Literary Look at The Awakening

            
             The Awakening was written at the end of the nineteenth century. That was a time of tension between the old and the new, the traditional and the modern. The industrialization, urbanization and changing social norms of the turn of the century all contributed to the fact that life was changing. Kate Chopin was an understated author of her time. She was looked down upon because she was a women writing of feminist views for a society that was not quite ready for it. .
             Chopin's favorite theme for her stories is the inherent conflict between the traditional requirement that a wife form her life around her husband's and a woman's need for discrete personhood (363). In The Awakening Chopin's theme holds true. Her main character is Edna Pontellier a woman who realizes that she can't have a life while in the bonds of marriage; but like the many downfalls of life Edna learns these things to late. The theme of the story is one that many women of Chopin's time can relate to. It is evident that the changing world around Chopin influenced her writings. If you take a closer look at The Awakening four major literary movements Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, and Local Color also appear in Chopin's writing. .
             Romanticism writing is often emotional, marked by a sense of liberty, filled with conflicts of the inner self, dreamy settings, memories of childhood, and unrequited love. .
             There are various romantic elements in The Awakening, the location of the story (Grand Isle and New Orleans), the use of color (different characters), and nature (ocean). The main romantic theme in the novel is Edna's search for individuality and freedom: freedom to decide what to be, how to think, and how to live. In the process of finding herself she rebels against society and you get the sense that even though she is surrounded by people she is alone in her fight.
             The hot wind beating in my face made me think- without any connection that I can trace - of a summer day in Kentucky, of a meadow that seemed as big as the ocean to the very little girl walking through the grass, which was higher than her waist.