Novel by Kate Chopin The Awakening takes place at the end of the 19th century on the Grand Isle. The novel centers on Edna Pontellier, a woman who becomes sexually self-aware and attempts to gain her independence. Throughout the novel, she strives to contrast her views on motherhood and femininity with Southern social attitudes toward women; women were just property. In the novel, Edna attempts to seek her individuality away from the constraints of society, but finds her journey hampered by her inability to transcend society; this is reflected in his search for self, his choices and its consequences. In The Awakening, Edna experiences a “. . . a spiritual and physical awakening [which] announces one’s search for oneself” (“Themes”); she tries to break free from society's feminine ideals by being her own person and seeking the self she has since repressed. In search of this self, Edna "first tries to assert herself by refusing to have sexual relations with her husband" ("Themes") and, according to Kate Chopin, to do exercises openly defying his orders (52). His assurance gives...