![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Edna’s search for an identity beyond marriage and motherhood creates conflict with her husband Léonce, who does not understand her need for independence this conflict contributes to her affairs with other men. The Awakening explores the experience of Edna Pontellier, who chafes against expectations of women in Creole society. Her writing combines features from both styles, blending regionalism’s attention to the features that distinguish American people and places with the objective point of view and occasional pessimism found in naturalism. To depict Creole culture, Chopin drew inspiration from both American regionalist writers such as Sarah Orne Jewett and French naturalist writers, including Guy de Maupassant. Several of Chopin’s works criticize this hierarchy, yet The Awakening largely leaves it unexamined. ![]() While Creole people could be white, mixed-race, or black, Creole society maintained a racial hierarchy that privileged light skin. In the novel, “Creole” refers to people descended from French and Spanish colonists who settled in Louisiana before it became part of the United States. Louis, Chopin moved to Louisiana when she married at age 20 like many of her other works, The Awakening portrays the Creole elite of Natchitoches parish. It shocked readers when it was published in 1899, but today it is recognized as an American classic. Kate Chopin’s novel has been called a scandalous masterpiece. ![]()
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