Jonathan Harrison

Kate Chopin

"As to be expected, Chopin found herself in a state of depression after the loss of both her husband and mother. Her obstetrician and family friend, Dr. Frederick Kolbenheyer, felt that writing would be a sort of therapeutic healing process for Kate during her hard times because he said, "He understood that writing could be a focus for her extraordinary energy, as well as a source of income".[7] (wikipedia)

The fact that Chopin was depressed is really obvious in all her writings. The storm could not be about a happy relationship for in truth one would not cheat on one they really loved. The story " The Awakening" is another depressing tale where upon reaching her Independence, Edna commits suicide believing that she has no place in the world.

The Awakening is a journey taken by a young lady, Edna, towards freedom and Independence from men. The story starts off with Edna and her husband on vacation, but instead of spending time with him she spend s it all with her beau Robert. Its clear from the beginning that Edna married her husband by mistake and longs to be free of this obligation and all the responsibilities that come along with it.Edna continues to fall in love with Robert, their desire for each still burning upon their arrival back at home. The story takes a twist as Robert moves to Mexico in search of fortune and happiness. Edna is heart broken at this occurrence and mopes around for a while. She grow more and more distant from her husband day by day and eventually moves out of the house all together. Edna purchases a cottage for herself with the paintings that she makes and is very happy and content with her new found freedom. She than continues party and even entertains another man as a be aux. Her heart is with Robert though and when he returns she feels as though that life has been given to her again. Robert explains that he left because he realized he could never have her for she was already married and somebody elses possession. Edna said that she would always love Robert and that it didn't matter that she was married. Edna was than called away to her friend's house who was giving birth for comfort and support. She told Robert to wait until she was back and than their life could go on happily. Upon returning from her friend's Edna is heart broken again to see that Robert has left as he feels that she is still a possession of her husband. Extremely distraught Edna goes to the beach and proceeds to commit suicide by walking into the ocean.

The story, "The Awakening" was a feminist look into a women's journey towards her freedom of owning her own self. One can see the progression throughout the story as it rises from a simple disagreement with her husband, to her eventual moving out to her own place. The story must have been very controversial for a women was supposed to be obedient and polite, talking back or opposing her husband was totally out of the question. Edna challenges these stereotypes by speaking her mind and doing as she pleases.l Her happiness was the main concern and this was a new concept for women who had traditionally been treated as someones property. Its a shame the story ended as it did for it leaves one with a sense that women will never be treated equally. If Someone so close and in tune with Edna's emotions couldn't understand her, than how would the rest of the world. The movement for women's rights is an important one and this story was a much better way to advocate its message in comparison to "The Storm" which was nothing more than soft core porn. The Awakening provided one with a situation that many young people feel trapped with and thus the message sent is more universal and easier conveyed. Kate Chopin is a great writer but I feel sorry for her for she must not have been that happy because one's true emotions expose themselves in the depths of one's writings.