Awakening Review

The Awakening

    The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a fiction novel that took place in the late 1800’s in Louisiana.

     One theme showcased in The Awakening is love, as Edna was trying to figure out what love meant to her throughout the novel. Within the novel Edna had relationships with three different men, but she only loved one of them. One of the men she didn’t love was her own husband. For example, when asked about her husband, “Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit that she knew of none better.” (Chopin 9). Her marriage to this man was not her choice. The next man was Mr. Arobin, whom she had a very intimate relationship with. That first time the two kissed, Chopin wrote that it, “...was not love…” (Chopin 113). Edna only liked this man because he fulfilled her desires. However the third man, Robert Lebrun, ultimately won her affections, “because his hair [was] brown and [grew] away from his temples; because he open[ed] and shut his eyes, and his nose [was] a little out of drawing; because he [had] two lips and a square chin, and a little finger which he [couldn’t] straighten from having played baseball too energetically in his youth.” Edna loved him because he was just him.

     Another theme found was family. Edna’s relationship with her family was very complicated, and continuously got worse throughout the course of the novel. For example, Edna refused to attend her sister’s wedding, which led to, “...a warm, and almost violent dispute…” (Chopin 96), between her and her father. Another example of the bad relationship she had with her family is the way she explains that, "...[She] would give [her] money, [she] would give [her] life for [her] children; but [she] wouldn't give [herself]” (Chopin 64).

 One shortcoming in the novel is the use of foreign words and phrases. They made it impossible to read without having to take a break and look up what each specific word meant to piece together what was going on. For example, the opening dialogue of the novel is, “Allez-vous-en! Allez-vous-en! Sapristi! That’s all right!” (Chopin 1). Not only this, but she would weave in and out of English and French, which made the confusion even more severe. For example, when Robert Lebrun and Mrs. Ratignolle were arguing, he said, “"Tiens!... Voila que Madame Ratignolle est jalouse!" (Chopin 26), and she responded with, "Nonsense! I'm in earnest; I mean what I say. Let Mrs. Pontellier alone." (Chopin 26). 

    Another shortcoming is the extremely short chapters. This created more chapters to read, which made for a dragged out process of reading. For example, a majority of the chapters are 2-4 pages long such as chapter 1 (Chopin 1-4), chapter 19 (Chopin 76-78), and chapter 27 (Chopin 111-112). The shortest chapter in the book is 28, and it doesn’t even cover a page (Chopin 113). Chopin made a mistake by writing The Awakening like this.

     Despite the shortcomings, Chopin made the right choice by having Edna transform into an independent woman. For example, in the beginning when Edna sneaks off to be with Robert she, “...was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being” (Chopin 16). This was only the start of her self realization. By the end of the novel, Edna became completely independent, and decided to end it all by swimming as far out into the ocean as possible. Whilst swimming, “A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (Chopin 156) Many women before her would only go so far as their husbands tell them to, but Edna then had full control of what she does, and she was not going to stop for anything or anyone. Edna’s independence inspires readers-- especially women-- not to conform to what their loved ones tell them to do, and to keep doing whatever pleases them.

In summary, The Awakening by Kate Chopin was an outstanding novel, which was an enthralling read that inspired feministic ideals. Though the book had its faults, they were greatly surpassed by Chopin’s ability to write such a relatable and realistic story.