The Awakening by Kate Chopin (#41, Classic)

Is it wrong that I really enjoyed this book? I guess it came along at the right time. Kate Chopin's The Awakening is about a woman who undergoes and spiritual awakening that will forever change the course of her life. There were a lot of passages that I underlined while reading this in the car on the way back to Maine. Edna's ignited passion for life and her utter refusal to be controlled by her overbearing husband inspires me to be a stronger woman. I agree with her assertion, "The years that are gone seem like dreams--if one might go on sleeping and dreaming--but to wake up and find--oh! well! perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than remain a dupe to illusions all one's life" (105). No one wants to go around with their head stuck in the clouds, never truly understanding, never truly feeling things.

I also liked this line: "One of these days," she said, "I'm going to pull myself together for a while and think--try to determine what character of a woman I am; for, candidly, I don't know. By all the codes which I am acquainted with, I am a devilishly wicked specimen of the sex. But some way I can't convince myself that I am. I must think about it." (79) I think Edna's struggle to find herself, to awaken her soul, is one that us girls are still struggling with. The times have changed since the days when women wore full coverage outfits for swimming and were required to sit at home and raise the children, where propriety dictated what she could and could not do, where the husband had all the power and the woman was his property. But society still operates through gender codes. Women are still confined in a gender role and certain things are expected of us. We can get lost in these gender roles and I really enjoyed reading about a woman who awoke out of her socially induced stupor and came into her own. Edna makes decisions, Edna chooses her independence and she ends things on her own terms.

And I kind of love how Edna turns into a player near the end of the book. The woman is married, yet she falls in love with Robert and then there is this other guy who spends the night a lot. We never know for sure if she is unfaithful to her husband but there are references to how Monsieur Arobin stays over and caresses her. I guess for late 19th century literature, that was as racy as the descriptions could get. But the strange thing to me is that she never gets "caressed" by the man she loves. Robert remains unattainable, even in the end when he declares his love for her on a piece of paper.