The Awakening

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Kate Chopin’s controversial masterpiece, The Awakening, is an essential novel in the canon of early feminism. First published in 1899, it was so shocking to readers of the time that it was neglected for decades. Rediscovered in the 1960s, this brief, beautiful novel is now considered a landmark of early feminist literature. It tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a twenty-eight-year-old wife and mother who, with devastating consequences, rejects her conventional married life in pursuit of self-discovery. While vacationing on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, Edna meets and falls in love with the passionate Robert Lebrun. After this encounter, she can no longer find meaning in her comfortable domestic life and chooses to live alone. Edna's tragic quest for personal, creative, and erotic freedom lies at the heart of this classic novel, which captures women's desires with extraordinary frankness, sympathy, and intensity.