Assignment from Mrs. Green

Search for criticism of this book.  Try the internet and libraries.  Provide a typed 
annotated bibliography, with at least 4 sources, of what you discover.

Boren, Lynda S.  "Taming the Sirens."  Kate Chopin Reconsidered: Beyond the Bayou.
	Ed. Lynda S. Boren and Sara deSaussure Davis.  Baton Rouge: Louisiana
	State University, 1992.  180-196.
	Boren's approach to this novel is quite an interesting one, not hidden or
	uncovered.  The way that she explains how The Awakening revolves around
	music and art is detailed and brilliantly explained.  Her opinion and recognition
	of how only Chopin's music seems to break down Edna fits perfectly, almost
	exquisedly.  Her referrals to Mlle. Reisz as a "devil woman" are not at all off the 
	wall, one might not htink of her that way.  Only Reisz could move Edna to tears,
	and only with Chopin.  Boren gets the message of how art and music play key
	roles in this book through quickly and accurately.


Jacobs, Dorothy H.  "A Recognition of Confinement."  Kate Chopin Reconsidered:
	Beyond the Bayou.  Ed. Lynda S. Boren and Sara deSaussure Davis.  Baton
	Rouge:  Louisiana State University Press, 1992.  80-94.
	Jacobs' frequent referrals and comparisons to Ibsen's A Doll's House, Ghosts,
	and Hedda Gabler are at first confusing, but once one understands the angle 
	at which Jacobs is approaching, the situations presented are appreciated and 
	applauded.  Although the main characters in the three plays are very different
	in their dealings with life, society, and death, they combine ideals and 
	simplicities to form many of the traits shown by Edna, such as independence,
	realitization, and unaccustomed reliance upon others.  The romantic, social,
	and marital aspirations made obvious by Jacobs are what make the essay shine,
	especially the points that are made about Robert's refusal of Edna, therefore
	leaving her in the awful solitude of awakened motherhood.


Joslin, Katherine.  "Finding the Self at Home: Chopin's The Awakening and Cather's
	The Professor's House."  Kate Chopin Reconsidered: Beyond the Bayou.  Ed.
	Lynda S.  Boren and Sara deSaussure.  Baton Rouge: Louisiana State 
	University Press, 1992.  166-179.
	Joslin's essay, comparing The Awakening and The Professor's House, is quite
	intriguing.  Cather, being one of Chopin's condemners, paints a more
	conservative picture, more domesticated.  This was one area that Cather
	believed to be important, you may even want to call her a "mother-woman".
	Although the two writers had opposing views on society, their main characters
	were seeking the same things: solitude and freedom.


Rowe, John Carlos.  "The Economics of the Body in Kate Chopin's The Awakening."
	Kate Chopin Reconsidered: Beyond the Bayou.  Ed. Lynda S. Boren and Sara
	deSaussure Davis.  Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992.  117-
	142.
	Rowe's comparison of Edna and Aphrodite was simply stupendous; I hadn't 
	thought of the awakening of Edna to her body in that way at all.  Since "aphros"
	is Greek for "sea foam", the door was wide open for Chopin to establish Edna
	and her body as goddess like.  The moments that Edna removes her clothes,
	lets down her hair, or in other ways allows her body to move freely can be
	compared to the times at which she frees herself form society.  These acts
	also foreshadow her suicide, for before she enters the water she removes her
	suit, therefore removing the pressures of society.

My other pages

My Main Page
basically a directory
Kate Chopin and "The Awakening"
my main page on Kate Chopin
Nathaniel Hawthorne and "The Scarlett Letter"
my main page on Nathaniel Hawthorne
GennyLee's Tarot Page
my tarot page, with spreads and links

Jennifer Robitaille

jenny8726@hotmail.com



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