"The Awakening" and The Life of Kate Chopin

Paper Summary:

This paper describes the life of Kate Chopin and reviews her book, "The Awakening." It begins by providing an overview of Chopin's early life and discusses how she began to publish stories and then went on to become a serious and prolific writer. The paper then focuses on her work, "The Awakening," written in 1899. It specifically looks at how Chopin may have been expressing some of her deepest feelings and emotions through the character of Edna.

From the Paper:

"Kate married Oscar Chopin when she was 20 years old, and spent her honeymoon in Europe. Oscar was a successful cosmopolitan cotton broker from New Orleans, and shortly after marriage, the couple moved there to begin their married life and eventually raise a family. Oscar was a surprisingly accommodating husband in this male dominated society, and Kate took advantage of every opportunity of her freedoms. She "took long solitary walks, daringly showed her ankles when lifting her skirts to cross a street, smoked cigarettes and kept an intermittent diary" (Lichtenstein). She did not hide her obvious intelligence nor did she hide her disdain and rebellious attitude for "proper society" (Lichtenstein). Oscar died only 12 years after the couple married, but in that time, Kate bore him six children and performed the role of the perfect homemaker as society expected."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Lichtenstein, Grace. "Awakening a New Interest in Kate Chopin." April 1, 1999. September 9, 2007 <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-585841.html>.
• Simons, Karen. "Kate Chopin on the Nature of Things." The Mississippi Quarterly 51.2 (1998): 243-249.

More papers on "The Awakening" and The Life of Kate Chopin:

• Analytical Essay # 55536 : "The Stories of Kate Chopin"
• Analytical Essay # 16609 : "The Life and Works of Kate Chopin"
• Analytical Essay # 61957 : "The Lover" and "The Awakening"

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