Nimike Aruwajoye

January 7th, 2017

5th period
Research Paper (Major Assignment #4)

Awakened. A term that can simply mean to rouse from sleep. But, considering the

circumstances of which Edna Pontellier withstands, this term doesnt have any relevance to

waking from slumber, but more so to the extent that one has become aware or alert of something.

As we follow the female protagonist, Edna Pontellier, on her journey into finding her true self,

Edna is awakened through her senses of individuality, sex, and art. Hence the title, The

Awakening. Throughout the whole story, we witness Edna undergo many life-altering transitions

that result in her defying many of societal standards and norms that were set in stone for women

during the year of 1899. While reshaping who she is as an individual, she disregards her family

and societal obligations and eventually abandons her family to fulfill the personal desires she has

within. The Awakening was released towards the end of the nineteenth century, a period in time

where women suffrage movements were just beginning to step foot into the United States.

Though the novel was brutally rejected and given negative reviews upon its release to the public,

today it is widely accepted and seen as an empowering feminist work that is praised for its

realistic views and powerful insight it provides. The novel has had major impacts on both society

and literature. It has been adapted into a movie and has made many recurrences in college

textbooks.

The Awakening was first published on April 22, 1899. Chopin was inspired to write this

novel after the Civil War when voting rights were granted to basically everyone but women. The

novel clearly reflects on the Creole culture during the Victorian era. The nineteenth century was a

time period in which men and women were expected to fulfill separate roles and expectations

that were placed on them by society (Lena and Kathy, The Time Period of The Awakening).
The men's lifestyle primarily consisted of going to their place of work a factory or office of

some sort so they could bring in a consistent amount of earnings to provide for their families. If

not work, then they could be found socializing with other men who shared the same views as

them in public places like clubs or bars. Chopin shows evidence of this happening in the novel

when Mr. Pontelliers presence is constantly absent from his home and instead present at the

local clubs. I see Leonce isnt coming back, she said Robert supposed he was not, as there

were a good many New Orleans club men over at Kleins (Chopin 29). Unfortunately, women

werent given liberties that allowed them that much freedom. Thus, during this period women

were perceived to be the modern day housewife, where they were left at home to oversee duties

such as cleaning, cooking and raising their children while tending to the needs of their husbands.

They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it holy

a privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels(Chopin

44). The Awakening was published during a time where social roles (mainly by gender) were

being changed. According to SparkNotes, the feminist movement had just begun and was only

introduced to some places in America. But in conservative states such as Louisiana, the topic was

totally nonexistent, considering under their law women were still considered the property of their

husbands. "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 (Chopin 18).

One of the main audiences that Kate Chopin targets in this novel are the women who feel

repressed by their obligated roles in society. It's easy to confirm that this is who is being targeted

because, the story is told from the point of view of a woman who is on a mission to discover who

she is as her own individual - not as someones wife or mother. The whole novel is directly

centered on Edna Pontellier, a woman who no longer wants to be confined by the overbearing
limitations of her sex, but instead wants to be free without always being condemned or judged

for actions that she believes better her as a person. Edna frees herself from the suffocating

stereotypical bonds by expressing that not all women wish to be identified as human beings

through their husbands only. The reason that repressed women are being targeted by this book,

can be justified considering that it was released in the 19th century, a time in which it was still

considered taboo for women to be dominant and opinionated on topics relating to their roles in

society. Seeing as gender roles werent equally viewed amongst males and females, this novel

paves the way to breaking free from the different stereotypes that have restrained the skills and

intelligence that women withhold. Chopin does this by using a strong female protagonist that

understands that individualism and equality are something one must acquire by first freeing

themselves from expectations given by society (Kyrireese, The Awakening by Kate Chopin).

The novel was successful with its targeting techniques because Russ Sprinkle at Bowling Green

State Universitys English Department stated that Edna Pontellier epitomized the consummate

New Woman of the late nineteenth century. She embodied the social ideals for which women of

that era were striving. She was individualistic--a maverick; she was passionate; she was

courageous and intrepid--she was the definitive persona which thousands of women during the

late nineteenth century exalted as a role model. (Sprinkle, Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A

Critical Reception).

The Awakening was released to the public in April of 1899. An era where women were

barely recognized as people but more so as property. So imagine the surprise when an already

established American novelist, Kate Chopin, released a novel about how a wife and mother of

two kids decides to abruptly abandon her household and family obligations to instead find her

true self by going against society's norms that were presumed of women. The little glimpse of
domestic harmony which had been offered her, gave her no regret, no longing. It was not a

condition of life which fitted her, and she could see in it but an appalling and hopeless ennui.

(Chopin 269) Yeah, not so good. The awful reviews and ratings from critics and reporters that

Chopin received after her book was released were probably not what she was expecting. Male

commentators were primarily the ones who disapproved the theme of the novel out of fear that it

would solidify upcoming changes that had to do with the social standings of males and females.

It was documented that The Awakening was drowned with unfavorable reviews just weeks after

its release. Most critics regarded the novel as vulgar, unwholesome, unholy, and a

misappropriation of Chopin's exceptional literary talent. Many reviewers regarded the novel's

aggrandizement of sexual impurity as immoral, and thus they condemned the novel's

theme.(Sprinkle, Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A Critical Reception). The expectations that

were set for Chopin's novel were set too high standards (due to her past works), but many

commented and said they were not met for the simple fact that they were appalled at the way the

main character portrayed herself. ...critics expected more of what Chopin was known for as a

regionalist writer--realism and local color. They expected to read a novel rich in descriptive

language, colorful characters, and the sights and sounds of Louisiana Creole life. Instead of local

color, however, critics were shocked and dismayed at Edna Pontellier's behavior and considered

Chopin's novel morbid and lacking literary value. (Sprinkle, Kate Chopin's the Awakening: A

Critical Reception).

As time continued to progress on forward, the book as well underwent many

complications before receiving its full awareness and acceptance. It was commonly agreed upon

that the year the book was released, was a time period in which people were accustomed to

thinking conservatively and single-mindedly, versus being accepting to the new changes of
society. Which explains the reason for the negative reviews on the book, seeing as it brought up

topics and ideas that were not yet ready to be addressed by a civilization that lacked exposure on

the equality of women. Eventually, all interest in The Awakening fell still resulting in the book

going into hibernation for 30 years after its publishing. Due to the novel falling out of existence

for decades, there's no way to know what thoughts were running through people's minds during

this early/mid-20th century. Wikipedia has stated that it wasn't until the year 1969 when the

novel was revived by a Norwegian Scholar by the name of Per Seyersted, to a more accepting

audience and given the desired recognition it deserved. It was finally deemed as feminist work

that would bring insight and awareness to women. Judith Warner, the author of the 2005 New

York Time bestseller "Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, was one of the

guest intervieweess on the Diane Rhem Show (thedianerehmshow.org/), that was asked to come

in and discuss Kate Chopins book The Awakening for one of their Readers Review sessions.

She went more in depth to explain that the reason why it wasnt recognized as a feminist work

until later was because of the lack of exposure and knowledge on how to correctly interpret the

message correctly. Although it wasn't really valued and recognized as a feminist work until, of

course, much later, I guess, until we had the vocabulary to see it that way... (11:28:19 -

11:28:59).

Currently, people know see the novel as an enlightening piece of work that adequately

addresses common issues concerning women and their roles in society. The generation we now

reside in has grown to be more accepting in such a way that now allows readers and reviewers to

see the novel as a milestone to the beginning works of feminism. It is currently viewed as an

honorable and liberating masterpiece. What was held in the field of literature as amoral and

without literary value in 1899 was considered artistic and noble in 1969. Thus, Chopin's novel
began to receive the acclaim it had been so vehemently denied nearly three-quarters of a century

earlier. (Sprinkle, Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A Critical Reception. Because the novel

provides readers with a sense of reality towards equality and independence, it is now commonly

interpreted and analyzed in learning environments. Since the resurrection of Chopin's novel in

1969, countless classrooms across the United States have found in The Awakening a superb

example of the transcendent New Woman. (Sprinkle, Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A Critical

Reception.

In today's world, The Awakening is commonly associated with Chopin's identity in the

literary world. Chopin is now fully validated as one of America's essential writers. The novel is

now considered a classic that is often required to be read in the classroom (Koloski,

Awakenings: The Story of the Kate Chopin Revival). In his anthology, Bernard Koloski, a

former English professor at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania and author of Kate Chopin: A

Study of the Short Fiction, brags that The Awakening is "one of the most often taught of all

American novels. It is said that every college that surveys American literature, has a textbook

that contains her novel The Awakening or an excerpt from it. Students have even began

complaining about how often The Awakening is brought up in the curriculum, ... literary studies

over the past three decades concerns a graduate student who complained of reading Kate

Chopins The Awakening in three classes and Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick in none (Koloski,

Awakenings: The Story of the Kate Chopin Revival).

Not only has The Awakening made its impact on the literary world, but also in society as

well. In 1992 the novel was modified into a movie called the Grand Isle. The Internet Movie

Database (IMDB), has posted that The Grand Isle was produced by the Turner Network

Television (TNT) and was directed by Mary Lambert starring Kelly McGillis, Jon DeVries,
Adrian Pasdar. The recreation of the book as a movie film, signifies how the novel has been an

impact to society, due to the exposure that it provides to other generations by allowing for them

to be given a more comprehensible outlook on the events that occurred in the book through a

digital visual presentation using pictures and sounds.

Through Kate Chopin's novel, The Awakening, we initially witness the book take its

plunge into a time period where women's freedom and liberties were still being dictated by

males figures. As the book makes its appearance from the 19th century to current day, we see

how the reviews are dramatically altered from being condemned to being commended for its true

worth. The novel was successful in its methods of targeting repressed women as well as it being

successful with making memorable impacts on the literary and societal worlds. But, overall The

Awakening has proved to be highly influential due to Chopins introduction of the new woman

in the 19th century. Edna Pontellier epitomized the consummate New Woman of the late

nineteenth century. She embodied the social ideals for which women of that era were

striving.(Sprinkle, Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A Critical Reception). The new woman

now symbolizes current women in today's society who are strong individuals that are capable of

making their own decisions without a man to dictate what they can and cannot do. The parallel

that is shown between the two different centuries demonstrates how Chopins world renowned

novel, The Awakening has influenced the way women are today.