Description

Controversial scandalous and almost universally censored and criticized upon its first release in 1899 Kate Chopins The Awakening is a pioneering novel of female independence and sexual exploration and was one of the earliest American works of fiction to examine the societal oppression that beset married women in the last 19th century
Set in the Gulf Coast of Louisiana the plot centers around young Edna Pontellier a married woman who is chafing under the strictures of her relationship with her husband Lonce While on vacation with her family she and Lonce have two sons Edna forms an attachment with Robert Lebrun a charming young man who loves her but realizes their relationship is doomed Robert flees Edna to avoid scandal and Edna is left to contemplate what to make of her life Torn between conformity and independence Ednas journey reflects the frustration and societal pressures placed on women particularly married women during this era
Dismissed and almost forgotten upon its initial publication The Awakening was rediscovered by feminist scholars in the 1970s as the feminist movement took hold and it has since become a literary classic an early and rare exploration of womens struggles in the late 1900s
It is presented here in its original and unabridged format