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The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899) has been seen as a novel of adultery, as for example, Madame Bovary, but I don't really think that the main problem of Edna- The Awakening's main character- is a matter of love. Edna is much more than a problem of  satisfactory marriage, she incarnates the history of women in the Western society. Edna is introduced to the reader reflecting a problem of identity, her unhappy marriage is just a parcel of such problem. Edna doesn't know neither who she is nor where's her place in the world. At the beginning of the novel, the reader finds Edna as a wife concerned  about her husband, trying to do her best to get a peaceful home. However, something is awoke within herself while listening a piano concert; here music plays a significant role. I'm currently working on this topic in my research, that's the influence of music in the souls, and especially in the novel of adultery. By now, I'll go on  with the idea that music, and later, her relation with Robert, make her conscious of herself, of her inward. I'd say the sea plays a role here as well, but that's another topic for another moment. Thus, adultery is just a tool through which she becomes aware of her whole life, and it's from this point she decides to change. The next step is painting, so art. She loves painting but she had never before taken it seriously. Painting is the first expression of her awareness. I find it a very interesting point; she becomes more and more herself through her artistic expression, I think that's another point to analyse: how art is related to self-consciousness. Finally, she becomes independent, she earns her own money and buys an apartment. At this point, her love relations aren't so important, that's the reason I think adultery isn't the main point in the novel. Instead, we can se how Edna acquires consciousness of herself as a woman in society (the title itself refers to an awakening) which corresponds to the history of the independence of women. I guess the important point in such a history isn't sex or money but consciousness, and through it, inner-freedom.