Approaches to

Reading the Novel

THE AWAKENINGBY KATE CHOPIN

As you read the novel, look at the characters in relation to the protagonist, Edna Pontellier.

Question and look for how the characters are constructed.

Questions to think about:

What are Edna’s predominant character traits?

Which of these are flaws and why? Which are virtues and

why?

What is Edna’s predominant struggle?

Ultimately, how is Edna depicted and what is the message?

CHARACTERIZATION

Through this angle, the focus is on female characters in the novel and their views of other females during the Victorian time period.

Questions to think about:

• According to this text, what options were there for

female “roles” in Victorian times?

• How is Edna defined in relation to the female

characters around her?

• How do these female characters represent the roles

for women at this time?

SOCIOLOGICAL – FEMALE ANGLE

As you read The Awakening, how are the men portrayed in this “feminist” novel?

Some questions to guide you in reading this novel from a male angle:

How are the men of this text portrayed?

How are the cultural roles of the Victorian culture

limiting for men, in a sense, as well?

Regarding Leonce, how is he seen by you? As

reprehensible, or a victim?

SOCIOLOGICAL – MALE ANGLE

How are the gender roles that are presented by other authors (that you read on Schoology) present in Chopin’s novel?

Focus on 2-4 texts that you read on Schoology that you found interesting.

Questions to consider:

How do the preliminary texts inform Chopin’s points?

How has the issue of gender roles evolved over time?

What issues are still present today, and which

supplementary texts support this?

SYNTHESIS-GENDER ROLES

In The Awakening, Edna fi nds solitude, peace, and truth in music in this novel. Edna’s mentor, Mademoiselle Reisz, assists her fi nding this solitude.

When reading the novel using this angle, you can focus on the moments in which music is played, or focus on the Edna/Reisz dynamic as a metaphor for music.

Questions to ponder while reading:

Which music eff ects Edna, and which does not?

Specifi cally, how does it aff ect her?

How do other characters’ understandings of music reveal

their characterization?

What can music do for a person that words cannot?

THE MUSICAL ANGLE

A theme is a life lesson (given in a sentence) that can apply to other stories.

Use your past knowledge of searching for life lessons in literature while reading the novel.

Questions to consider while looking for themes:

What, ultimately, does Edna learn? What doesn’t she

learn?

What is the “answer” and how does she miss it?

Most importantly, how do you relate to what she (or

other characters) are experiencing here?

THEMATIC

Using what you learned about Realism, you will read the novel keeping the guidelines and aims of the Realism movement in mind.

Remember to refer to your Realism handout and active reading notes about the movement!

Questions to think about:

o How does this novel show “a slice of life in a realistic

way”?

o Are there naturalist elements?

o How does Chopin’s writing style show signs of typical

Realist writing?

THE MOVEMENT-REALISM

If you are interested in travel, this is a great angle to use while reading The Awakening.

Kate Chopin uses setting and the device of local color to communicate the “where” of the novel.

Questions to think about while reading the novel using this angle:

How does place inform mood, tone, and message in

this story?

How does Chopin make her reader feel her setting?

What specifically allows us to travel to Grand Isle and

New Orleans so easily in this book?

SETTING