The Awakening Thrift Study Edition

Kate Chopin

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780486115610
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Classics
• Index: Literature

Everything you need to make the grade! Test? Paper? Class discussion? Don't worry, we have you covered. This book has everything you need. Not only does it feature the complete text of The Awakening, it offers a comprehensive study guide that will easily help you understand Chopin's classic novel. You'll make the grade with the complete and unabridged text, scene-by-scene summaries, explanations and discussions of the plot, question-and-answer sections, Chopin biography, list of characters, and more.

Study Guide

Text by
Debra Geller Lieberman
(J.D., New York University School of Law)
(M.S. Ed., Hunter College)
Dr. M. Fogiel
Chief Editor

Contents

Section One: Introduction

The Life and Work of Kate Chopin

Historical Background

Master List of Characters

Summary of the Novel

Estimated Reading Time

Each Chapter includes List of Characters, Summary, Analysis, Study Questions and Answers, and Suggested Essay Topics.

Section Two: The Awakening

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapters V and VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Chapter XVI

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVIII

Chapter XIX

Chapter XX

Chapter XXI

Chapter XXII

Chapter XXIII

Chapter XXIV

Chapter XXV

Chapter XXVI

Chapter XXVII and XXVIII

Chapter XXIX

Chapter XXX

Chapter XXXI

Chapter XXXII

Chapter XXXIII

Chapter XXXIV

Chapter XXXV

Chapter XXXVI

Chapter XXXVII

Chapter XXXVIII

Chapter XXXIX

Section Three: Bibliography

SECTION ONE

Introduction

The Life and Work of Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was born Katie O’Flaherty in 1850 in St. Louis to an Irish father and a French mother. Her father died in a train crash in 1855. Kate was taught and greatly influenced by her maternal great-grandmother who was an independent, free thinker. She taught Kate through storytelling, in both English and French. Additionally, Kate attended the prestigious Sacred Heart Academy, which promoted intelligence and independent thinking. Kate began her lifelong love of reading and writing there.

In 1861 the Civil War began, and Kate, after ripping down a Union flag posted in front of her home, became known as St. Louis “Littlest Rebel.” During the course of the war, Kate lost her brother, her great-grandmother, and her best friend. She later wrote war stories about loss, grief, terror, and fear. She became preoccupied with death.

Kate graduated in 1868 and “came out” to the debutante scene where she was praised for her beauty and cleverness. She, however, hated the life that took her away from reading, writing, and thinking, and she particularly hated the constricting clothes that society women were forced to wear. Despite her inner rebelliousness, she married Oscar Chopin in 1870, moved to New Orleans, and had six children. She loved her husband and children but felt engulfed by her life. She became well known for taking long solitary walks (which scandalized the townspeople).

Oscar died in 1882, and Kate had an affair with a married man named Albert Sampite who later appeared in many of her major works as a character called “Alcée.” She moved back to St. Louis in 1884, and after her mother died in 1885, Kate took up writing more seriously. Her publishing debut came in 1889 with a poem titled “If It Might Be.” Her first novel, titled At Fault, was published in 1890, but national recognition did not come until her first national publication in 1894, a collection of short stories titled Bayou Folk.

Kate’s favorite writer was Guy de Maupassant, and like him, much of Kate’s fiction was considered scandalous. Nobody, however, denied her talent. She was a prolific and much published writer; she wrote short stories, poems, essays, and novels. Even the bad reviews for The Awakening did not hurt Kate’s literary reputation. In 1900 she was included in the first edition of Who’s Who in America, and she continued to have many admirers. However she was deeply wounded by the negative reviews and by people’s lack of understanding. She wrote less often after that. Kate died in 1904 after spending the day at the St. Louis World’s Fair.

Kate Chopin was a woman ahead of her time. In the 1960s, with the advent of feminism, Kate Chopin was resurrected, and The Awakening is considered to be one of the first feminist books.

Historical Background

Kate Chopin grew up in violent, turbulent times. She came from a slaveholding family in a city that was a major center for slave trade. There was constant fighting in St. Louis over secession. The Civil War began in 1861 when she was 11 years old, and she and everyone she knew lived in constant terror. There were times when she was confined to her home because of the fighting in the street. She learned to be self-sufficient from an early age.

After the Civil War ended, a period of strong activism among St. Louis women began. There were many outspoken suffragists, and other women who were beginning to question the path of marriage and motherhood. Susan B. Anthony was traveling and speaking extensively about equality and women’s rights. By the 1890s there were many “New Women” making their way in St. Louis. These were single women who became doctors, lawyers, and journalists.

Additionally, the works of Darwin, Spencer, and Huxley were transforming intellectual thought. People were beginning to question things they had always held as truth, including definitions of morality. Finally, the Industrial Revolution was well under way, and the whole world was changing. The Awakening was published in 1899, just at the turn of the century, and there was constant tension between tradition and movement, old and new.

The majority of the reviews for The Awakening were unfavorable. Although her writing was praised, the book was described as “unhealthy,” “unwholesome,” “unpleasant,” and “a dangerous specimen of sex fiction.” Despite the fact that many women had begun to write novels with daring themes by the time The Awakening was published, for example, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, even novels with the most radical themes still tended to promote traditional values and have traditional resolutions. Even some of the most radical women still thought that sexual passion was immoral and unhealthy for women. So it is no surprise that even amidst the incredible changes, for women and the country as a whole, Kate Chopin was censured for the choices made by her protagonist, Edna Pontellier. Edna’s passion was described by one reviewer as an “ugly, cruel, loathsome monster.”

Kate Chopin, herself, and through Edna Pontellier, questioned the traditional idea of woman as wife and mother, without passion and without her own mind. The Awakening depicts the powerful “cage of convention” and the futility both Kate and Edna felt in trying to live a life of freedom.

Master List of Characters

Edna Pontellier—The protagonist of the novel, she is a 28-year-old married woman with children who yearns for more out of life. The novel is about her journey of discovery.

Léonce Pontellier—Edna’s husband; He is, by all accounts, a good man, but he treats Edna like a possession rather than an equal.

Madame Lebrun—The owner of the resort at Grand Isle where the Pontellier family spends their summers.

Robert Lebrun—The 26-year-old son of Madame Lebrun; He and Edna fall in love.

Adèle Ratignolle—A friend of Edna’s; She is a beautiful woman who is devoted to her husband and children. She is pregnant and gives birth during the book.

Mademoiselle Reisz—A loner at Grand Isle, she is a gifted pianist who becomes very close to Edna.

The Farival Twins—Two young guests at Grand Isle who play the piano for the entertainment of the other guests.

Monsieur Farival—Grandfather of the twins.

Raoul and Etienne—The Pontellier’s two young children.

Victor Lebrun—The younger brother of Robert.

Mariequita—A “mischievous,” carefree Spanish girl who works at Grand Isle.

The Lovers—A young, unmarried couple who are oblivious to all but themselves.

Celestine—The Pontellier’s servant.

Baudelet—An old sailor who takes people by boat to Mass at Chênière Caminada.

Madame Antoine—A fat village woman at Chênière Caminada whose house Edna stays in when she feels ill.

Tonie—The son of Madame Antoine.

Dr. Mandelet—A good doctor who tries to help Edna.

Alcée Arobin—A young man-about-town with whom Edna has an affair.

The Highcamps and the Merrimans—Society people who are friends of Edna’s.

The Colonel—Edna’s father.

Miss Mayblunt and Gouvernail—Guests at Edna’s dinner party.

Summary of the Novel

The Awakening begins in Grand Isle, where the Pontellier family is vacationing for the summer. Léonce Pontellier’s newspaper reading has been interrupted by the loud talking of the caged parrot so he returns to his own cottage. Edna Pontellier returns from bathing in the ocean with Robert Lebrun, and her husband criticizes her for bathing so late in the day. She and Robert share laughs over something that happened at the ocean, but Léonce is bored with the conversation. He leaves to go to a men’s club at a hotel called Klein’s. Robert stays with Edna.

When Mr. Pontellier returns late that night, he reprimands Edna for her neglect of the children. She begins to cry, feeling an “indescribable oppression.” The next day we meet Adèle Ratignolle, who is pregnant and a classic “mother-woman.” Edna, Adèle, and Robert spend the afternoon together, and Robert is very attentive to Edna; they later go swimming together.

At the ocean with Adèle, Edna remembers the times she was in love and how she “accidentally” married Léonce. Adèle warns Robert to stay away from Edna. So...