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The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, is a unique and exclusive novel that shows us a woman, who through her stirring, or sparking comes to her senses and grasps reality. Throughout the whole story the main character (Edna Pontellier) fluctuates between two different places or settings. Her home in New Orleans and her summer home in Grand Isle. By using these contrasting settings Chopin represents opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning …

…contrasting settings, that there are two types of women in this world, women "with" ideas and women who "express" their ideas. In The Awakening Edna Pontellier is a woman with ideas and ethics who is oppressed but eventually finds the courage to express her ideas. Through contrasting settings Chopin seems to vividly describe Edna's metamorphisis with the greatest of ease. Who knows, maybe Kate Chopin went through this shift of opinion or attitude as well.