American Literature

The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)

Women

This collection uses primary sources to explore The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

An 1870 photograph of Kate O’Flaherty at the time of her marriage to  Oscar Chopin.

This photograph of the author of *The Awakening* was taken at the time of her marriage to Oscar Chopin. Kate O’Flaherty was the daughter of a prominent St. Louis family who moved to her husband’s native Louisiana.

A photograph of Kate Chopin and her four children in 1877.

This photograph shows Chopin, author of *The Awakening*, with her children Frederick, George, Jean, and Oscar. Though Edna struggles with the roles prescribed to her in *The Awakening*, Chopin was happily married.


An excerpt from chapter one of *The Awakening*, 1899.

In this selection from chapter one of *The Awakening*, published in 1899, Mr. and Mrs. Pontellier meet at their cottage at the Grand Isle resort.

A painting of a West Indian Creole woman and her black servant, circa 1780.

This painting by Agostino Brunias, created around 1780, demonstrates the diversity and history of Creole culture. The origins of the term “Creole” likely include Spanish and Portuguese words which referred to people of European descent born in the Americas. Different groups of people referred to as “Creole” lived in Latin American and Caribbean countries during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, establishing Creole cultures that remain influential today. During the colonial period, many Creole people owned plantations and served the colonial government. Creoles were white, black, or mixed-race, and some were enslaved while others owned slaves or employed servants, like the woman in the painting. In *The Awakening*, the Pontelliers employ a “quadroon” nurse. The term “quadroon” described a person with one-quarter African and three-quarters European ancestry.

A photograph of Louisiana’s Gulf Coast in 1935.

This 1935 photograph is by Walker Evans and printed by Charlie Rodemeyer. Chopin settled in Louisiana after she married. Members of the Creole elite vacationed on the coast, which was considered a wholesome, tropical paradise, and parts of *The Awakening* are set on the coast in the Grand Isle resort.

A photograph of a woman with a parasol taken between 1900 and 1914.

This photograph of a woman holding a book and kneeling by a parasol in the grass was taken between 1900 and 1914. The time period of this photograph and Chopin’s novel saw the emergence of the “New Woman.” The idea of a “New Woman” more at liberty to make her own choices—including choosing the company of others or choosing to be alone—resonates with the themes of *The Awakening*. In chapter one, Edna appears under a sunshade, or parasol, with Robert LeBrun.

*The Parrot*, a print by Mary Cassatt, 1891.

*The Parrot* (1891) is by the American artist Mary Cassatt, a contemporary of Kate Chopin. Cassatt was a key contributor to Impressionist art and achieved success during a time when women were discouraged from studying and producing art as a career. While other Impressionists, such as Claude Monet, painted landscapes, Cassatt was known for portraits, particularly portraits of women.


A photograph of unknown date showing the Gulf of Mexico.

This photograph of a beach on the Gulf of Mexico presents a view similar to what Edna might have seen in Grand Isle. The ocean is a catalyst and a symbol in *The Awakening*. Edna’s feelings about it change over the course of the novel.

An 1899 article from *The St. Louis Dispatch* in which Chopin discusses her writing.

This article, entitled “A St. Louis Woman Who Has Won Fame in Literature,” was published November 26, 1899 and features Chopin’s comments about her writing process. Chopin was a native of St. Louis and the daughter of a prominent family there. She moved to Louisiana after she married.

The dedication to *Woman’s Profession as Mother and Educator* by Catharine E. Beecher, published in 1872.

This excerpt comes from an 1872 book by Beecher, an author, activist, and educator who highlighted women’s contributions to American society but opposed votes for women.

An excerpt from Victoria Woodhull’s 1871 “Steinway Speech” on free love.

Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for president, fought for female suffrage, labor reform, and equal rights. In this famous speech delivered at Steinway Hall in New York City on November 20, 1871, Woodhull challenges sexual double standards and observes that men and women may feel love and desire inside and outside of marriage. The speech was reprinted in *The Great Sensation* (1873) by Leon Oliver.

Willa Cather’s preface to *The Best Stories by Sarah Orne Jewett*, published in 1925.

Willa Cather, a novelist famous for portraying life on the Great Plains, selected stories for a collection of works by Jewett, a regionalist writer from the previous generation. Cather’s preface, published in 1925, describes what makes Jewett’s writing unique and important. The book includes stories Jewett published between 1896 and 1899.

An excerpt from an audio recording of a lecture on French naturalism by LeMoine Lewis.

This excerpt comes from a lecture delivered at Abilene Christian University by LeMoine Lewis. Lewis identifies the features and impact of French naturalism. While the date of the recording is unknown, Lewis was a professor of Bible and church history at the university between 1949 and 1986. 

An excerpt from Chopin’s 1893 short story “Désirée’s Baby,” about miscegenation, or the mixing of racial groups, in the Creole community.

 “Désirée’s Baby” is the best-known story in the collection *Bayou Folk*, which Chopin published in 1894. *Bayou Folk* portrays the people of Louisiana, and the book received praise. “Désirée’s Baby” raises important issues about race and racism in the South. The main character is a beautiful young woman raised by a foster family who marries a successful and loving man, Armand. Armand is unconcerned with Désirée’s unknown heritage until their child appears to have black skin, suggesting that Désirée is of mixed race. Ironically, the end of the story reveals that Armand himself has a Black mother.

Questions

1. Read the [excerpt from the first chapter](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1452) of the novel. How does *The Awakening* introduce Edna Pontellier? Using evidence from the text, describe how this scene portrays the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Pontellier.
2. Choose either the [photograph of Kate O’Flaherty](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1450) or the [photograph of Kate Chopin and her four children](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1451); compare your choice to the [photograph of the woman with the parasol](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1455). What clues do clothing, accessories, and poses provide about the life and status of the woman in the picture as well as the customs of her time? Now imagine that Edna Pontellier is posing for a photograph. What do you think she would wear? How would she pose? Would the photo be of Edna alone or with her family? Explain your answer using evidence from the novel.
3. In your own words, name the factors that [Catharine Beecher](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1459) believes threaten “the family state” and cause women to avoid motherhood. How would Edna respond to Beecher’s views? How would Madame Ratignolle respond? How would Mademoiselle Reisz respond?
4. Compare [Victoria Woodhull](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1460)’s views on love and desire with Edna’s reflections on her passionate experience with Arobin in chapter twenty-eight of *The Awakening*.
5. Look at [Willa Cather’s preface](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1461) to the collection of stories by Sarah Orne Jewett, a writer Chopin admired. Cather writes that Jewett “had not only the eye, she had the ear” to accurately portray the landscape and people of Maine during the late 1800s and early 1900s. How does *The Awakening* demonstrate Chopin’s eye and ear for Louisiana Creole culture? Choose a passage from *The Awakening* and use it to explain whether Chopin shares Jewett’s ability.
6. Chopin praised Guy de Maupassant, a French naturalist writer she admired, as “a man who had escaped from tradition and authority” and “looked out upon life… with his own eyes.” How does the [lecture](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1462) characterize French naturalism? What elements of French naturalism do you see in *The Awakening*? To what extent does Chopin’s writing show her looking out upon life with her own eyes? In what ways does Edna, the character Chopin created, look at life with her own eyes?
7. Look at the [painting of the West Indian Creole woman](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1453) and her black servant. How would you describe their relationship? What details in the painting reveal their relationship? How does the painting connect to the racial hierarchies depicted in the excerpt from “[Désirée’s Baby](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1463)”? How do the Creole woman and her servant connect to Edna and the “quadroon” nurse?
8. Look at the [photograph of Louisiana’s Gulf Coast](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1454), the [photograph showing the Gulf of Mexico](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1457), the [photograph of the woman with the parasol](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1455), and [*The Parrot*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1456). What do the ocean, a parasol, and birds symbolize in *The Awakening*? How do these symbols relate to the passage in chapter sixteen in which Edna declares that she would sacrifice her life, but not herself, for her children?

Activity

Ask students to imagine that the [photograph of Louisiana’s Gulf Coast](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1454) and [*The Parrot*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1456) are postcards. Students should write one postcard from Edna to Robert Lebrun after he departs for Mexico, pretending that Edna is writing to Robert the night after talking on the dock in chapter fifteen. Ask students to think carefully about what she says to Robert and why. Then ask students to write another postcard for Edna to send to her husband from the “pigeon house,” pretending that Edna writes a response to the concerns Léonce raises in chapter thirty-two about his wife moving to her own house.

Teaching Guide: Exploring *The Awakening*

Resources

1. [The Kate Chopin International Society](https://www.katechopin.org). 
2. [Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening](http://www.pbs.org/katechopin/), PBS. 
3. [Kate Chopin](http://www.loyno.edu/~kchopin/), Loyola University New Orleans. 
4. [Kate Chopin, 1851-1904](http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chopinawake/bio.html), Documenting the American South. 

Overview

Kate Chopin’s novel has been called a scandalous masterpiece. It shocked readers when it was published in 1899, but today it is recognized as an American classic. Born into a wealthy family in St. Louis, Chopin moved to Louisiana when she married at age 20; like many of her other works, *The Awakening* portrays the Creole elite of Natchitoches parish. In the novel, “Creole” refers to people descended from French and Spanish colonists who settled in Louisiana before it became part of the United States. While Creole people could be white, mixed-race, or black, Creole society maintained a racial hierarchy that privileged light skin. Several of Chopin’s works criticize this hierarchy, yet *The Awakening* largely leaves it unexamined.

To depict Creole culture, Chopin drew inspiration from both American regionalist writers such as Sarah Orne Jewett and French naturalist writers, including Guy de Maupassant. Her writing combines features from both styles, blending regionalism’s attention to the features that distinguish American people and places with the objective point of view and occasional pessimism found in naturalism. 

*The Awakening* explores the experience of Edna Pontellier, who chafes against expectations of women in Creole society. Edna’s search for an identity beyond marriage and motherhood creates conflict with her husband Léonce, who does not understand her need for independence; this conflict contributes to her affairs with other men. Two other characters, Adèle Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, serve as foils to Edna. Ratignolle is an example of the idealized Creole woman, living a life completely devoted to a husband and children, while Reisz is single and lives on the margins of society. Together these two reflect the limited options available to women. Dissatisfied and wanting something else, Edna commits suicide to escape these constraints. In spite of its tragic ending, *The Awakening* is a remarkable portrait of female rebellion. In it, Chopin challenges gender inequalities and questions the social norms that restrict what women like Edna can do and be.

English

*The Awakening* by Kate Chopin

awakening_04_f689f81e1f863ec2805119e02ab76ee0.jpg

Courtesy of Yale Center for British Art via ARTstor.

Brunias, Agostino, “West Indian Creole woman, with her Black Servant,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/f689f81e1f863ec2805119e02ab76ee0.

A painting of a West Indian Creole woman and her black servant, circa 1780.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 4 of 14 in the Primary Source Set The Awakening by Kate Chopin