertaining by today's standards, though quite rebellious, and has a nice little argument to offer on what it means to be, not just a woman, but an artist (something, though, that the main character is unable to do). It's set down in Louisiana, so as a piece of the local color movement it also has quite a bit of appeal. Assuming you can find the style interesting (hopefully if you've ended up here on this book, you can), Chopin very skillfully captures the dialect and social dynamic of the region.

K, that done...problem number one: Many servants (and, by extension, African-American) characters are almost deliberately marginalized. For well over half of the book they are all (with the small exception of Joe) refered to by either their job (cook, maid, etc.) or racial heritage ("the quadroon," "the mulatto," etc.). Now, other white characters are similarly treated, but in each case they are also dignified with heavy symbolic weight ("the lady in black" and "lovers on the beach" best represent this). Why? I don't argue that Chopin herself is racist--far from it--but there is no doubt that her main character is, at least to some extent, and as a feminist heroine, she is weakened by it.

Second (and probably most obvious): The ending. Don't worry, I'm not going to give it away (though if you've read "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Goethe, then you'll see it coming). Regardless, you'll know it when you get to it. It's a big, big problem when your protagonist is supposed to be a model of heroism.

There are other problems with this as a purely feminist text, but they are either minor, or related to the two above. At any point, I'm not going to get into them. However, all these problems may be resolved. To this point, a lot of weight has been attached to this book both because of Chopin's overt feminism in her other works (the "Story of an Hour" comes to mind) and because feminists in the 60's and 70's just seemed to want to rally around it, and as a result many of these problems have just been glossed over. They are resolvable, even from a feminist perspective, but only by rejecting most of the weight that has already been thrust upon it and wholly re-evaluating the book; pay attention to Madameiselle Reisz, though--she helps in these resolution. I only point these inconsistencies out so that hopefully you might read more critically, and not be overwhelmed by the blind vigor that many proponents scream over it with. Four stars for its depth of feminism, not for it's blunt force.

Rating:
Summary: Whew-- Edna Pontellier is quite the woman!
Review: I re-read this novel recently, and was reminded that she not only had that young, vibrant Robert Lebrun flirting with her, but also that other fellow, Arobin-- wowza. I mean, Edna's married-- It seems a bit scandalous even today (well, more than 'a bit') -- although a writer today wouldn't be risking their career like Kate was, in writing a story like this.

In my mind this story is echoed by the movie, Titanic-- both portraying a woman who is living a life of luxury, all her needs & wants met (and how the summer beach community that Chopin portrays-- how it sounds like quite the little paradise. Easy living, for sure.) ~And nevertheless, the deeper, hungrier spiritual needs of both women go unmet. They can see into the future-- that if they continue living as they are, accepting their circumstances, that their lives will end up being frustrated & unfulfilled, no matter how much decadence surrounds them. So this presents a conflict, perhaps insurmountable. What to do? ~Renunciation! A favorite novel of mine: Five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Agony of Awakening
Review: This book was interestingly informative in providing a view of society in the 19th century. Women were treated as property and had little to no option in doing as they wished. Kate Chopin's character Edna fights to break free from this entrapment and discovers herself, only to find that it is too late. The New Orleans setting is accurately depicted by Kate Chopin who actually wrote this book while living in New Orleans. The actual dialect of New Orleans society is included in the story; a mixture of french, english, and creole. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about a women's sudden realization that there is more to life than just living.