The Awakening

By: Kate Chopin

Narrated by: Maria Marquis

Set in New Orleans at the close of the 19th century, The Awakening follows Edna Pontellier, who, while vacationing with her husband and their two sons, finds liberation from her prudish behavior and repressed emotions and desires. At the coastal resort of Madame Lebrun, Edna struggles to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South.

Once a good Kentucky Presbyterian, and a proper wife and mother, Edna's appetite for expression and independence is unleashed when an unspoken passion for a Creole companion takes over and she can no longer comply with convention.

Public Domain (P)2020 Maria Marquis