Kate Chopin's 1899 novel, The Awakening . . .

. . . has become a classic text of American literature. Much admired for its complex portrayal of the experience of a married woman at the end of the nineteenth century as well as for its deft and allusive style, The Awakening continues to attract readers and critics. But as a work from another era, the novel implies historical, literary and cultural contexts that are not always familiar to readers of the twenty-first century. This website attempts to provide information about those contexts in order to enrich our understanding of both Kate Chopin and her heroine, Edna Pontellier.

The original version of this website was conceived of and constructed by students of Loyola University New Orleans in a 1999 class, marking the centennial of the publication of The Awakening. A decade later, another class of Loyola students have revised and reconstructed the website, based on their study of Chopin's works and life and times, deepening and expanding the information on various contexts of her remarkable novel.

Other Resources:

Chopin's Other Works | Photo Album | Chopin & Southern Lit | N.O. & Other Links | The Awakening E-Text | KateChopin.org | Donna Campbell's Chopin Page | Chopin's N.O. Tour | Dr. Ewell's Home Page | Site References & Sources