The Awakening shocked turn-of-the-century readers and reviewers with its treatment of sex and suicide. In a
departure from literary convention, Kate Chopin failed to condemn her heroine's desire for an affair with the son
of a Louisiana resort owner, whom she meets on vacation. The power of sensuality, the delusion of ecstatic love,
and the solitude that accompanies the trappings of middle- and upper-class convention are the themes of this now-classic
novel. The book was influenced by French writers ranging from Flaubert to Maupassant, and can be seen as a precursor
of the impressionistic, mood-driven novels of Virginia Woolf and Djuna Barnes. Variously called "vulgar,"
"unhealthily introspective," and "morbid," the book was neglected for several decades, not
least because it was written by a "regional" woman writer. This edition also includes selected stories
from Kate Chopin's Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie, and an introduction and notes by Nina Baym.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Second Coming of an Aphrodite
p. 7
Suggestions for Further Reading
p. 35
A Note on the Text
p. 39
The Awakening
p. 43
Emancipation: A Life Fable
p. 177
At the 'Cadian Ball
p. 179
Desiree's Baby
p. 189
La Belle Zoraide
p. 195
At Cheniere Caminada
p. 201
The Story of an Hour
p. 213
Lilacs
p. 216
Athenaise
p. 229
A Pair of Silk Stockings
p. 262
Neg Creol
p. 267
Elizabeth Stock's One Story
p. 274
The Storm: A Sequel to "The 'Cadian Ball"
p. 281
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.