Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

Socrcratic Seminar Prep

Directions: There are three sections to this handout. Make sure you follow the directions for
each section. Your work must be typed and MLA formatted, and you will be turning in a hard
copy as soon as the seminar is complete. In addition, your work must be submitted to
turnitin.com no later than 8:00 am on the morning of the seminar.

Section One – Responses to Questions

Select three of the questions below to write responses for. Specific references to the text will
certainly enhance your responses.

1. Throughout the novel, Edna feels caught between the way others see her and the way she
sees herself. Identify several incidents where this struggle is apparent. How does the text
portray Edna’s growing awareness of these contradicting views?

2. Consider the main portrayals of men in the novel. What kind of marriage do Edna and
Leonce have? What roles do Edna’s father, Dr. Mandalet, and Alcee Arobin play in the
novel? Consider Robert’s character? What kind of a man is he? Are his behavior
patterns respectable or questionable? Your answer should focus on at least two of these
men.

3. What is the symbolic importance of the lady in black and of the two lovers? These
characters often appear at the same points in the novel. What is the significance of this
pairing?

4. Of the many awakenings Edna undergoes in the novel, which are the most important to
her progress? Which may be considered “rude” or unexpected awakenings?

5. How does Chopin portray motherhood in the novel? What does she suggest are the
possibilities for women who engage in this traditional female role? Examine some of the
mothers (beyond just Adele) in the novel and consider their attitudes towards motherhood
as well as what Chopin seems to be saying about this supposedly sacred institution?

6. Some critics view Edna’s suicide at the end of the novel as a failure to complete her
escape from convention—an inability to defy society once stripped of the motivation of a
man by her side. Others view her suicide as a final awakening, a decision to give herself
to the sea in a show of strength and independence that defies social expectation. Is she
weak and defeated in those final moments or noble and victorious? Which interpretation
do you find more accurate or compelling and why?
Section Two – New Questions
Write two new questions that could potentially be used during the seminar.

Section Three – Response to Reviews

The following passages are excerpts from reviews of the novel when it was published. Write a
minimum 1/2 page response in which you agree and/or disagree with any of the specific points
made by one or both of these reviewers?

The following excerpt is from an early, unfavorable review of The Awakening from
Public Opinion (1899).

“The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is a feeble reflection of Bourget, theme and manner of
treatment both suggesting the French novelist. We very much doubt the possibility of a
woman of ‘solid old Presbyterian Kentucky stock’ being at all like Mrs. Edna Pontellier
who has a long list of lesser loves, and one absorbing passion, but gives herself only to
the man for whom she did not feel the least affection. If the author had secured our
sympathy for this unpleasant person it would not have been a small victory, but we are
well satisfied when Mrs. Pontellier deliberately swims out to her death in the waters of
the gulf.”

The following excerpt is from a favorable review of The Awakening from The New York
Times Book Review (1899).

“Would it have been better had Mrs. Kate Chopin's heroine [in The Awakening] slept on
forever and never had an awakening? Does that sudden condition of change from sleep to
consciousness bring with it happiness? Not always, and particularly poignant is the
woman's awakening, as Mrs. Chopin tells it. The author has a clever way of managing a
difficult subject, and wisely tempers the emotional elements found in the situation. Such
is the cleverness in the handling of the story that you feel pity for the most unfortunate of
her sex.”