All Formats & Editions

When first published in 1899, The Awakening shocked readers with its honest treatment of female marital infidelity. Audiences accustomed to the pieties of late Victorian romantic fiction were taken aback by Chopin's daring portrayal of a woman trapped in a stifling... Read Full Overview

e Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox... Read Full Overview

"She grew daring and reckless. Overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out. Where no woman had swum before."

This Norton Critical Edition includes:

- The annotated text of Kate Chopin's modernist novel of marital infidelity, set in New Orleans and Grande Isle, Louisiana.
- A preface, a critical essay, and explanatory annotations by Margo Culley.
- Essays by acclaimed... Read Full Overview

A new, beautifully laid-out, easy-to-read edition of Kate Chopin's timeless classic. Kate Chopin's The Awakening is the story of Edna Pontellier and her struggle between her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing attitudes of the American... Read Full Overview

The Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the nineteenth century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox... Read Full Overview

This critical edition of Kate Chopins The Awakening presents the classic novel alongside critical essays assembled from the perspectives of feminism, gender, and historical, deconstructionist, and reader response criticism to enhance your connection to the issues within the novel... Read Full Overview

The text is that of the first edition of the novel, published by Herbert S. Stone in 1899. It has been annotated by the editor and includes translations of French phrases and information about New Orleans locales, customs, and lore, the Bayou region, and Creole culture. "Bibliographical... Read Full Overview

She grew daring and reckless. Overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out. Where no woman had swum before.

Complete and unabridged paperback edition.

First published in 1899.

Mr. Pontellier finally lit a cigar and began to smoke, letting the paper drag idly from his hand. He fixed his gaze upon a white sunshade that was advancing at a snail's pace from the beach. He could see it plainly between the gaunt trunks of the water-oaks and across the stretch... Read Full Overview