Kate Chopin (author), The Awakening, Story of an Hour, the Kiss, etc. Options

[*mishyerr*]

Who enjoys Kate Chopin? I realize there is a topic on The Awakening, but that wasn't very popular. Maybe other people enjoy other short stories by her?

I find her style so unique and beautiful. It's deep and romantic... mmmm <3!

If you sort of enjoy Hawthorne (haha), I would suggest looking up some of her short stories and reading them more than once. They are all so tricky and awesome.

[Jackaroe]

I really like her writing style. It's so elegant and tranquil (not to mention romantic). Her writing isn't so heavy in description, but she does enough so that the story comes to life.

Her stories just flow so well. I liked The Awakening. It was a bit depressing in many aspects, and although I could relate to Edna's character, I found her a bit selfish in the end. But Chopin's style is just very engaging. She says enough without droning on and on and that's difficult to find in some 18th and 19th century authors.

[tokyo-rose]

I've read The Awakening. I'm pretty sure I posted this in the topic for that book, but I liked it. Her style is different than any other authors I've seen. It's kind of thick and takes some getting used to, but once you do it's very enjoyable. I was the only one in my class who liked The Awakening last year. Everyone else thought it was boring. :/

[achimongus]

I loved The Awakening. Not only kate Chopin's writing style beautiful and elegant, but the character in the book is so strong and independent. I loved the ending.

[HakunaMatata]

The Awakening's ending was not. cool. 'Scuse me; that's not strength. Buuuut, I did enjoy the first part of the book.

[*mishyerr*]

The Awakening's ending was not. cool. 'Scuse me; that's not strength. Buuuut, I did enjoy the first part of the book.

That depends on how you interpret it. I thought it was a very strong and appropriate ending. If you compare it to the Great Gatsby, both Edna and Gatsby were the romantics that were overwhelmed by the society that was opposite from them. They both had to die in the end because they were the romantics. But that is if you interpret it as death.

Edna's 'awakening' pulls her out of a society that has long been there and throws her into a world almost similar to Mme Reisz - living for only one passion. But unlike Mme Reisz, she is the 'bird with the broken wing;' she does not have the strength needed. In the end, her journey to find true contentment is ended, because she really has nobody to help her through such an arduous journey, and she is 'overwhelmed' by the ocean (which I interpreted it to be her awakening). If she had not drowned in her feelings, the essence and the point Chopin was trying to make would not have been seen at all.

[HakunaMatata]

I actually don't see Gatsby as a romantic overwhelmed by society; more like an extreme romantic trying to use society but is in the end overwhelmed by his own ridiculous expectaions.

Mrm, I like your interepretation of the ocean, but at the same time, it would've been nice for a dose of realism, because she has children, which bugged me the most. Even though Nora in A Doll's House leaves, and I support that, I still couldn't help but apply the novels/plays to real life. Think of the children! Think of the children!

[Jackaroe]

^same here. I ultimately thought that Edna and Nora from Ibsen's A Doll's House were just selfish. I mean really, couldn't they just suck up their "horrible" lives and stay there for the sake of their children?

I'm not saying that I disliked Chopin's style. I love her style and I enjoy reading her short stories as well. Some of them are very romantic and elegant. I just could not really admire Edna in The Awakening.

[*mishyerr*]

Well, it sort of foreshadows that the children are not Edna's main priority in life. She tells Mme Ratignolle that she would never give 'herself' to the children. In the end, she finds herself when she is overwhelmed by the ocean, and she does not leave it for her children. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I think the ending was fit, and Chopin prepared the reader for such an ending.

[Jackaroe]

^You've got a point. I guess that's why "The Awakening" received such harsh criticism when it was published. I think I read somewhere that Chopin was so devastated by the biting reviews that she decided not to write anymore. But I'm not sure if that's entirely correct.