Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin (1850-1904) was widowed at thirty-two with six children and began writing to support them. The Awakening (1899) was attacked as morbid and vulgar on publication, effectively ending her career; she published almost nothing afterwards. It was rediscovered in the 1960s and is now standard on university syllabuses. The novel’s subject — a woman discovering that the self she performs is not the one she has — is why its lines circulate. Quotes are cited by chapter.