On the Artistic Features of the Awakening by Kate Chopin.docVIP

On the Artistic Features of the Awakening by Kate Chopin 　　Received 5 November 2014; accepted 9 January 2015 　　Published online 26 February 2015 　　Abstract 　　Kate Chopin was one of the famous American feminist writers. Her famous work “The Awakening” is a song in praise of the fight for women’s fate and worthy of a peculiar flower in American literature. The paper gives an analysis of the ideological content and artistic form of the novel. From the simple words of the description of the heroine Edna?s solitary state in her relationship with others around her and with the objects as symbols about her, from the French in the novel, which is another unique feature, Chopin gives us a chance to appreciate a song in praise of the fight for women’s fate and worthy of a peculiar flower in American literature. 　　Key words: Kate Chopin; Features of character; Figurative method; Symbols 　　INTRODUCTION 　　Kate Chopin was one of the famous American feminist writer. When her magnum opus “The Awakening” was published in 1899, it received an overwhelmingly negative response, because it was about the awakening of psychological and sexual consciousness of a young woman. However after 50 years, the critical world began to reexamine this novel from the point of feminism and thought that she deserved an honorable position in the American literature. The recognition of “The Awakening” in the American literature signals people’s view at that time. Its publication cast a shadow over Kate Chopin and she only had another three short stories published in her life. Contemporary critics were predominately hostile toward the subject matter, but praised the artistry of the writing. And it was considered as a representative of feminism in the American literature, which was given the same fame as the Greek tragedy, Whitman’s poems, Hawthorne’s novels and Dreiser’s Sister Carrie. Now let’s see whether it is a grass or a peculiar flower. 　　1. BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE STORY 　　In 1899, Cho