The Awakening. Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin (née O'Flaherty) was born in 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri, to an Irish-French family. In 1870, she married Oscar Chopin and moved with him to New Orleans, and then to a small plantation in Louisiana. The couple had six children. Widowed, Kate Chopin returned to her native St. Louis in 1882, where she took up writing on the advice of her family doctor, who believed that this way she would overcome the depression she had after the death of her husband. By the early 1890s, she was regularly writing stories, articles, and translations that were published in local periodicals. In 1899, her novel The Awakening was published, which was received negatively by many contemporaries. It is about a woman who finds herself trapped by the restrictions imposed on her by social and societal "traditions." After the scandal surrounding "The Awakening," for which the writer was accused of immorality, Chopin began to write much less, switching to short stories. Kate Chopin's works were highly praised and gained great relevance only in the 20th century, thanks to the growth of the women's equality movement. The writer is considered one of the founders of feminism in the United States.