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 meet Harold Blooms criteria for the Canon. According to Harold Bloom in his critical essay An Elegy for the Canon, a novel must embody certain characteristics in order for it to be canonical. Sadly, The Awakening falls short of one major criteria of the canon that can not be overlooked. There are many characteristics that define a canonical piece of work, and the three standards listed deal first with Aesthetic quality, such as diction, and symbolism. Next with mortality, such as the inner and external journey to find ones self, and last with originality, meaning the ability to stand on it's own, despite the gender of the writer, or the time period in which...