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 through the main character, Edna Pontellier, a middle age mother who is constantly searching to find her place in the early twentieth century affluent society. Edna undergoes an "awakening" where she finds herself desiring to live life to the fullest, find real love outside of her marriage, and back away from the rigid American society women's ideals. Leaving the reader to question, after one drastically changes both socially and mentally, will they eventually "wake up" to find freedom and happiness?

The novel almost immediately starts off with Edna trying to change herself. By being exposed to the elite Creole of New Orleans, she initially wishes to change her prudish ways to be more open and...