The Awakening shocked turn-of-the-century readers with its forthright treatment of sex and suicide. Departing from literary convention, Kate Chopin failed to condemn her heroine's desire for an affair with the son of a Louisiana resort owner, whom she meets on vacation. The power of sensuality, the delusion of ecstatic love, and the solitude that accompanies the trappings of middle- and upper-class life are the themes of this now-classic novel. As Kaye Gibbons points out in her Introduction, Chopin "was writing American realism before most Americans could bear to hear that they were living it."

Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast

at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and

her struggle between her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity

and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the

turn-of-the-century American South. It is one of the earliest American

novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. It is also

widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism,

generating a mixed reaction from contemporary readers and critics. The

novel's blend of realistic narrative, incisive social commentary, and

psychological complexity makes The Awakening a precursor of American modernist literature; it prefigures the works of American novelists such as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway and echoes the works of contemporaries such as Edith Wharton and Henry James.

It can also be considered among the first Southern works in a tradition

that would culminate with the modern masterpieces of Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, and Tennessee Williams.

The novel opens with the Pontellier family—Léonce, a New Orleans businessman of Louisiana Creole heritage; his wife Edna; and their two sons, Etienne and Raoul—vacationing on Grand Isle at a resort on the Gulf of Mexico managed by Madame Lebrun and her two sons, Robert and Victor.

Edna spends most of her time with her close friend Adèle Ratignolle,

who cheerily and boisterously reminds Edna of her duties as a wife and

mother. At Grand Isle, Edna eventually forms a connection with Robert

Lebrun, a charming, earnest young man who actively seeks Edna's

attention and affections. When they fall in love, Robert senses the

doomed nature of such a relationship and flees to Mexico under the guise

of pursuing a nameless business venture. The narrative focus moves to

Edna's shifting emotions as she reconciles her maternal duties with her

desire for social freedom and to be with Robert.

When summer vacation ends, the Pontelliers return to New Orleans.

Edna gradually reassesses her priorities and takes a more active role in

her own happiness. She starts to isolate herself from New Orleans

society and to withdraw from some of the duties traditionally associated

with motherhood. Léonce eventually talks to a doctor about diagnosing

his wife, fearing she is losing her mental faculties. The doctor advises

Léonce to let her be and assures him that things will return to normal.

When Léonce prepares to travel to New York City on business, he sends

the boys to his mother. Left home alone for an extended period gives

Edna physical and emotional room to breathe and reflect on various

aspects of her life. While her husband is still away, she moves out of

their home and into a small bungalow nearby and begins a dalliance with

Alcée Arobin, a persistent suitor with a reputation for being free with

his affections. Edna is shown as a sexual being for the first time in

the novel, but the affair proves awkward and emotionally fraught.

Edna also reaches out to Mademoiselle Reisz, a gifted pianist whose

playing is renowned but who maintains a generally hermetic existence.

Her playing had moved Edna profoundly earlier in the novel, representing

what Edna was starting to long for: independence. Mademoiselle Reisz

focuses her life on music and herself instead of on society's

expectations, acting as a foil to Adèle Ratignolle, who encourages Edna

to conform. Reisz is in contact with Robert while he is in Mexico,

receiving letters from him regularly. Edna begs her to reveal their

contents, which she does, proving to Edna that Robert is thinking about

her.

Eventually, Robert returns to New Orleans. At first aloof (and

finding excuses not to be near Edna), he eventually confesses his

passionate love for her. He admits that the business trip to Mexico was

an excuse to escape a relationship that would never work.

Edna is called away to help Adèle with a difficult childbirth. Adèle

pleads with Edna to think of what she would be turning her back on if

she did not behave appropriately. When Edna returns home, she finds a

note from Robert stating that he has left forever, as he loves her too

much to shame her by engaging in a relationship with a married woman.

In devastated shock, Edna rushes back to Grand Isle, where she had

first met Robert Lebrun...

(from Wikipedia)