PDF Summary:The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

In 19th-century Creole society, women are expected to devote themselves entirely to their roles as wives and mothers, sacrificing their individual identities for their families. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a woman who rejects these societal expectations and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

Edna's awakening begins with sensory experiences—music, nature, and the sea—and deepens through relationships with Robert Lebrun and the pianist Mademoiselle Reisz. As she explores her desires through art and independence, Edna confronts the constraints of her marriage and motherhood. This summary examines the catalysts of Edna's transformation, her assertions of independence, and the consequences she faces as she pursues personal fulfillment over social conformity.

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Edna’s awakening is marked by her pursuit of artistic expression, her rejection of traditional expectations, and her exploration of personal desires. Ultimately, her awakening causes her to make choices that challenge the conventions of her era, culminating in a tragic yet liberating conclusion.

Marriage as a Civil Contract

In Public Vows, historian Nancy F. Cott explains that in the nineteenth-century United States, marriage was seen as a “civil contract” that defined a woman’s legal and political identity. The law assumed that a married woman didn’t have a separate identity from her husband. The husband was considered the family’s citizen, controlling property and representing the household in public affairs. Wives were expected to be dependent, faithful, and serve their families without pay. Edna’s awakening challenges these expectations by asserting her independence and seeking fulfillment outside her marriage.

Below, we’ll explore some of the catalysts that awaken Edna to her desires and selfhood, and the consequences of her newfound independence.

Catalysts of Self-Awakening

Chopin shows that Edna’s interactions with Alcee awaken her to her desires. Edna meets Alcee at the races, and she feels like a woman who has been led into committing adultery. Her mind was on Robert Lebrun, not her husband. She felt like she'd used marrying her husband as an excuse.

(Shortform note: In Deceit, Desire, and the Novel, René Girard argues that romantic passion is always triangular: The subject desires an object only because a mediator already seems to possess or prize it, so that what appears to be a direct, personal attraction is in reality a desire refracted through the presence of this third person, whose prior desire both awakens and structures what the subject then experiences as his or her own autonomous longing.)

Edna’s relationship with Robert Lebrun is another catalyst for her self-discovery. Chopin describes Robert as a young man who spends time with Edna during the summer. She develops romantic feelings toward him, and this love awakens her to her personal desires and needs. Through her interactions with Robert, Edna starts to question the constraints of her marriage and the expectations placed on her as a woman.

Robert's affection and attention give Edna a sense of being valued and understood in ways she has never experienced before. This emotional connection drives her to seek independence and fulfillment beyond her traditional roles.

(Shortform note: Psychologists have a term for the process Edna goes through when she feels valued and understood by Robert: self-expansion. This is the process of exploring new possibilities for who you can be, and it’s often triggered by a new relationship. When someone makes you feel special in a way you’ve never felt before, it can open your mind to unfamiliar possibilities.)

Below, we’ll explore how Edna’s sensory experiences and artistic pursuits contribute to her self-awakening.

Sensory and Relational Experiences of Awakening

Edna undergoes a sensory awakening through music and the natural world. Chopin writes that Mademoiselle Reisz's piano playing stirs her emotions and brings her to tears. She also feels a connection to nature, especially the sea, which she sees as seductive and sensuous.

Edna’s sensory awakening is one aspect of her overall awakening to her identity and desires. She starts to appreciate the beauty of the world around her and to feel emotions more deeply.

Aestheticism and the Cultivation of the Senses

Edna’s sensory awakening through music and the sea can be seen as part of a broader late-nineteenth-century movement that emphasized the importance of sensory experience and aesthetic appreciation. This movement, known as aestheticism, was characterized by a focus on beauty, art, and the cultivation of refined sensibilities. Walter Pater’s The Renaissance (1873) is a key text in this tradition. Pater argues that the pursuit of beauty and the cultivation of the senses are central to human experience. He explains that “our physical life is a perpetual motion of impressions, and appearance; that those impressions are in constant change, and that the consciousness of the individual is, in effect, the thread upon which they are strung, giving them, as they pass, a certain order and unity; every moment some form grows perfect in hand or face; some tone on the hills or the sea is choicer than the rest; some mood of passion or insight or intellectual excitement is irresistibly real and attractive to us,—for that moment only.”

Artistic Expression as a Path to Self-Realization

Chopin shows that Edna uses art to explore her identity. She draws and paints, and although she is critical of her own work, she continues to create. Additionally, she enjoys songs, which inspire her creativity.

(Shortform note: In The Art Therapy Sourcebook, Cathy Malchiodi explains that visual art and other creative expression can help people explore their identities by providing a way to move thoughts, feelings, and experiences out of the body and into images, symbols, and sounds. This process allows people to observe, play with, and alter their inner life in a low-risk way, which can help them reflect on themselves and experiment with new responses.)

Assertions of Independence and Their Consequences

Edna’s independence leads to spiritual growth and self-awareness. Chopin explains that Edna senses she's risen spiritually as she has fallen in social standing. She feels more powerful and developed as a person, understanding life's deeper layers. She is no longer content to feed on the opinions of others when her inner being has urged her to think for herself.

Chopin also reveals that Edna accidentally married Leonce Pontellier. She encountered him while immersed in her deep, hidden infatuation. He fell for her and pursued her passionately and thoroughly. She was wrong, though. Her dad and Margaret, her sister, violently opposed her marrying a Catholic, and this was a motive that led her to accept him as her husband.

(Shortform note: Edna’s sense of rising spiritually as she falls socially echoes late-19th-century debates about the authority of conscience versus tradition. Feminists and liberal religious thinkers argued that inner conscience was a higher authority than inherited family, church, or class demands. Edna’s marriage to a Catholic against her family’s wishes also reflects the era’s debates about religious freedom and the right to choose one’s own spiritual path.)

Edna’s independence causes tension with societal expectations. Chopin notes that her friend Madame Ratignolle warns Edna that she risks her reputation because she is living alone and receiving visits from a man with a bad reputation. However, Edna is unconcerned about her reputation.

Edna’s friend, the pianist Mademoiselle Reisz, inspires Edna with her music. Edna visits her to talk about Robert and to hear her play the piano. Edna tells Mademoiselle Reisz she's leaving her husband's house. She's thrilled to live in a small house she can afford by herself. She feels she is casting off her allegiance to her husband and that she will never again belong to anyone but herself.

(Shortform note: In many countries, the risk to a married woman’s reputation from living alone and receiving visits from a man has lessened since Chopin’s time. In the United States, for example, the legal system no longer punishes women for adultery. However, in some countries, a woman’s reputation is still at risk if she lives alone and receives visits from a man.)