The Awakening - 5 stars
the other short stories - mainly 2-3 stars (with one 4 star) ( )

The Awakening by Kate Chopin has been sitting on the shelf for some time, purchased at a point in time when I thought I wanted to read more classics. This was Chopin's second book so it fit with the Classics CAT for February dealing with two or seconds. I knew the basic plot of a woman struggling to find an authentic life in a world where women are largely considered decorative. Once awakened by real love during her summer sojourn on Grand Isle, Edna Pontellier finds it impossible to return to her normal life as wife and mother in New Orleans. The book was very controversial when it was published at the turn of the century as Chopin described an early feminist mindset that really did threaten a world that circumcised women's lives. My edition is a study one with lots of interpretive essays as well as primary source documents from the books and magazines of the times with their guidance for women to be good wives and mothers. ( )

The theme of this book is not so highly original, though the time of its execution was, and the sympathetic light it casts on its protagonist sets it apart from others in what we may as well call a genre. And what genre is that? It is the genre of books about women who realise they have married wrong, through no fault of their own; they have married without love; and they have come to regret that fact. Escaping from such bonds is often an insuperable task, and the reader's motivation to continue reading generally rests on the anxiety we feel as we witness the protagonist's striving for freedom and true love. The fact that Chopin was a masterful writer makes reading this book an even more rewarding experience. ( )

The daughter of a wealthy Kentucky farmer and wife of a wealthy New Orleans businessman, Edna Pontellier has an easy life, one that would bring most women nothing but happiness. And at first, Edna is quite content with her life. She sees nothing wrong with her husband treating her as nothing more than another of his prized possessions, and is happy, if a little bored. They spend their summers on Grand Isle in the company of other members of New Orleans society. Their days are often spent at the beach and their nights at various parties. As the summer wanes, though, Edna becomes less and less content with her life, and more and more enamored with a young man who harmlessly, initially, showers her with attention. She begins to rebel against the notion that she has no identity separate from that of a wife and mother and struggles to embrace her individuality. This struggle continues following their return to New Orleans, and the disappearance of her young companion. By the end of the book, she has decided that she will no longer allow her life to be determined by anyone else, including her husband and her children.

This is often called an early feminist work, despite the authors strident disagreement. I'm not sure that I see it as espousing feminist ideals myself. Instead it expresses the notion of the individual. While Edna was a very selfish character, and her wants and desires failed to take into consideration the very real responsibilities she had towards her husband and children, it also depicted a struggle that many women experience as wives and mothers. It is all too easy to subsume yourself in your husband and your children, completely loosing your identity as an individual. Edna realizes that she does not want this - she wants to be a fully realized person and so she battles the expectations placed on her by society.

In this modern era, if a woman is dissatisfied with her home life and chooses to leave it, abandoning husband and child, it is accepted, though there is still often a great stigma and prejudice towards any woman who will not or cannot put her children above all else, especially self. However, in the era when this book was written it was shocking, even scandalous, for a woman to even consider placing her own desires above that of her husband or children. She was a slave to societal expectations, so for Kate Chopin to write about a woman doing just that, would have sent shock waves throughout both the literary world and the general public. Not surprisingly, this book all but ended her career. Today, this novel wouldn't even ruffle the feathers of the most repressed among us, but at the time it was considered quite avant garde and was a precursor and inspiration to many later feminist authors. ( )