An Analysis of “The Awakening” By Kate Chopin

Feminist self-actualization or overhyped mid-life crisis?

The Awakening was a novel written in 1899 by Kate Chopin. Often credited as one of the earliest feminist pieces of literature that tells the tale of a woman discovering her true passions. I chose to read this for my AP literature final project as I was expecting something along its reputation.

I’m saddened to say, however, that I was sorely disappointed. I'm sorry to any Chopin stans reading this but it was a very dismissible novel that develops this theme of individualism but ultimately throws it away.

I think I can best describe The Awakening as Fight Club but for women; except Fight Club is intentionally satirical, aware of the toxic masculinity it displays, and actually enjoyable to consume. Kate Chopin seemed to lack the self-awareness to have that same depth.

The story is about a woman in her late 20s by the name of Edna Pontellier. She and her family spend a vacation on an island called the Grand Isle. Her husband, Léonce Pontellier, is a doctor who is always working and rarely gets to spend time with Edna. Edna consequently feels lonely on this island, leading to her ‘friendship’ with a man named Robert Lebrun. It starts platonic but it builds up romantically throughout the novel.

I personally liked the first act of the story. It wasn’t the most exciting read of my life but it felt like it was setting up for something worthwhile. There were a lot of memorable lines that showed a lot of symbolism and meaning in just a couple of words. Moments like

“‘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.”

Many bits like this put the message in plain sight; that Edna felt tired of her everyday housewife duties and wanted something more. This shows me that Chopin was actually a good writer who knew what she was doing.

The second act, though, was far more forgettable and poorly paced. At that point, it felt mostly like the mellow dramatic, narcissistic ramblings of a white woman’s first-world problems.

There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why — when it did not seem worth while to be glad or sorry, to be alive or dead; when life appeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium and humanity like worms struggling blindly toward inevitable annihilation.”

Reading sections like this made me think of the fact that, especially considering her time period, she must have lived an upbringing built on slaves.

Look, I can definitely sympathize with her oppression, that’s what I read this book to do. But it’s hard to see what Chopin does here other than what white feminists are usually best at, complaining about what they as white women go through. This perspective is further played out when Edna starts trashing Mexican women out of envy.

She does this because Robert eventually leaves her to go to Mexico for business and she goes back to her home in New Orleans. This separation drives her mad and makes her realize how much she loves him. Chopin lazily tries to give Edna some passion as an aspiring artist but this just never really goes anywhere as Robert seems to live in this girl’s head rent-free. Despite this, she has an affair with this other man, Alcee Arobin. The only point of this character/relationship was to show Edna that was she truly desired was an emotional connection, I guess. But it was again so forgettable that it feels pointless to even mention it.

Eventually, she reunites with Robert to confess to each other their true love. However, Robert thinks it through and decides to leave her for good with a goodbye note. This leaves Edna completely heartbroken in which she decides at the end of the novel to…commit suicide?

Now, mind you, I hope you haven’t forgotten that this woman had a whole family with children. To say that I was frustrated with this ending is an understatement. I think the point where it fully set in for me that this was one of the worst books I have ever read in my life was this part.

“There was no one thing in the world that she desired. There was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert…”

Those two sentences perfectly exhibit my problem with this story. The irony that Edna in her journey to be an individual free from the expectations of patriarchy killed herself over another man; she still let her life be revolved around another man.

I think I could write 500 more words ranting about this ending alone but I think you can easily picture the issue. I would have been far more satisfied with this story if it at the very least ended with her forgetting Robert and being the artist she wanted to be. It wouldn’t have been the most shocking ending but it wouldn’t have taken a huge dump all over the theme you built up the whole entire book.

So yeah, I would not recommend this book to anyone and I should’ve just gone with my second choice of Dante’s Inferno.