Kate Chopin
The Awakening

1 Compare the characters of Edna and Adèle. What are the greatest differences between them?
2 How and why does Edna begin to change?
3 How is motherhood portrayed by Chopin? Why is childbirth treated differently towards the end of the story?
4 Explain the symbolism of the sea in this novel. When does Edna learn to swim? What is the symbolic meaning of her first attempt to swim?
5 How does Edna's background influence her decisions in life?
6 Is Mademoiselle Reisz a good or bad influence on Edna?
7 If Robert wouldn't have left to go to Mexico, would Edna love him as much as she thought she did?
8 Towards the end of the book, was Edna actually being herself or was she just in a pursuit to be different from the rest of them?
9 Explain the title, The Awakening.

1. How do you think Leonce reacted when he notices Edna's odd behavior?
 

2. What is the main reason does Edna not want to attend her sister's wedding? Does it have anything to do with her rebellious stage? (Megan)
 

3. Do you feel that Edna really did all that should could to gain total happiness, or do you believe that she gave up too easily, just letting Robert go. Do you think that she let Robert go because she really loved him and she knows that if you love someone you should let them go, as in her case, she knew to find true happiness you must do what you think is right and not let anyone stop you. (Gayle)
 

4. After reading the entire book and finding out that she ends up killing herself are the two lovers and the lady in black at the beginning of the book a kind of personification of how she feels? "The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation." (pg 13) "The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude."(pg 115) What do think the author was trying to do by the repetition of this line, once in the beginning when "Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe," and the other before she kills herself? Also, what is the significance of how they end differently if any? (Sara)
 

5. What do the Birds and the Sea Symbolize in the "The Awakening?" Does the Birds and the Sea have anything to do with Edna's entrapment? Does this Entrapment represent the entrapment of all Victorian women? (Ryan)
 

6. "I always feel so sorry for women who don't like to walk; they miss so much - so many rare little glimpses of life; and we women learn so little of life on the whole." (pg106) Does this quote mean that she is not just unhappy about herself and her marriage but sad for all women because she can see what they are missing?" (Valerie)

1.) What do you think happens after the end of the story?

2.) What main point do you think Kate Chopin was trying to make to her readers with this book?

3.) Was committing suicide a spur of the moment act or was it pre-meditated?

4.) Why do you think that Edna cheated on her husband with Arobin shortly after she found out that Robert was coming back from Mexico?