After Sophies Choice took me 4+ months to read, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, took me only a couple of days. If I didn't know better, I would consider this an enjoyable trifle. And make no mistake, it was an enjoyable read.
Set in fin de siecle Southern Louisiana, The Awakening chronicles the self-discovery of a young wife and mother. Unwittingly ensconced in a proper and affectionate, but loveless, marriage, Edna Pontellier slowly discovers and follows her yearning to love and be loved, despite pressure to conform to societal ideals of married life. Utimately, even Edna's lover is more attuned to societal expectations than to his own desires, which proves to be Edna's undoing.
So, what makes this story important? This is one of the first novels that treated sexual desire with frankness. In important ways, The Awakening set the stage for novels like Sophie's Choice to follow.
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