Kate Chopin 
The Awakening and Other Short Stories 

One of the earliest feminist works in American literature, The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier. Unsatisfied with societal expectations and unhappy with her family life, she begins to fall in love with the dapper Robert Lebrun. Lebrun’s flirtations, along with the lifestyle of renown musician Mademoiselle Reisz, rejuvenates Edna’s sense of freedom and independence. However, an affair with the womanizer Alcee Arobin provides Edna with a taste of the danger that comes from living outside of social convention. Trapped between the life she is expected to live and the one she longs to lead, Edna struggles to find happiness. Also included are eight of Chopin’s most celebrated short stories: A Pair of Silk Stockings, A Reflection, A Respectable Woman, Beyond the Bayou, Desiree’s Baby, Ma’ame Pelagie, The Kiss, and The Locket.

Über den Autor

Kate Chopin, born Katherine O’Flaherty (1850-1904), was an American writer of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. Chopin is best known for her novel The Awakening, and for her short story collections, Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). Of French and Irish descent, her work depicted the various ethnic groups of Louisiana, especially of Creoles, with sensitivity and wit, and featured vivid descriptions of the natural environment there. After her husband died in 1882 and left her $42, 000 in debt, Chopin took up writing to support her family of six children. Though popular, her serious literary qualities were overlooked in her day, and she is now seen as an important early American feminist writer.