The Awakening: Context

The Story

The main character in The Awakening, Edna Pontellier is a young married woman living in the late 1800s. She begins to search for meaning and fulfillment in her life, realizing she has not found them either in her relationship with her husband or through her role as a mother. Edna slowly develops a passion for self-fulfillment, and she goes from longing to do what she pleases, when she pleases, to actually doing just that, refusing to bow to the expectations of society or of her husband when either dictates she should do other than what she wishes.

Mrs. Pontellier wants to find or createherown identity; she is rejecting any pre-determined identity based purely on her relation to her husband or children; she is rejecting the identity of “wife” or “mother.” She comes to realize that she wants to be liberated from the traditional expectations placed on married middle class women as she awakens to the fact that meeting these expectations is simply not spiritually fulfilling for her. Edna’s interests and passions do not truly lie at home, andshe wishes to be given some room to follow her own heart and be herself. What makes this difficult is the fact that in insisting that she, Edna, is a distinct individual with desires and needs separate from those of her family, Edna has to reject the culture. The key idea here in the novel is that women a) might want to and b) have a right to pursue their own happiness through interests that may be independent of those of the home and family; they have a right to form their own identities outside of those of “wife” and “mom.” At the time, those were very radical ideas indeed.

Unfortunately, the patriarchal Victorian culture (a culture obsessed with propriety, morality, and domesticity)Edna lives within demands she confine herself to the role of a dutiful, obedient, and loving wife and mother. This is the only acceptable identity for a woman to have. Edna’s rejection of the culture means the culture must reject her. There is no place in this society for an independent woman, and there is no place within her established family structure for an independent woman, either. Neither society nor her husband can understand or accept a woman who tries to be independent, who is not fulfilled by the role she has been given. Society and her husband view her rejection of her duties as wife and mother as shocking and disgraceful.

Finally, an important element of Edna’s search for independence, meaning, and spiritual fulfillment is her desire to follow her own sexual desires and romantic feelings. However, when she attempts to claim this erotic freedom, the young man she falls for and society as a whole cannot accept or understand her actions. Transgressive sexual desires and actions like Edna’s threaten the family and threaten the control men have over female sexuality. Regardless of how she may feel about her husband, Edna does have a responsibility to her children, and she must come to terms with this and make a difficult decision in the end.

The Author

Kate Chopin, the author of The Awakening, was a well-educated French Creole woman who lived a very happy married life and was a devoted mother to six children. She was well known and well liked in her upper-middle class social circles, reputed to be a delightful, intelligent, and beautiful woman – in fact, she was a perfect model of Victorian (1800s) womanhood.

If all this is true, then why would she write stories like “The Storm,” “A Pair of Silk Stockings,” and “The Story of an Hour;” and why would she write a book like The Awakening? Well, despite her very happy home and social life, she was not content to be just a perfect domestic woman. Throughout her life, she worked hard to develop her mind and pursue her own interests. She was an accomplished piano player and enjoyed attending theatrical productions and educational presentations. She also read and studied with a voracious passion an incredibly wide variety of scientific, historical and literary texts.

Critical Reception

When The Awakeningwas published in 1899, critics absolutely hated the work. They did not feel compassion for Edna Pontellier’s (the main character’s) situation and feelings. In fact, they felt that her actions, and that Kate Chopin’s novel itself, were vulgar (crude and obscene), trite (lacking in originality) and sordid (demonstrating the worst aspects of human nature – dirty and depressing).

At the time of the novel’s publication, Kate Chopin’s husband had recently passed away after thirteen years of marriage, and she was attempting to deal with her grief through her writing and intellectual pursuits. She had moved from the home she had made with her husband in New Orleans back to her hometown of Saint Louis.

Shortly after The Awakening came out, it was banned in all of Saint Louis’ public libraries, Chopin was denied membership to the Saint Louis Fine Arts Club, and many of her friends and acquaintances cut off all contact with her. She made only 145 dollars in royalties from the novel from 1899 to her death in 1904, and she was unable to find a publisher for her next volume of short stories.

The Novel’s Place in History

It is interesting to note that Chopin was writing during a movement called the “Fin de Siecle” – The End of the Century. The element of “Fin de Siecle” writing readers will see most clearly in this novel is its treatment of women. Readers can think about two “new types of women” that emerged at the end of the 19th century.

The first was called the “New Woman;” she wanted to be free to make political, professional and emotional decisions and to hold opinions on those matters that were distinct from those of her father or husband. “New Women” believed that in a perfect world, society would get rid of all proscribed gender roles.

The second was called the “Decadent.” Decadents wanted a new acceptance of women’s sexuality. They believed society should accept and affirm women’s sexual desires, and they felt there should be a serious questioning of (and, ultimately, a rejection of) Puritan morality, which denied women the opportunity to express their sexuality because it held that women either did not have sexual urges, or, if they did, that those urges were bad and undignified. Any woman who expressed or admitted to them was thought to be immoral or possibly mentally ill.

During the Fin de Siecle, literature tackled many questions about gender roles. What is a woman’s place? How can or should a woman express her sexuality? What is the nature of women’s sexuality? Is marriage an institution that should be upheld, or is it repressive and old-fashioned?

Also, writers at the time were questioning the moral values held by mainstream society and asking whether it might not be better for people to follow their own natural impulses in order to find what was good and right. These ideas were part of the Romantic Movement, which began with the French Revolution (1879) and ended with the American Civil War (1865).

Other Romantic elements in the novel include a heavy emphasis on nature, frequent narration of a character’s inner thoughts, childhood memories, the personification of the sea, the mysterious woman in black, the strange gulf spirit, and Edna’s desire to express herself through art. In terms of the plot, Edna’s search for individuality and freedom is a popular Romantic quest. During this quest, one must rebel against society, and often, death comes for the hero. Additionally, Edna, in some ways, is alone in the universe, a true individual, as Romantic heroes often are.

Realism and Naturalism, movements that were actually reacting against Romanticism, are also present in the novel. Realism, unlike Romanticism, stressed the real over the fantastic. It attempted to truthfully and realistically portray commonplace events, real people (often of the lower and working classes), and everyday life. The story’s realistic portrayal of sexuality is one of its Realist elements. Naturalism was similar, but more pessimistic, and Naturalists believed man’s instinctual, biological drives dominated his actions and were inescapable. The novel stresses how Edna is held hostage to her biology. Because she is female and married, she has children. Because she is a mother, she must make decisions based on the welfare of her children. In the end, besides death, she has no escape from her biological destiny as a woman.

Note-Taking Strategy

In the work of a good author, nothing is insignificant!Good readers recognize that each paragraph is meaningful in some way, and chapters are significant to the whole. Text divisions like paragraphs and chapters are NOT random or meaningless!

At the end of a paragraph, ask “What was important about that paragraph?” Did it help you better know a character? Did it contain an important symbol? Is there a key line you should write down? There isn’t always something to write down, but it’s a good strategy to pause after each paragraph to think about it.

Cornell Notes

Write the chapter assignment and date in the top margin.

Use the red line on your lined paper to separate your page-numbers from your notes.

Good readers pay attention tofour parts of a story:

Characterization (Describe/Analyze Characters)
Plot elements (What happened? Conflicts?)
Literary devices (Symbolism, Foils, Similes, Etc.)
Key lines (Copy Out Important Sentences)

For the first half of the novel, you can use this packet as a guide to the kinds of things you should be taking notes about. Page numbers provided do not match all books 

For the second half, you will have to decide what is important. Be sure you write the page number(s) your notes refer to in margin to the left of the red line on your paper.

Chapters 1-4

Page # / Notes
1
1
2
2
3
4
2-4
5
6
7
7
7-8
8
8
7-8
8-9
9 / Parrot = possible symbol. Describe the parrot.
Character: Describe Mr. Pontellier.
Lady in black = possible symbol
Mr. Pontellier views his wife as…
Describe Edna.
Describe Robert.
How do Robert and Edna interact compared to how she interacts with her husband?
What conflict emerges between Edna and Mr. Pontellier?
Why does Edna cry?
How does Mr. Pontellier attempt to make up with Edna?
Why do the ladies think Mr. Pontellier is the best husband in the world?
What kind of mother is Edna?
Symbolism: What animal are the mother-women compared to?
Describe Adéle.
Adéle could be a foil for Edna because…
Sewing represents…
In what key way are the Creole people strange to Edna?

Chapters 5-7

Page # / Notes
10
9-10
10
9-10
11
12
12
13
13
12-13
13
13-14
14
15
16
16
17
16-17
17
18
18 / Sewing symbolizes…
Compare Robert’s relationship with Edna to his relationship with Adéle.
How are Creole husbands unique?
Who is compared to Madonna, and why?
Edna is connected with art. What could this show?
Compare Mrs. Pontellier with her children to Adéle with hers.
How is the Gulf described?
How is Edna changing?
How is the sea described?
How are Robert and the sea connected?
What is the “dual life”?
How is Edna changing and what seems to have brought on this change?
Compare Edna and Adéle’s figures and clothing. What does this show?
Lady in Black + Two Young Lovers = these characters appear together often. What might they symbolize?
What does Edna’s childhood memory show about her?
Edna says she feels like she’s walking through the meadow again. What is this supposed to show?
How is her relationship with Adéle different from relationships she has had before?
What was Edna like before marrying Léonce, and how are her feelings for him antithetical to her basic nature?
Why did Edna marry Léonce?
Describe Edna’s feelings about her children.
Edna isn’t suited for…

Chapters 8-10

Page # / Notes
19-20
20
21
24
24
25
25
25-26
26
26-27
27
27-28
27-28
28
30 / What does Adéle ask of Robert, and what is her reasoning?
How do the Creoles seem to view Robert’s behavior toward married women?
The Lovers + The Lady in Black = symbols?
Why does Adéle play music? Compare this with why Edna paints (11).
Describe the Gulf.
Describe Mademoiselle Reisz.
Symbolism: naked man alone + bird flying away
Mademoiselle Reisz likes Edna. Why? What do they seem to have in common?
What change within Edna does her response to the music show?
How has Robert’s behavior toward Edna changed and why might this be?
Describe the mood surrounding the setting.
Swimming = symbol
How does Edna feel when she begins to swim? How does she react to this new power? What does this show about her?
What does her fear show?
What is the feeling between Robert and Edna at the end of the chapter?

Chapters 11-14

Page # / Notes
30-32
31
32-34
33
32-34
34
33-35
34
34-35
35
36-37
37-38
36-39 / Describe the conflict between Edna and Mr. Pontellier.
What new feeling does Edna experience during the conflict?
The Lovers + The Lady in Black = symbol?
What does Edna do that she’s never done before?
What character trait of Edna’s is emphasized in the first two pages of chapter 12?
Robert’s conversation with Mariequita may give a clue to the meaning of the lovers.
Describe Mariequita. How might she be a foil for Edna?
What new feeling does Edna experience as she sails across the bay?
What does Edna and Robert’s conversation suggest?
How does Edna feel at church, and what might this show? What does church represent?
How might Edna’s actions at Madame Antoine’s home be symbolic?
Why do Edna and Robert pretend she has slept for 100 years?
Describe the tone of the story during the time Edna and Robert are at Madame Antoine’s.

Chapters 15-16

Page # / Notes
42
45
45
46
47
48-49 / Lovers + Lady in Black
Why is Robert really leaving?
What does the final paragraph of chapter 15 show?
Why is swimming so pleasurable for Edna (27)?
What important idea does Edna try to express to Adéle?
How is Mariequita different from Edna?

Chapters 17-19

Page # / Notes
50-51
50-52
52-53
52
53-54
55
56
56
56-57
57
57
57
58
58 / What does Mr. Pontellier seem to care about most?
Describe the conflict between Mr. Pontellier and Edna.
What does the wedding ring scene show? Think about symbolism.
Based on chapter 17, does Edna’s quest seem promising?
What does Mr. Pontellier care about most?
Why did Edna bring her sketches to show Adéle? What does this show about Edna?
Compare the Ratignolle marriage to the Pontellier marriage.
How does Edna feel about Adéle’s life?
How has Edna changed her behavior and attitude?
Describe the conflict between Edna and her husband.
What does Edna’s desire to paint represent?
What kind of transformation is Edna making?
How does Edna feel when she thinks of Robert?
Describe Edna’s moods. What does this show about her?

Chapters 20-26

Take 10-20 Notes

Chapters 27-33

Take 10-20 Notes

Chapters 34-39

Take 10-20 Notes

Final Assessment: Choice One

Body Biography

Directions: Create a visual representation of your chosen character. Before you begin to draw anything, read over the instructions. You need to make intelligent decisions about which quotes to use, what to draw, and where to draw it.

KEY ELEMENTS

Spine – Your character’s backbone represents who he or she is at the core. Make a claim about your character’s most significant personality trait and write this on or near the character’s spine.

Brain – The mind represents your character’s beliefs and values. Make a claim about your character’s most importantbelief or value in or near the character’s brain.

Shoulders - What is a burden to this person? What lies heavily on this character’s shoulders? Make a claim about themain conflictyour character deals with. Write out this claim on or near the character’s shoulders.

Heart – Make a claim about what your characterloves, wants, or desires the most. Write this inside or near the heart.

Using Direct Quotations

Now, find strong passages from the text to prove what you said about your character. For each key element (the spine, brain, shoulders, and heart), you must back up ideas with 2 to 3 quotes from the novel.

Once you have chosen your quote(s), write a body paragraph. This means a claim with evidence and analysis. This paragraph, handwritten or typed, will go on the front of the poster. Use arrows or some other visual cue (like string or dotted lines) to point to the body part.

Be sure to cite all your text evidence correctly. Use quotation marks and parentheticals within the paragraph when you use direct quotes, and put a Work Cited page on the back of your poster.

Final Assessment: Choice Two

Literary Analysis Essay

Prompt: Identify a major theme in The Awakening and explain how it was developed in the text.

DIRECTIONS:

One paragraph must discuss symbolism.

Other paragraphs could discuss the title, setting, character, or plot.

First, develop a thesis.

Example: Kate Chopin uses the title, symbolism, and the climax to show that women of the Victorian era are not free to be independent individuals.

Second, you must think of three topic sentences to support your thesis.