Title: The Awakening

Author: Kate Chopin

Publisher: 1899

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 190

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall Reading Challenge; 52 Books -- W44; Monthly Motif -- Oldie but a Goodie; Rereading; Classics -- 19th Century

When first published in 1899, The Awakening shocked readers with its honest treatment of female marital infidelity. Audiences accustomed to the pieties of late Victorian romantic fiction were taken aback by Chopin's daring portrayal of a woman trapped in a stifling marriage, who seeks and finds passionate physical love outside the straitened confines of her domestic situation. Aside from its unusually frank treatment of a then-controversial subject, the novel is widely admired today for its literary qualities. Edmund Wilson characterized it as a work "quite uninhibited and beautifully written, which anticipates D. H. Lawrence in its treatment of infidelity."

I first read The Awakening my sophomore year of high school.  It opened up my world. Because of its influence, I went on to major in Women's Studies with a specialization in women in religion. This was my seminal work.  But would it stand up almost 20 years later? (I have read it off and on during the in between years, but the last time was almost 5 years ago)

The answer is yes!  I still adore this book and the character of Edna. I understand her seemingly trapped position in life. I get how revolutionary this was publishing a feminist novel in 1899.  I wish Edna had been able to make a different choice, but understand the one she made. I still get very emotional as the end nears. Chopin's slim volume has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.