The Awakening

The Awakening is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf Coast in the late 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle between her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes in the American South at the turn of the century. It is one of the first American novels to focus on women's issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism, generating a mixed reaction from contemporary readers and critics.

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Subjects

Adultery, American literature, Classic literature, Criticism and interpretation, feminist fiction, feminist literature, Fiction, History, Interpersonal attraction, Interpersonal relationships, literary fiction, Louisiana Creoles, Man-woman relationships, manners and customs, Marriage, Married people, Married women, Modern literature, Psychological fiction, Psychology, Romantic fiction, Self-realization (Psychology), Stories, Social conditions, Social life and customs, Women, Fiction Americana (fictional works by a single author), Married People, fiction, New Orleans (la.), fiction, fiction, psychological, Louisiana, fiction, femmes, Romans, nouvellesPeople

Kate Chopin (1851-1904), Kate Chopin (1850-1904), Edna Pontellier, Léonce Pontellier, Etienne Pontellier, Raoul Pontellier, Madame Aline Lebrun, Robert Lebrun, Victor Lebrun, Mariequita, Adèle Ratignolle, Alphonse Ratignolle, Mademoiselle Reisz, the Farival twins, Monsieur Farival, Beaudelet, Madame Antoine, Toni Antoine, Old Celestine, Ellen Joe, Doctor Mandelet, Alcée Arobin, Mrs. Highcamp, James Highcamp, Mrs. Merriman, Miss Mayblunt, Gouvernail, Madame Pontellier. Showing 13 featured editions. See all 346 editions?

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Extracts

"Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! Okay!"

first sentence