The Awakening

By Kate Chopin

Subjects: Marriage, Self-actualization (Psychology), Women, Adultery, Fiction, general, Psychological fiction, Modern Literature, Criticism and interpretation, literary fiction, Romance fiction, Louisiana Creoles, Interpersonal relations, Short Stories, Fiction, American fiction (fictional works by one author), Social life and customs, Interpersonal attraction, Man-woman relationships, Married people, feminist fiction, Married women, American literature, Social conditions, New orleans (la.), fiction, manners and customs, History, Fiction, psychological, Married people, fiction, Classic Literature, feminist literature, Psychology

Description: The Awakening is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle between her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism, generating a mixed reaction from contemporary readers and critics.