 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in The Awakening (Norton Critical Editions) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
First published in 1899, this beautiful, brief novel so disturbed critics and the public that it was banished for decades afterward. Now widely read and admired, "The Awakening" has been hailed as an early vision of woman's emancipation. This sensuous book tells of a woman's abandonment of her family, her seduction, and her awakening to desires and passions that threated to consumer her. Originally entitled "A Solitary Soul, " this portrait of twenty-eight-year-old Edna Pontellier is a landmark in American fiction, rooted firmly in the romantic tradition of Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson. Here, a woman in search of self-discovery turns away from convention and society, and toward the primal, from convention and society, and toward the primal, irresistibly attracted to nature and the senses "The Awakening," Kate Chopin's last novel, has been praised by Edmund Wilson as "beautifully written." And Willa Cather described its style as "exquisite, " "sensitive, " and "iridescent." This edition of "The Awakening" also includes a selection of short stories by Kate Chopin.
"This seems to me a higher order of feminism than repeating the story of woman as victim... Kate Chopin gives her female protagonist the central role, normally reserved for Man, in a meditation on identity and culture, consciousness and art." -- From the introduction by Marilynne Robinson.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Godsend to students of the text,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Awakening (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)
Falling somewhere between a long short story and a short novel at 110 pages long, 'The Awakening' manages to tell the complex tale of one woman's self-discovery in a very simple and eminently readable way. Edna's means of escape from her mundane marriage, her affairs and her eventual suicide, may be reminiscent of the plot to Madame Bovary but there the similarities would seem to end. For Chopin does not share Flaubert's grim dedcation to reality. The physical landscapes of Edna's world in light of her new found elation are so evocatively related that the novel takes on a beautiful, almost cinematic, feel. Yet Chopin's characters are also realistic. Monsieur Pontellier in particular is delightfully well drawn, and there are many moments of astute social humour to be found in this novel. This edition would be of particular help to those studying the text as it contains a large selection of critical analysis as well as contemporary newspaper reviews. It also includes period fashion plates, a discussion on the merits of the Creole lady and numerous other articles that together give a better understanding of the Edna's actions in their cultural and historical context. The Victorian guide to etiquette is fascinating reading in its own right.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
And then she woke up,
By
This review is from: The Awakening (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)
Hailed as a feminist classic in the 1970s, this novel was banned at the time of its publication in 1890s America, where it one reviewer called it "gilded dirt". It breeched several conventions of the time being open about the possibility of adultery and the need for women to be more than the standard "angel at the hearth" figure, in thrall to the requirements of husband and children. In a time when women have a much greater measure of freedom and when equality, if not always in actuality, at least theoretically, is perfectly acceptable, it can be quite difficult to see what all the fuss was about.
Edna Pontellier is married to Leonce, a wealthy stockbroker and has two sons whom she adores. But she is bored, with her comfortable existence; she has artistic leanings and sells her drawings and paintings successfully. Robert Lebrun, one of the sons of the lady whose house they occupy in the summer, accompanies her when batheing, and is generally at hand as a companion when her husband is away in the city. An idyllic picture of ease and luxury is the setting, but then Robert goes away to work in Mexico. The summer ends and Edna and Leonce take up their city existences in a beautiful mansion in New Orleans once again. Another man, Alceè Arobin, a wealthy but dissolute young man, pursues Edna, and it is very delicately suggested, he is successful in his attentions. But Edna's secret thoughts are all about Robert and when he returns to New Orleans things come to a head. Ultimately, Edna makes a sacrifice of herself, since she cannot have the love of Robert. This book is a very easy read, there being no polemic or feminist philosophy beyond that suggested by events. It cannot, of course, in the time of East Enders - not to mention the soft porn industry - have the impact it had at its first publication, but it is also quite easy to see how it offended the great and the good. Imagine! A woman wants more than husband and children! Outrageous!
1 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
poorly written, poorly recieved,
By spam@rancidnews.co.uk (london) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Awakening (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)
this novel, since the 70s, seems to be hailed as one of the first novels to highlight a female's plight in southern america. In truth it does no such thing. The simplest way to regard this novel is as a self indulgent rant on the part of the author. All the characters, perhaps with the exception of edna, are two dimensional with no real feeling or emotion. Edna herself at times feels wooden and contrived. In turn there is no feeling of either context or situation, despite the fact that this is what Chopin had previously been lauded for. In truth this novella is an utter waste of money and any person who reads it believing it highlights the plight of females in the 19th centuary are going to be sadly disappointed...
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
