The Awakening Summary
Kate Chopin

Everything you need to understand or teach The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

The Awakening Summary & Study Guide
39 Student Essays
2 Encyclopedia Articles
22 Literature Criticisms
1 Book Notes
1 Nota de Libro
...and more

30 The Awakening Lessons
20 Activities
180 Multiple Choice Questions
60 Short Essay Questions
20 Essay Questions
Pre-Made Tests and Quizzes
...and more

The Awakening Summary

The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier and the changes that occur in her thinking and lifestyle as the result of a summer romance. At the start of the story, Edna is a young mother of two and the wife of a successful New Orleans businessman. While the family is vacationing at a seaside resort, Edna becomes acquainted with Robert Lebrun, a younger man who pays special attention to her. Moonlit walks...

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Study Pack

The The Awakening Study Pack contains:

The Awakening Study Guide

Introduction

Author Biography

Plot Summary

Characters

Themes

Style

Criticism

Adaptations

Topics for Further Study

Encyclopedia Articles (2)

The Awakening - Kate Chopin - 1899

9,346 words, approx. 32 pages

The Awakening - Kate Chopin - 1899 Introduction When Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899) was published, there were significantly fewer women writing fiction than there are today. Authors of the ... Read more

The Awakening

3,786 words, approx. 13 pages

The Awakening by Kate Chopin Kate Chopin was born as Katherine O'Flaherty on February 8, 1851, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1870 she married into the Creole family of Oscar Chopin and afterward lived... Read more

Kate Chopin Biographies (5)

Kate Chopin

3,606 words, approx. 13 pages

Kate Chopin is considered among the most important women in nineteenth-century American fiction. She is best known for her 1899 novel, The Awakening, a once-scandalous account of one woman's growing s... Read more

Katherine Chopin

5,827 words, approx. 20 pages

A popular local colorist during her lifetime, Katherine Chopin (1851-1904) is best known today for her psychological novel The Awakening (1899) and for such often-anthologized short stories as "Desire... Read more

Katherine Chopin

7,207 words, approx. 25 pages

Kate Chopin introduced to the reading public a new fictional setting: the charming, somewhat isolated region along the Cane River in north central Louisiana, an area populated by Creoles, Acadians, an... Read more

Katherine Chopin

12,774 words, approx. 43 pages

Kate O'Flaherty was born into one of St. Louis's most prominent families. Although Kate O'Flaherty Chopin later said she was born in 1851, Emily Toth discovered during her research for her forthcoming... Read more

Katherine Chopin

4,399 words, approx. 15 pages

Biography EssayKate Chopin introduced to the reading public a new fictional setting: the charming, somewhat isolated region along the Cane River in north central Louisiana, an area populated by Creole... Read more

Essays & Analysis (61)

Critical Essay by Emily Toth

4,676 words, approx. 16 pages

4,354 words, approx. 15 pages

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Critical Essay by Barbara C. Ewell

3,916 words, approx. 14 pages

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Critical Essay by Cristina Giorcelli

16,632 words, approx. 56 pages

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Critical Essay by Elaine Showalter

9,688 words, approx. 33 pages

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Critical Essay by Nancy Walker

2,881 words, approx. 10 pages

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Critical Essay by Margit Stange

8,785 words, approx. 30 pages

8,805 words, approx. 30 pages

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Critical Essay by Manfred Malzahn

3,744 words, approx. 13 pages

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Critical Essay by Joyce Dyer

2,700 words, approx. 10 pages

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Critical Essay by Dieter Schulz

3,620 words, approx. 13 pages

16,780 words, approx. 56 pages

5,177 words, approx. 18 pages

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Critical Essay by Barbara C. Ewell

5,288 words, approx. 18 pages

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Critical Essay by William Nelles

4,187 words, approx. 14 pages

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Critical Essay by Martha J. Cutter

12,780 words, approx. 43 pages

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Critical Essay by Lawrence Thornton

7,654 words, approx. 26 pages

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Critical Essay by Wayne Batten

7,216 words, approx. 25 pages

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Critical Essay by Carole Stone

4,053 words, approx. 14 pages

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Critical Essay by Patricia S. Yaeger

13,234 words, approx. 45 pages

4,359 words, approx. 15 pages

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Critical Essay by Rebecca Aanerud

11,296 words, approx. 38 pages

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The Use of Symbolism in "The Awakening"

672 words, approx. 3 pages

In The Awakening Kate Chopin makes excellent use of symbolism. Everything she puts into the novel is there for a reason and has a distinct purpose in the development of the story. The various houses ... Read more

The Awakening

1,811 words, approx. 7 pages

To this present day, women throughout America would be drastically different and would withhold fewer rights if it were not for women in the nineteenth and twentieth century like the characters Madame... Read more

Women and Desire: the Unwillingness of Society to Permit Desire in Women

3,458 words, approx. 12 pages

Fulfillment of desire has always been a popular theme in novels, plays and short stories because it has been undeniable and problematic in women throughout history. Novels such as The Awakening, by Ka... Read more

The Awakening: Sexuality in Nineteenth Century Literature

1,516 words, approx. 6 pages

Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure. George Gordon Noel Byron (The Daily Muse) Everyday the North American media sends millions of sexually provocative images through the airwaves and o... Read more

The Awakening: Robert, Leonce, and Alcee

2,326 words, approx. 8 pages

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is the story of Edna Pontellier's effort to escape the societal restrictions of women in the late 1800s, New Orleans. The novel is something of a landmark in nineteen... Read more

Parental Characters in the Awakening and White Oleander

1,679 words, approx. 6 pages

A child is very influenced by his/her parents. Most scientists believe that a child is molded by its DNA and environment. That is what makes us who we are. The parent is the biggest part of the env... Read more

Diction in The Awakening by Kate Chopin

382 words, approx. 2 pages

Within the course of the novel, Chopin uses formal language, conveying the fact that the characters about whom she is writing, are the wealthy upper-class, the type of people who would use very formal... Read more

Womens Roles in the Awakening

349 words, approx. 2 pages

Women's Roles in the Awakening Kate Chopin's, The Awakening, is the story of one women's quest for independence and freedom from a domineering and controlling husband and society. Through many self-... Read more

Life Begins and Ends in Water

1,391 words, approx. 5 pages

Kate Chopin's The Awakening begins set in Grande Isle which is the summer get-away for a few families of New Orleans "upper-class". It is a community of cottages owned by the Lebrun family. Edna Ponte... Read more

The Awakening

1,241 words, approx. 5 pages

As we know, women in the Victorian period were prevented from seeking the satisfaction of their own wants and needs. The preventions covered not only between strangers in the society, but also betwee... Read more

The Awakening

1,432 words, approx. 5 pages

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin is a novel that should be read. It is beautifully written, deals with important issues of oppression, and is a true quest for ones self. Unfortunately it does not m... Read more

Edna Vs. Nora

827 words, approx. 3 pages

Choices, options, decisions, whatever one chooses to call them, he is aware that he has them. In reading Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Henrik Isben's A Doll's House it is clearly seen that the cho... Read more

The Awakening

797 words, approx. 3 pages

Edna Pontellier's so-called "awakening" is her realization that she is a disposable object in her environment, the patriarchal Creole society of the 19th century. She slowly recognizes in The Awaken... Read more

Edna Is a Loser

447 words, approx. 2 pages

Is she strong or is she weak? Much conflict lies over the end of Kate Chopin's novel, The Awakening. The Awakening displays the life of a weak woman, Edna Pontillier, through showing her lack of co... Read more

Commentary on Passage from Chopin's "The Awakening"

1,099 words, approx. 4 pages

Often, people can say different things in different ways, yet they are trying to illustrate the same point. For example, to explain a certain process, one person may use analogies to other similar pro... Read more

Sleeping Caterpillar

1,973 words, approx. 7 pages

Traditions passed down through generations and generations root into everyone's life in a society. However these traditions seem to fit perfectly with the generations past, they nevertheless assume a... Read more

Controversial Gender Issues in Kate Chopin's "The Awakening"

1,756 words, approx. 6 pages

"Nothing any longer is given, anyone can be anything" (Jehlen 271). American controversy is a continual process. The last year of the twentieth century boiled over with suspension of Y2K (a newly coin... Read more

The Awakening

749 words, approx. 3 pages

Every one person has a place that they can go to for comfort, peace, and to let all their emotions run free. In the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna, a young woman, a wife to Leonce Pontellie... Read more

The Awakening

1,181 words, approx. 4 pages

Kate Chopin's novel, The Awakening, explores the boundaries that kept women from expressing themselves and ever being their true self. The main figure, Edna Pontellier, becomes a very influential fig... Read more

Edna Pontellier of The Awakening: A Woman before Her Time

1,234 words, approx. 5 pages

Edna Pontellier is a woman of great needs. Although she has a husband who cares for her and two children, she is very unhappy. She plays her roles as a mother and wife often, but still keeps... Read more

Analysis of the character of Edna Potellier in The Awakening

785 words, approx. 3 pages

Kate Chopin's, The Awakening, portrays a 19th century woman, Edna Pontellier, who suffers from the ordained roles that society expects from women. The novel commences with the Pontellier family tak... Read more

The True Awakening

646 words, approx. 3 pages

The women of the late nineteenth century were much different than those of today. It's almost unbelievable to see the emphasis put on being "Ladylike." However Edna Pontellier attempts to break away ... Read more

The Awakening: Searching for Self

1,331 words, approx. 5 pages

Edna Pontellier is always searching. She always looks for freedom, individuality, and self-identity. At the beginning of Chopin's The Awakening Edna is portrayed as a regular New Orleans woman of h... Read more

Summary and Analysis of the Awakening

2,174 words, approx. 8 pages

The protagonist in The Awakening by Kate Chopin is the character Edna Pontellier. She is a tall, attractive twenty-eight year old woman with yellowish brown hair that almost matches the color of her e... Read more

The Awakening

1,068 words, approx. 4 pages

Who are you? That is the question that faced Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. The novel is set in 1899, a time when the Industrial Revolution and the feminist movem... Read more

The Awakening: Symbolism

594 words, approx. 2 pages

The Awakening is a story that at first glance the reader may not notice the complexity of the symbolic references to Edna's plight and her escape from it but upon further contemplation one may come... Read more

Abstract of The Awakening

357 words, approx. 2 pages

In this essay, Masterplots gives many insightful opinions on Kate Chopin's writing elements and her reasons for writing this novel. Masterplots said, "When it was published in 1899, The Awakening was... Read more

The Awakening: The Search for True Identity

1,004 words, approx. 4 pages

Is personal freedom more important than one's moral obligations to one`s family and society? Kate Chopin's The Awakening, reveals the story of Edna Pontellier's struggle against her own expectations t... Read more

Oppression of Women in "The Awakening"

1,054 words, approx. 4 pages

Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening in the opening chapter provides the argument for women's entrapment in roles that society has forced upon them. Chopin was not just trying to write an entertainin... Read more

The Awakening

1,005 words, approx. 4 pages

The novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin takes place in the early 1920's on the Grand Isles of Louisiana. The Grand Isles is a resort for the wealthy. The theme of this novel is about a woman named Edna... Read more

Analysis of The Awakening by Kate Chopin

1,509 words, approx. 6 pages

Kate Chopin was a controversial writer in her time. Many critics believe that her novel The Awakening was a poor written attempt by s a short story author. Jane Le Marquand stated that Chopin had a ... Read more

Music as a Symbol of Independence: Fighting Social Rules and Regulations

588 words, approx. 2 pages

In Kate Chopin's The Awakening music and how it is perceived is representative of Edna's awakening. Music is an important symbol in the novel. In a way it foreshadows the events that take place in E... Read more

The Awakening

4,170 words, approx. 14 pages

The Awakening, of Kate Chopin (1851-1904), fits perfectly in this novel model of waking up, since it constitutes a frank exploration of how a woman of end of century XIX wakes up to the limitations of... Read more

Free Thinking in Victorian Society

790 words, approx. 3 pages

The uncivilized aspects of marriage in The Awakening and Jude the Obscure were written in order to expose the Victorian era's faults through adultery. The true feelings of Edna Pontellier and Jude Faw... Read more

The Awakening: Birds Will Be Birds

621 words, approx. 3 pages

Birds Will Be Birds Throughout Chopin's novel, The Awakening, she utilizes symbols to convey a deeper meaning in the story. One common animal, like a bird, or object, like clothing represent so much ... Read more

Edna's Quest for Freedom in "The Awakening"

1,547 words, approx. 6 pages

"If the literature we are reading does not wake us, why then do we read it?" According to Franz Kafka, "A literary work must be an ice-axe to break the sea frozen inside us." Great literature always... Read more

Symbolism in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

984 words, approx. 4 pages

In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, greater meanings lie beneath layers of symbolism. While it seems on the surface a largely feminist work, with the heroine finding happiness outside of traditional roles... Read more

Edna's Final Escape

595 words, approx. 2 pages

Edna's Final Escape "Edna's suicide represents her final attempt to escape-to escape her children, her lovers, and most important, time and change. For only by complete isolation of self can Edna be... Read more

A Rebirth into Happiness in "The Awakening"

871 words, approx. 3 pages

The novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin is a tale based on the change of a socially and morally respectable individual, who rebirths herself in effort to find true happiness. This is demonstrated th... Read more

Free Book Notes (1)

The Awakening

14,773 words, approx. 50 pages

The Awakening Book Notes is a free study guide on The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One-Page Plot Summary   Charac... Read more

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