The Awakening and Selected Stories

by Kate Chopin, Cynthia Brantley Johnson (Editor), Alyssa Harad

11 stories:
The Awakening
Beyond the Bayou
Ma'ame Pelagie
Desiree's Baby
A Respectable Woman
The Kiss
A Pair of Silk Stockings
The Locket
A Reflection
At the 'Cadian Ball
The Storm

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Feminism, Literature, School, American

296 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

Kate Chopin was an American author whose fiction grew out of the complex cultures and contradictions of Louisiana life, and she gradually became one of the most distinctive voices in nineteenth century literature. Raised in a household shaped by strong women of French and Irish heritage, she developed an early love for books and storytelling, and that immersion in language later shaped the quiet precision of her prose. After marrying and moving to New Orleans, then later to the small community of Cloutierville, she absorbed the rhythms, customs, and tensions of Creole and Cajun society, finding in its people the material that would feed both her sympathy and her sharp observational eye. When personal loss left her searching for direction, she began writing with the encouragement of a family friend, discovering not only a therapeutic outlet but a genuine vocation. Within a few years, her stories appeared in major magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, and The Century, where readers encountered her local-color sketches, her portrayals of women navigating desire and constraint, and her nuanced depictions of life in the American South. She published two story collections, Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie, introducing characters whose emotional lives were depicted with unusual honesty. Her short fiction often explored subjects others avoided, including interracial relationships, female autonomy, and the quiet but powerful inner conflicts of everyday people. That same unflinching quality shaped The Awakening, the novel that would later become her most celebrated work. At the time of its publication, however, its frank treatment of a married woman’s emotional and sensual awakening unsettled many critics, who judged it harshly, yet Chopin continued to write stories that revealed her commitment to portraying women as fully human, with desires and ambitions that stretched beyond the confines of convention. She admired the psychological clarity of Guy de Maupassant, but she pushed beyond his influence to craft a voice that was unmistakably her own, direct yet lyrical, and deeply attuned to the inner lives of her characters. Though some of her contemporaries viewed her themes as daring or even improper, others recognized her narrative skill, and within a decade of her passing she was already being described as a writer of remarkable talent. Her rediscovery in the twentieth century led readers to appreciate how modern her concerns truly were: the struggle for selfhood, the tension between social expectations and private longing, and the resilience of women seeking lives that felt authentically theirs. Today, her stories and novels are widely read, admired for their clarity, emotional intelligence, and the boldness with which they illuminate the complexities of human experience.

Reviews

[Carolyn Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for tragic love and a gloomy ending. For social and moral constraints pushing down until one suffocates. I’ve lived it. I caught my breath and clutched this book and had a completely personal reaction to the beauty and the agony.

Some of the one star reviews puzzle me, not because people disliked the book, which would be perfectly reasonable, but because some people suggest Edna could’ve just gotten a divorce and solved her problem that way. That she was a selfish “trollop” to have an affair and leave her kids. This simplistic and unrealistic response to a book written in 1899 floors me. To rate a book low because a female abandoned her children is laughable…especially when you consider that had the protagonist been male and abandoned his kids in the same way this outrage would not exist.

I guess this is what Chopin was getting at.

113 years ago.

[Christmas Carol ꧁꧂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Awakening

I don't know why I struggled to get through this book when I was younger (late twenties/early thirties)

& I definitely didn't finish it & eventually gave the book away. This book is very well written & an honest study of feminine desire. At first her awakening seems to bewilder poor Edna as much as it does the reader. I felt the ending was a bit of a cop out, but anything else would have been too controversial for the times. 5★

My copy contains some short stories, which I'm going to sandwich among my other reads. I won't add 'add to my update feed' until I have completed them. You never know, this might work!

Beyond the Bayou Interesting & a bit strange. Certainly not subtle. 3★

Ma'ame Pelagie This one, whatever your values, is very sad tale. To put it mildly romanticised but I was moved by it. 4.5★

Desiree's Baby An ironic tale of racism. I should have seen the twist coming but I didn't. 5★

A Respectable Woman An enigmatic tale of attraction. 4.5★

The Kiss I found this study of relationships. Interesting. Very interesting. My favourite so far. 5★

A Pair of Silk Stockings Touching tale of wish fulfillment with an enigmatic ending. 4★

The Locket a story of grief & loss - with a twist. Beautiful writing. 5★

A Reflection Ponderings that read like a diary entry. 3★

So there you have it!

& I'm not going to reduce my rating because of the weaker short stories. 5★ it is.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the first time in her life she stood naked in the open air, at the mercy of the sun, the breeze that beat upon her, and the waves that invited her.

~ 'The Awakening'

Written in 1899, 'The Awakening', the main story/novella in this collection, is the radical tale of a married woman's 'awakening', not just to sexual desire ('It was the first kiss of her life to which her nature had really responded. It was a flaming torch that kindled desire') but also to a sense of self-hood ('But I don't want anything but my own way') and independence ('I am no longer one of Mr Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose').

The aspect that I found most unexpected is not so much Edna's embracing of her sexuality but the way she contests society's view that motherhood is the only route to fulfilled femininity - Edna loves her children, she just doesn't think that her life should be solely confined to them, and that she will be a better mother, the happier she is in herself.

Chopin writes with precision, with some passages of lyricism, but mainly in a straightforward way: we're not left in any doubt about her message here and while there's some use of symbolism (birds, the sky, the sea, the claustrophobic interior of Edna's family home), there's nothing difficult, obtuse or oblique about her style - it's there on the surface.

Despite that, it's easy to see this as a founding feminist text: it may not have the complexities of Edith Wharton or Virginia Woolf, say, but it makes a bold statement all the same.

The other stories are less powerful and with open, ambiguous endings: 'The Storm' (a sequel to 'At the 'Cadian Ball') is especially interesting for the explicit (for the 1890s) language of female sexual experience, and the fact that this desire is extra-marital, drawing a dotted line to 'The Awakening'.

[Kate♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5stars

2019 update:

I actually meant to update my rating for "The Awakening" AGES ago because I ended up using the novella as my main piece of literature in my gigantic English Major Writing Seminar essay and I really found myself enjoying it the more I worked with it and its become my go-to novel when discussing American literature.

that being said, this semester i had to read a handful of the selected short stories by Chopin and I enjoyed this just as much as her novella! Chopin has just a wonderful, unapologetic way of writing that makes her and her stories incredibly relevant even 120 years after most of them were published. She's an OG feminist and I love her works.

2018:
4/5stars

I actually really enjoyed this? This book is seriously revolutionary considering it was written in the 1800s and still explored women's feelings and sexuality more than 90% of books nowadays lol (I literally have a note being like "WOW this book talks about a woman pooping while books nowadays can't even mention any character going to the bathroom") but yeah wow Edna is an incredible character and incredibly real and her feelings and emotions and thoughts are very powerful. The ending of this book I'm now questioning if it was the first to do this cause I've seen it done multiple times in contemporary books.

But yeah I really ended up enjoying this!

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this story, and I did not see why Edna's life was so bad. I can understand feeling restricted, but I think Edna was a very selfish woman. If anything, she should have thought of her children. I am not here to say that women don't have existences outside of their marriages, their children. I disagree strongly with that. But a woman has a choice to make. When she brings children into the world, it changes the decisions that she can make. She can be happy and she can have joy, but she has to make sure that her children are loved and cared for.

Edna was a pampered woman with an indulgent husband, and got to go on a nice vacation every year. She had servants, and friends. A lot of women don't even have those things, but manage to get up out of bed everyday and live their lives. Yes, she felt that she was denying her inner self, and had to marry, although maybe she didn't want to. I cannot deny that must have caused some emotional angst, but there is no either/or. There is, okay this is what I have, let's see what I can do with it. Make the best of what you have. Edna continually made bad choices. She made a mistake and had an extramarital affair. Not the end of the world. I believe her husband would have forgiven her. Or she could have even lived apart from him and hopefully still be a mother to her children. (Maybe I'm being naive about this for the time period, maybe not). She could have stayed with her husband and had a friendship marriage with no physical involvement and painted. Even carried on her affairs as long as she was discreet. She had some choices. A lot of women, a lot of people don't. I just didn't buy the option that she took. I think she was a drama queen.Sorry, I just didn't have much sympathy for this woman.

I'd love to read Kate Chopin's other stories because she sounds like a phenomenal women. I hope that her other female characters have a maturity that Edna lacked.

[Christy B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this story for the beautiful writing and the intricate way of exploring the life of a tragic woman. I saw this as a tragic story, not as the example that feminists having been using it as for decades.

The feminist themes are there, no doubt, but I don't think that Chopin intended it to be used as an example of what a woman in a similar situation should do.

The Awakening is a story of a woman who feels bound and oppressed by her marriage and by motherhood. This stuff was never for her and she tries to escape them. I don't agree with her ways of escaping them, especially what she did to her children! Is that what feminists want to use as an example? I don't want to give too much away for someone who hasn't read this, but her actions in this book are too extreme.

Seeing this simply as a tragic story of a selfish, oppressed woman, it is wonderful. At times I felt for this character and at times I was frustrated with her. The writing was, as I said, beautiful. Chopin really had a knack for conveying emotions without much dialogue.

[kaelan · Rating 3 out of 5]

With several hours to kill before an appointment, I decided to pop inside a bookstore to pick up something "short but old." In pursuit of this end, I solicited the aid of the shop lady—one of those former English majors who've evidently forgotten everything they might have once learned in university. Following several false starts ("Sorry, ma'am, but I've already read both Animal Farm and The Metamorphosis"), she pulled a slender book from the shelf, saying as she did so: "I can't remember if I read this in school, but I think people view it as important for feminism or something." Trying my best to ignore the garish cover design, which suggested some sort of third-rate historical romance novel, I consented to buy it.

Before this incident, I had not heard of either The Awakening or Kate Chopin; and as I read through some of the short stories and vignettes that pad out this volume, I began to fear that her recent revaluation by critics had been more the result of patriarchal-related guilt than literary merit. Granted, tales like "Beyond the Bayou" and "Désirée's Baby" display a subtle knack for characterization and an admirable economy of prose. But as exquisitely crafted as they might be, these pieces nonetheless struck me as mere sketches, as études rather than sonatas.

The Awakening, however, boasts all of the strengths of Chopin's shorter fiction, but without the flaws. First published in 1899 and originally (and more forcefully) titled A Solitary Soul, the novel follows the travails of a certain Edna Pontellier, a young New Orleans woman who grows disillusioned with her hollow yet perfect-on-paper existence. Married to a wealthy Louisiana businessman, Edna already feels alienated from the tight-knit, rambunctious and casually sensual Creole community in which she lives. Yet her feelings of isolation and discontent become amplified when she garners the attention of a young Creole man named Robert Lebrun, an attraction which, to Edna's simultaneous joy and despair, turns out to be mutual.

Critic Marilynne Robinson, in her largely astute introduction, explains how many readers have taken the book to be a wholesale endorsement of the liberation of femininity from its patriarchal prison. But such an interpretation obscures the full extent of Chopin's genius. For The Awakening doesn't simply pit one half of a dichotomy against the another; rather, the novel teases out tensions and contradictions inherent to the notions of femininity, family and love. What is a woman's obligation to her children? What is the relation between love and duty? Like any other great novelist, Chopin shows herself to be far more interested in asking questions than in generating any definite answers.

Sadly, The Awakening represents both Chopin's first and final excursion into the art of novel writing: in the face of a vicious critical backlash, the talented author opted to leave the business entirely. One hundred years later, the least we can do is give her magnum opus the attention it deserves.

[Reyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Chopin (1850-1904) offers a magnificent glimpse into 19th-century Louisiana, where many people – including the author herself – were of Creole descent. I was not aware of the original meaning of that term, which apparently only shifted after the Louisiana Purchase. The Awakening is set within this particular community.

“You are burnt beyond recognition,” he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage.

On the surface, the story is straightforward: a married woman falls in love with another man, questions her marriage, then finds herself torn by her dilemma. Chopin was ahead of her time, however, turning the narrative into a striking exploration of defiance and female sexuality. Edna Montpellier is a memorable protagonist, paving the way for later literary characters like Countess Ellen Olenska in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence or Laura Brown in Michael Cunningham’s The Hours . Her journey is less about men and more about conventions in general. The moment she stops conforming to societal norms, society quickly closes in on her. Ultimately, Edna finds herself torn between desires and expectations.

The sentiment which she entertained for Robert in no way resembled that which she felt for her husband, or had ever felt, or ever expected to feel. She had all her life long been accustomed to harbor thoughts and emotions which never voiced themselves. They had never taken the form of struggles. They belonged to her and were her own, and she entertained the conviction that she had a right to them and that they concerned no one but herself.

According to the introduction, The Awakening was a response to ‘male fantasies’ as expressed in Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady . I haven’t read that book, but I am enthusiastic about Kate Chopin’s novel. Her female perspective in a male-dominated world is both interesting and well-articulated. It also taught me more about colonial history in the United States.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

2016: I enjoyed reading this, but I wasn't enthusiastic about reading it. I think this will benefit from rereading. The characters and endings aren't the most developed, but the atmosphere of Louisiana is lush and realistic. I can see why this is an acclaimed work, but I wasn't blown away by it.

2020: I quite enjoyed a few of these short story this time: Ma’ame Pélagie, A Pair of Silk Stockings, and A Locket. I also was better able to analyze elements of The Awakening. I really loved how Chopin captured hot and tiresome summer days. I had also forgotten three-quarters of the plot, so that was a surprise!

[Molliegordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I read it in 3 days, over a weekend, and while I rushed the ending, I was engaged by it. What I found so important about this book is that it was written in a style where I felt I understood the main character's inner process. I enjoyed the limited dialogue with an emphasis on description, even during conversations. However, I felt that there was only one main character, Edna, and all the other characters reflected her setting. The ending (which I will not spoil) was particularly troublesome, but very indicative of the time. Our attitudes towards the issues in this book have changed in the past 100 years, so it is particularly interesting to view it as a window to another culture as well as literature of and by a woman. What I appreciate is that it was written at the end of the 19th century, by an American, and it's only purpose was to express itself. I felt no Feminist Agenda as we have come to know the Feminist Canon, and I appreciate it for what it was. It was a woman doing her best to express the natural process of awakening that is unique to women. In a way, it foreshadows Virginia Woolf's essay "A Room of One's Own". Again, a window into the culture of the time.

I recommend it, and I look forward to reading it again.

[Jan Priddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could see where the novella, "The Awakening," was headed early on and threw the book across the room, but then I picked it back up and read all the way through this remarkable collection. The very short "Story of an Hour" alone is worth buying the collection, but I taught several of Chopin's stories. Her irony is explosive compared to O.Henry's soft sadness. Less sentimental, more realistic, startling and thought-provoking. She reveals astonishing truths about people, about their fears and hopes and dreams, about how we suffer and fail, and sometimes grow.

[Sara Jesus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queria a muito tempo ler Kate Chopin. Finalmente tive oportunidade de comprovar a sua qualidade. Tem um estilo de escrita semelhante a Virgínia Wolf (uma das escritoras que mais admiro). Nao imaginava gostar dos seus contos! Historias que abordam as relações familiares. Mas a cereja no topo do bolo corresponde a historia de " O despertar". Uma novela muito inspirada em livros como " Madame Bovary" e " Anne Karenina". Edna apresenta-se como uma figura muito melancólica, mas que tem um casamento aberto. Ao longo da sua vida envolve- se com outros homens (sem ser o seu marido). Gosto especialmente de Richard.

Kate Chopin foi o meu autor estreia de este ano. E nao me arrependi.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short novel, published in 1899. It caused such a scandal that it was banned for decades afterward. The furor over this book was so upsetting to Kate Chopin that she gave up writing altogether.

The story is about Mrs. Edna Pontellier, a Kentucky girl married to Leonce, a New Orleans Creole. One summer, When she is twenty-eight, something inside her starts to shift. She's not fully aware of what's happening, but she knows she feels different. Gradually she stops obeying social conventions and begins to do and say what she wants. Because she's a woman, everyone dismisses it and says, "Leave her alone and she'll get over it." But she doesn't. She becomes more and more independent and willful, unwilling to play the game anymore.

It's a good read, and paints an interesting picture of New Orleans life and customs of that time. My copy (Bantam Classics) has an intro by Marilynne Robinson that really made me mad! She gives away the conclusion of the story in the second paragraph of the intro! So I read the entire book knowing how it would end, which I never would have guessed on my own. Mad, mad, mad!!!

From a modern perspective, it's hard to see what could be scandalous about this story, but it was written in the Victorian age.

The book also has a small collection of excellent short stories at the end. As far as storytelling, some of them are almost better than the novel.
I especially liked:

Beyond the Bayou
Ma'ame Pelagie
The Locket

[Paula W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this.

I think this novella made me a bit uncomfortable, though. I saw a lot of myself in Edna, and that's probably why I kept needing to put this book down and find something else to do for a little while.
"A southern woman in a bad marriage who finds herself in a new place one day where her eyes are opened to realize that things shouldn't be the way they are" hit me like an intensely personal ton of bricks, because I've been there.

Of course, it was easier for me to end a marriage than it would be for Edna, and divorce wouldn't place a terrible stigma on my child and ruin his life. The choices available to me in this day and age were not available to her, so she reacted differently than I would have. Yet I truly understand when Edna said that she would give her life for her children but would not give her self. Everyone, even women and mothers, are entitled to a self that is an actual person instead of being forced to identify only as someone's wife or someone's daughter or someone's mother.

I still don't feel like we have gotten there. Progress is being made, but we still have a long way to go.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

”’To be an artist includes much; one must possess many gifts- absolute gifts- which have not been acquired by one’s own effort. And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul. Courageous, ma foi! The brave soul. The soul that dares and defies.’”

Some books from your younger years don’t stand the test of time and the passing of years.

I’m happy that Edna Pontellier does.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

12 Oct 2024 Update:

Just reread this for a class and still liked it lots. There's some real beautiful prose in here and thematically the book's pretty ballsy, even by today's standards. And people calling Edna selfish have missed the point of the novel entirely imo.

It's good!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like some of Chopin's short stories so it was kind of disappointing to get to the Awakening and find that there really isn't that much to it. Beyond anything, I'm confused by it, because when I think of feminist texts, this just doesn't seem to do the trick. This is completely up to interpretation and debate, of course, but Edna Pontellier just doesn't scream "feminist hero" to me. Feminism (at least in my mind) should be embracing one's identity as a woman and seeking equality with men. Here, we get Edna, who, if she didn't want to get married and be tied down by kids, shouldn't have gotten married and had kids. Even still, the Pontelliers have someone to take care of their kids for them, and they have a cook, so it's not even like Edna is really so overcome with domestic roles. There's like one day a week when she has to stay home to help her husband out, and she just quits everything to paint in her attic. I don't get it; if roles were reversed and Leonce dropped everything to pursue his hobbies, there would be a problem, so why don't we have a problem when Edna does it? Furthermore, is being discontent in a marriage an excuse to have an affair? Then the book ends and Edna literally quits. everything. I get that there's a problem in general with women being treated as possessions or as inferior in this books' society, but I don't think Chopin does a very good job tackling the issue. Edna wants Leonce to treat her better but she doesn't actually talk to him like a real person; she's just petty all the time.

And that brings me to my second issue with the book, which is that, if this book wasn't a social commentary, it would be utterly unimpressive. I do admire some of the symbolism with birds and some of Chopin's writing style, but none of the characters are likeable and they aren't developed that much. With the exception of Edna going from hopeful to hopeless, nobody changes. Maybe Chopin did that intentionally to show the futility of society, but if she was going to write static characters, the least she could do was make some of them sympathetic. I don't feel anything towards anyone in this book, and that just doesn't make for good story-telling. So it's no wonder that the plot is pretty much at a stand-still for the entire duration of the novella. Not a whole lot happens.

To close, I'll paraphrase a close friend of mine, who suggested that maybe the reason so many critics disliked The Awakening had less to do with the social criticism, and more to do with the fact that it's also not a very good book.

[grace]

really enjoyed. #ihatemybf

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was amazing to watch the unraveling of Edna Pontellier's well-to-do, refined existence in Louisiana. Despite her privileged upbringing, youth, beauty, wealth, status and creativity, this 28-year old wife and mother is stifled by the social norms of the day (this was published in 1899) and begins uncharacteristically to act out. After taking out her initial frustrations on her busy husband, she refuses to attend her sister's wedding, and then things go bananas.

I took off a star for the short stories at the end, I liked Desiree's Baby and Ma'ame Pelagie but not so much the rest of them. I'd recommend getting them out of the way first, so you can savor The Awakening on its own.

[Prospero · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There was a feeling with her of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and and apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to "feed upon opinion" when her own soul had invited her." - p.124

A rich, "sensuous and delicious" novel about a woman's deep and intimate relationship with Nature, her repressed sexuality, latent spirituality, and undiagnosed depression, as well as a stirring and absorbing "meditation on identity and culture, consciousness and art."

Combining the sumptuous intricacy and nuance of late 19th century high culture with the first glimmers of the existentialism and post-modernism, this is a novel of deliciously sophisticated prose and stunning insights, but not something that can be easily read in one setting.

The other tales included in this collection provide glimpses of life in 19th century French Louisiana, including perspectives from both the Black and White communities: Desirée's Baby is easily the standout story, and delivers more punch in just 10 pages than The Awakening does in 155. A Respectable Woman is also charming. The Kiss, A Pair of Silk Stockings, The Locket and A Reflection all deserve an honorable mention.

[Yuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The altar, 'tis of death! for there are laid
The sacrifice of all youth's sweetest hopes.
It is a dreadful thing for woman's lip
To swear the heart away; yet know that heart
Annuls the vow while speaking and shrinks back
From the dark future that it dares not face.
The service read above the open grave
Is far less terrible than that which seals
The vow that binds the victim, not the will:
For in the grave is rest.

The Marriage Vow, Letitia Elizabeth Landon



Found Drowned, George Frederic Watts

[Joseph F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel, The Awakening, was a perfectly fine story. However I really enjoyed the short stories more in this collection. With great sensitivity Chopin lays bare the human condition. There’s a certain optimism one finds here, expressing some of the good in human nature.

I also really liked the local flavoring. The Louisiana of long ago is such a different world, and one I know so little about.

[Chase Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yaaaaas, Queen Edna! Do you or die tryin, girl. Hero all the way. This is why one must always live near water.

[Ren Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

edna just like me fr

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually quite liked reading the awakening. The writing was good and interesting. Good ending, gives a lot to think about.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have finally read The Awakening, something that a bazillion people have told me I need to read. It took an English class assignment for me to do it but it is done. The writing is outstanding but I did not like Edna one single bit and saw nothing but selfishness and it made me so angry. If I had read this at another time in my life I may have felt differently but, given my circumstances, I had no patience for her choices. That being said, I ADORED the other short stories that make up the remainder of this book. Yep, Kate Chopin could write. I wish she had known that more clearly when the was alive. Below are passages that I appreciated even while I wanted to wring the main character's neck.

It would have been a difficult matter for Mr. Pontellier to define to his own satisfaction or anyone else’s wherein his wife failed in her duty toward their children. It was something he felt rather than perceived, and he never voiced the feeling without subsequent regret and ample atonement…In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman. (10)

A certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her, the light which, showing the way, forbids it. (17)

In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her. This may seem like a ponderous weight of wisdom to descend upon the soul of a young woman of twenty-eight – perhaps more wisdom than the Holy Ghost is usually pleased to vouchsafe to any woman. But the beginning of things, of a world especially, is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing. How few of us ever emerge from such a beginning! How many souls perish in the tumult! (17)

Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate. He fell in love, as men are in the habit of doing, and pressed his suit with an earnestness and an ardor which left nothing to be desired. He pleased her; his absolute devotion flattered her. She fancied there was a sympathy of thought and taste between them, in which fancy she was mistaken. Add to this the violent opposition of her father and her sister Margaret to her marriage with a Catholic, and we need seek no further for the motives which led her to accept Monsieur Pontellier for her husband. (24)

But that night she was like a little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over-confidence. She could have shouted for joy. She did shout for joy, as with a sweeping stroke or two she lifted her body to the surface of the water. 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. (37)

She perceived that her will had blazed up, stubborn and resistant. She could not at that moment have done other than denied and resisted. She wondered if her husband had ever spoken to her like that before, and if she had submitted to his command. Of course she had; she remembered that she had. But she could not realize why or how she should have yielded, feeling as she now did. (42)
She let her mind wander back over her stay at Grand Isle; and she tried to discover wherein this summer had been different from any and every other summer of her life. She could only realize that she herself – her present self – was in some way different from the other self. That she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored and changed her environment, she did not yet suspect. (54)

I would give up the unessential; I would give up my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself. I can’t make it more clear; it’s only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me. (64)

Edna looked straight before her with a self-absorbed expression upon her face. She felt no interest in anything about her. The street, the children, the fruit vender, the flowers growing there under her eyes, were all part and parcel of an alien world which had suddenly become antagonistic. (72)

She began to do as she liked and feel as she liked, (76)

It sometimes entered Mr. Pontellier’s mind to wonder if his wife were not growing a little unbalanced mentally. He could see plainly that she was not herself. That is, he could not see that she was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world. (77)

When Edna was at last alone, she breathed a big, genuine sigh of relief. (97)

Then Edna sat in the library after dinner and read Emerson until she grew sleepy. She realized that she had neglected her reading, and determined to start anew upon a course of improving studies, now that her time was completely her own to do with as she liked. (98)

She felt somewhat like a woman who in a moment of passion is betrayed into an act of infidelity, and realizes the significance of the act without becoming wholly awakened from its glamour. The thought that was passing vaguely thought her mind, “What would he think?” She did not mean her husband; she was thinking of Robert Lebrun. Her husband seemed to her now like a person whom she had married without love as an excuse. (104)

“I am going to move away from my house on Esplanade Street. Just two steps away,” laughed Edna, “in a little four room house around the corner. It looks so cozy, so inviting and restful, whenever I pass by; and it’s for rent. I’m tired looking after that big house. It never seemed like mine, anyway – like home…I know I shall like it, like the feeling of freedom and independence.” (107)

Conditions would some way adjust themselves, she felt, but whatever came, she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself. (108)

“When I left Mademoiselle Reisz today, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said, ‘The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.’” (112)

The little house pleased her. It at once assumed the intimate character of a home, while she herself invested it with a charm which it reflected like a warm glow. There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to “feed upon opinion” when her own soul had invited her. (127)

Before leaving Madame Ratignolle said: “In some way you seem to me like a child, Edna. You seem to act without a certain amount of reflection which is necessary in this life. That is the reason I want to say you mustn’t mind if I advise you to be a little careful while you are living here alone.” (130)

She was still stunned and speechless with emotion when later she leaned over her friend to kiss her and softly say good-by. Adele, pressing her cheek, whispered in an exhausted voice: “Think of the children, Edna. Oh think of the children! Remember them!” (149)

“The years that are gone seem like dreams – if one might go on sleeping and dreaming – but to wake up and find – oh! well! perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life…But I don’t want anything but my own way.” (151)

She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known. (156)

[alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

(The Awakening itself: ~4.5, the short stories: avg out at ~3.5)

some of my favorite lines

“as she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself”

“all the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. she was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet, half-darkness which met her moods. but the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. they jeered and sounded mournful notes without promise, devoid even of hope.”

“it was not despair; but it seemed to her as if life were passing by, leaving its promise broken and unfulfilled.”

“but as she sat there amid her guests, she felt the old ennui overtaking her; the hopelessness which so often assailed her, which came upon her like an obsession, like something extraneous, independent of volition.”

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bijzonder hoe deze (deels korte) verhalen meteen een beeld schetsen van de tijd; ook relatief vooruitstrevend (voor fin-de-siècle) in hoe de vrouwelijke innerlijke wereld vormgegeven wordt en lust een plek krijgt.

[Liz Estrada · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe Chopin must have been influenced by both Flaubert and Zola but her novel and other stories fall short of either of these French masters. 3.5