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1 internautes sur 1 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
4.0étoiles sur 5
after all.. its a solitary soul, Mai 23 2004
The Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is one of the most classic examples of the books of liberation. First published at the end of the 1890s, depicts the life of an American woman named Edna married and socialized among a circle of Creoles (immigrants of the French ancestry). Every summer, her family and the Creoles go on vacation to an island. This one particular summer, Edna falls in love with a young creole named Robert. This agonizing love affair between a married woman and a younger man propelled Edna to a series of self liberation. Kate Chopin throws in the idea of "the desire of the unabtainable", such as a nun would be a subject of desire, namely the more unreachable the more desirable. Edna, a married woman, is in this book, the unabtainable. Another issue about this book, which Chopin was very severly criticized (well.. it was the 1890s afterall, but the book was revived with acclaim in the 1950s during the woman's movement) was feminism. Edna says in the book the she will do anything for her children but she will not sacrifice herself...However, the biggest controversy is the ending. Whether it is another awakening or something else (you should decide it for yourself), I think the book should have gone with its original title- A Solitary Soul.
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2.0étoiles sur 5
This is not feminism, Jui 8 2004
When my friend and I ran across a list of 101 books that were recommended to be read before college, we realized we had only read a small percentage of the books and made a vow to read more. One of the books on the list was "The Awakening," and as we had studied Kate Chopin in school and it was readily available online, we decided to both read it. Both of us had read it by the next day, and we both reached the same conclusion: Chopin's protagonist, Edna, was a selfish woman who was not strong at all, as a truly strong woman would have continued on even after the man she loved left her.The book is written beautifully, hence the two stars. But Edna is completely unidentifiable. She is twenty-eight, yet she seems to do everything on impulse. Yes, maybe she did rush irrationally into an ultimately loveless marriage -- but her husband is not a monster, so doesn't she at least owe him some consideration? Not to mention her children -- she seems to not have the slightest regard for them, only showing affection in fits and starts. This book should be read, if only to show what strength is not -- strength is not what Edna does in the end of this story. However, you may find yourself struggling to get through it, as Edna is often very frustrating. In conclusion -- this is NOT feminism. In fact, before reading this story I had immense respect for Kate Chopin, respect gained from reading her short stories. I lost some of that respect after seeing what she apparently believed was the solution for Edna's problems.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
an interesting read, Mai 26 2004
I was forced to read this book in AP English my senior year, but I actually found it intriguing once I got into the plot and became familiar with the characters. What I really liked was how Chopin had every setting match the mood that the character felt; everything that surrounded the characters was symbolic of their emotions or what they were feeling, especially when it focused on Edna. Anyone could identify with her situation if they concentrate on the book with an open mind, and it is basically a look at the thoughts/emotions of a Creole woman who finds herself in an affair, but the book has many more elements to it that make it mean much more than a typical love & infidelity story. I would suggest reading it slowly and thinking about the reasons behind the characters' actions and dialogue, everything means something and this way the reader gets more out of the book. :)
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