The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories

"The Awakening" by Kate Chopin is a story about a young wife and mother in the late 1800s who, during a summer vacation, starts to challenge the expectations of her society and family. Edna Pontellier begins to question what her role is versus what she thought society expected of her during her stay at Grand Isle with her husband, Léonce, and their acquaintance, Robert Lebrun. Léonce worries about Edna's independent nature and her sunburnt skin, all while the normal sounds of Grand Isle, like kids playing and birds singing, continue around them. The relationships between Edna, Léonce, and Robert suggest there are complicated feelings and point to a bigger journey of Edna finding who she really is.