Read the short story “the awakening” by Kate Chopin
Write an essay (at least 500 words) reflecting on 1 of the following questions:
A. How does The Awakening speak to the roles of women and the conventions of literature at the end of the 19th century?
B. How does Kate Chopin use other characters in The Awakening in order to cast Edna Pontellier?s desires and social limitations?
C. Reflect on how culture and setting play an important role in a novel, especially in local color and regional literature.
D. Analyze Edna Pontellier?s character development specifically in relation to other characters in the novel and generally in relation to women?s roles in 19th century America.
E. How do male characters (L?once Pontellier, Raoul and Etienne Pontellier, Robert Lebrun, and Alc?e Arobin) help establish Edna?s options in life? Does her relationship with any of them push her towards becoming like one of the other women in the novel?