Kate Chopin's 1899 novel The Awakening explored women's liberation through the character of Edna Pontellier. Set in late 19th century New Orleans among the Creole community, the plot follows Edna as she rejects her role as wife and mother to find independence. Both Chopin's biography and the themes in The Awakening reflected the emerging women's movement of the time which advocated for women's rights and independence from patriarchal control. Through Edna's journey of self-discovery and tragic end, the novel examined women's struggle against the restrictive social norms of the Victorian era.

1. Kate Chopin’s
“The Awakening”

2. Historical Approach
• Kate Chopin’s novel, The
Awakening greatly represents society in
the late 1800’s due to the fact that its
plot greatly relates to the women’s
movement and Creole society in
Louisiana. She cleverly uses specific plot
events and characters to connect Edna’s
life to events that were occurring at the
end of this century.

3. • “The Awakening was written during a
period when feminism was emerging as a
vital force in American political
life.”Women began to speak out against
conservative ideas and demanded the
rights that they thought they should
rightly have. As women continued to
protest and voice their opinions, they
began earning greater achievements
such as acceptance into colleges and
getting hired as workers in professional
occupations.”
-Baechler, Litz, and Showalter

4. • “Many of them dick tried to change the world
in which they found themselves, either by
seeking better work and trying to make a
better life for themselves and their
families, or by tackling social problems that
had arisen in the young country as a result of
its rapid growth. Many tried to make a better
world for women, who made up more than
half the population but did not have full
rights as U.S. citizens.”
- Smith

5. • Edna’s wanting of independence
suck relates to the ideas of the
women’s movement, which she
practiced in a solitary manner.
She used self reflection and
painting to find the strength she
needed to break away from the
restricted life she was living

6. • "She had resolved never again to belong
to another than herself.“
–representing the feelings of a majority
of women towards the end of the 19th
century
• “Chopin's character, Edna
Pontellier, illustrates the independent
nature that women began recognizing in
themselves”

7. • The Awakening’s plot of Grand
Isle, Louisiana directly relates to the
Louisiana lifestyle of the late
1800's.This state’s residents felt
strongly about the roles that women
and men played in society
• Adele- depicts the women who were
committed to religious practices and
to their family during the late 19th
century

8. • Edna Pontellier’s ideals and
actions greatly represent the
feelings and beliefs in which
belonged to women activists of
the women’s movement
• Edna’s family and neighbors
signify the conservative views of
most Americans in Louisiana

9. The most important point in
husbands' lives was how to
look in front of other families
and friends, and of
course, this was the main
duty of the housekeeper, or in
other words, the wife.

10. It wasn't considered appropriate
for women to speak out and be
rebellious enough to show that
they don't have to be controlled
by men.

11. Society in that era offered
Edna only two choices:
Marriage or Death

12. Biographical Criticism
• Kate Chopin’s behavior-shocked people in the
small town in Louisiana were they lived after
her husband closed his cotton shop
• After the death of her husband, she met a
married man who was attracted to her and
she gave him more than passing attention.
Then she decided to leave him and go back to
live with her mother in St. Louis.

13. • Chopin's father, Thomas O'Flaherty, was
older than her mother, Eliza, by twenty-
three years. This is also presented in
Edna's marriage to Leonce who was
older than she was by twelve years.
• There weren't a lot of male figures in
her story most likely because she didn't
have them around as she was growing
up

14. • All the authority figures in her life were
female made her want to believe that
men didn't suppress women.
• Edna didn't believe that men and society
could hold her back, much like Kate
didn't believe that women weren't equal
in society to men.
• Kate's grandmother could be compared
to the character of Mademoiselle Reisz in
the story.

15. Kate Chopin…
• As Edna Pontellier
–Kate’s husband, Oscar, was
from New Orleans and his cotton
broker business was based there
so she moved from St. Louis to be
with him

16. Kate Chopin…
• As Adele Ratignolle
–Kate was a loving mother and wife
who stayed home to raise the
family and never did anything
mischievous
–The happy marriage life of Kate
and Oscar

17. The entire Chopin family used to spend
their spare time vacationing in Grand
Isle, enjoying the sun and the friendly
faces. This is the same location Kate
Chopin uses in her novel for the
Pontellier family, as well as many other
families from the Creole community in
which they were from.

18. Kate Chopin and
Edna Pontellier
• Kate searched for self-identity for her
desire to know who she really was.
• Edna goes through the process of trying
to find herself and tries to become the
person she wants to be, not what
society says the ideal female should be.

19. Kate Chopin and
Edna Pontellier
Although Chopin didn't literally
commit suicide, she died away
from the literacy in her
life, while the character of Edna
removed herself from the life
that was making her so unhappy.

20. Psychoanalytic Approach
• Her relationship with Alcee and
Robin ultimately represents a form
of penis envy which, Freud would
argue, stems from her repressed
sexual desires that developed as her
id was forming as an infant
• Repression

21. • Edna's jealousy of Robert's letters to
Madame Lebrun can be interpreted as
an example of the Electra Complex;
Edna wishes to destroy the mother who
is receiving attention from the male that
she desires. This conscious desire for
Robert and unconscious hatred of
Madame Lebrun can be linked to the
pleasure-seeking principle of the id

22. Regression
• Edna's perception of Adele's newborn
baby as well as Edna's removal of her
clothes before stepping into the ocean
represent Edna's desire to return to the
fetal stage and become re-birthed
• The water of the ocean represents the
womb; the stripping of her clothes
represents the nakedness of being born

23. Repression
Leonce loves Edna but he never
expresses these feelings
Robert flees to Mexico rather
than express his love for Edna
Returning to New
Orleans, Robert delays seeing her
for the same reason

24. Mademoiselle Reisz possesses an
insight into matters of the heart
and soul, yet she never expresses
what in her past has allowed her
to develop this insight
Edna’s inability to continue to
repress her newly-discovered
feelings drives her to her suicide

25. Displacement
Chapter 12
“Beaudelet grumbled because Mariequita was
there, taking up so much room. But in
reality, he was annoyed at having Monsieur
Farival, who considered himself the better
sailor of the two. But he would not quarrel
with so old a man as Monsieur Farival so he
quarreled with Mariequita.”

26. Id, Ego, Superego