Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - The Awakening

I'm so glad that I finally read this classic novella! Chopin's prose is gorgeous and evocative. From the first page, I felt instantly transported to postbellum upper-class society in New Orleans. This story is positively dripping with descriptions of dinner parties, formal outfits, and fancy homes.

Most importantly, though, it's easy to see the lasting significance of this classic work. The Awakening is aptly titled: the story follows main character Edna as she has an awakening that dramatically changes her conventional life. Edna begins to realize that she doesn't love her husband, nor does she love performing any conventional housewife duties. Edna then readily admits to herself - and the reader - that she is attracted to several men who are not her husband and that she desires to live alone. Those facts all make it quite easy to imagine why this book was considered scandalous when published in 1899. A woman acknowledging that she was bored in her marriage and attracted to other men? How dare she! And how dare Chopin write such a nuanced and beautifully composed story of feminine self-discovery?

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arcadering's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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meganmagicmusings's review against another edition

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4.0

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paigeinabook's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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meghan4's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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maggiegirouard's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall I liked the book, it was very interesting from a feminist literary perspective. I personally did not like the main character edna, at least after finishing the book and sitting on it for a day. I thought she was rash, oblivious, and ignorant. She thought she was freeing herself at the end, but

her death was not freeing, she could have gone on living a life she wanted to and achieving things, she could have taught her children and other people what she learned, and most of all, she is perpetuating the cycle she grew up in, without a mother, by leaving her children motherless.

I admire Adele and I think edna took much of her advice the wrong way. I think Adele was a feminist in her own way, and that Edna did not and could not see that. To me Edna is not this enlightened feminist who finds herself, she is a troubled woman who does not know where she is in her life and does not know where she would like to go. She seems to appreciate the things she has and the things she has learned about herself, but she lets it all go at the end very suddenly. I think I would need to read the novel again to understand Edna and her actions.

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rhythmofryn's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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