About the Author
Kate Chopin was born in 1851 to the well-to-do St. Louis couple Eliza and Thomas O’Flaherty. She attended a convent school, took piano and French […]
The Awakening
Setting
Chopin lived in, and generally wrote about, life in the South. In The Awakening, she wrote specifically about Creole society in Louisiana. Creoles saw themselves […]
Themes and Characters
The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier and the changes that occur in her thinking and lifestyle as the result of a summer romance. […]
Literary Qualities
An objective third person narrates the story of Edna Pontellier and her search for self in The Awakening. The narrator does not criticize or applaud […]
Social Sensitivity
The Awakening has taken on a new significance since the advent of the women’s movement. Literary debates have raged over the significance of Edna Pontellier’s […]
Topics for Discussion
1. Research the Creole culture. Explain how Creoles have both Spanish and French ancestry and how that ancestry affects their lifestyle. Describe the culture through […]
Ideas for Reports and Papers
1. Compare and contrast New Orleans’ Carondelet Street and New York’s Wall Street in 1899. Does Carondelet Street still exist? 2. Trace the history of […]
Related Titles and Adaptations
Bayou Folk is Chopin’s 1894 collection of stories that present the people of Natchitoches Parish as they live and love in daily life. Chopin’s skill […]