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.