Kate Chopin

The Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with …

When it was first published in 1899, The Awakening was charged with being sordid, immoral and repellent. Following such public condemnation the novel disappeared from bookshops and libraries for almost fifty years. Today, the story of Edna Pontellier's search for sexual and spiritual freedom is heralded as a classic. …

This story of a woman's struggle with oppressive social structures received much public contempt at its first release; put aside because of initial controversy, the novel gained popularity in the 1960's, some six decades after its first publication, and has since remained a favorite of many readers. Chopin's depiction …