History Literature / TheAwakening

* BiTheWay and/or HomoeroticSubtext: The narrative implies that Edna is attracted to Adèle and Mlle. Reisz, and goes so far as to mention that "we might as well call love" her feelings for Adèle.

* TrueBlueFemininity: The Farival twins wear white and blue, said to be the "Virgin's Colors".
* WomanInWhite: The Creole women Edna hangs with count as this trope, wearing white and often seen fulfilling a "Mother-Woman" role.

* GRatedSex: The sexual scenes are so G-rated students tend to completely miss them. The great irony of this is that when it was written the book was so raunchy it almost wasn't published.

* ItsAllAboutMe: The perspective of the novel focuses heavily on the viewpoints and dissatisfaction of Edna Pontellier with her married life which led to her engaging in more than two love affairs out of sheer boredom with her marriage, ignoring her children to pursue artistic pursuits, and eventually ending her own life because she was unwilling to abandon her newfound hedonistic lifestyle. All in all, it makes her come off as considerably conceited despite the author trying to make her justifiably sympathetic.

** Alcee Arubin has a scandalous reputation with women.

A 1899 novella by Kate Chopin about Edna Pontellier, a married Victorian mother who experiences an awakening of her sexuality and creativity while vacationing on an island with her husband.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Believed by Adele. Questioned heavily by Edna.

* {{Foil}}: Adele to Edna. Adele and Mlle. Reisz are also this to each other.

* LoveDodecahedron: A fairly mild case, though with tragic results. Edna is married to Mr. Pontellier, but she and Robert are in love, although she also has a lust-driven affair with Alcee as a sort of substitute while both Mr. Pontellier and Robert are away. Alcee is also flirty with other women, and Edna and Adele have some HomoeroticSubtext early on in the story.
* MomentKiller: Celestine walking in on Edna and Robert cuddling to tell Edna that Adele is having her baby.

* ProperLady: Adele Ratignolle'. Her submissiveness and devotion to her family and husband make her an ideal woman. Adele is extremely sweet, feminine, and fragile. However, Adele Ratignolle's open-minded Creole ways help Edna to unleash her self and her inner artist.

* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Edna's affair with Alcee is part of what finally makes her unwilling to continue the life she has.

* DidYouThinkICantFeel?

While the novella did receive some favourable or even rapturous contemporary reviews, it alienated conservative critics at the time and developed a somewhat scandalous reputation. Chopin continued writing until her death some fourteen years later, but sometimes had difficulty finding publishers, and much of her later work was not published until long after her death (bearing particular mention is her short story "The Storm", which is both one of earliest known examples of English-language erotica by a female author and even more subversive in its content than ''The Awakening''). By TheSixties and TheSeventies, her work underwent a re-evaluation courtesy of feminist critics and scholars, and the novella has since been canonised as a masterpiece of American literature and has been in print ever since.

While the novella did receive some favourable or even rapturous contemporary reviews, it alienated conservative critics at the time and developed a somewhat scandalous reputation. Chopin continued writing until her death four years later, but sometimes had difficulty finding publishers, and much of her later work was not published until long after her death (bearing particular mention is her short story "The Storm" which is both one of earliest known examples of English-language erotica by a female author and even more subversive in its content than ''The Awakening''). By TheSixties and TheSeventies, her work underwent a re-evaluation courtesy of feminist critics and scholars, and the novella has since been canonised as a masterpiece of American literature and has been in print ever since.

* ItsAllAboutMe: The perspective of the novel focuses heavily on the viewpoints and dissatisfaction of Edna Pontellier which leaders to her engaging in more than two love affairs out of sheer boredom with her marriage, ignoring her children to pursue artistic pursuits, and eventually ending her out life because she was unwilling to abandon her newfound hedonistic lifestyle. All in all, it makes her come off as considerably conceited.

* TheCasanova: Alcee Arubin.

* GRatedSex: The sex scenes are so G-rated students tend to completely miss them. The great irony of this is that when it was written the book was so raunchy it almost wasn't published.

* LoveDodecahedron: A fairly mild case, [[spoiler: though with tragic results]]. Edna is married to Mr. Pontellier, but [[spoiler: she and Robert are in love, although she also has a lust-driven affair with Alcee as a sort of substitute while both Mr. Pontellier and Robert are away. Alcee is also flirty with other women,]] and Edna and Adele have some LesYay going on early in the story.
* MomentKiller: Celestine [[spoiler: walking in on Edna and Robert cuddling to tell Edna that Adele is having her baby.]]
* TheOphelia: Parallels can be drawn between [[spoiler:Edna's death and the death of Ophelia.]]

* RipVanWinkle: After Edna spends most of chapter XV sleeping, she and Robert quip about how it's been one hundred years and everyone else i hte Grand Isle is long dead. She doesn't really sleep for a century, leaving it a DiscussedTrope.
* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Edna's affair with [[spoiler: Alcee]] is part of what finally makes her unwilling to continue [[spoiler: the life she has]].

* SuicideBySea: Edna swims far into the sea and lets herself be drowned. It's quite symbolic as learning to swim and bathing in the sea meant a lot for her and unleashed her desires and creativity.
* SympatheticAdulterer: [[spoiler:Edna.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Edna]].

* HystericalWoman: Mr. Pontelier thinks Edna is this, but the psychiatrist he calls to examine her encourages him to leave her be.

* {{Foil}}: Adele to Edna.