Olalla Manteiga, a C2 student in Sar, recommends a timeless classic; an eye-opener for anyone dissatisfied with what society expects from us:
I would like to share one of my
favourite novels, The Awakening, written by the American author Kate Chopin and
published in 1899.
I came across her work when I had to
read it for my literature class at University. Set in the American South, the
story revolves around Edna Pontellier and her struggle to overcome social
conventions about femininity and motherhood. Solitude and sexuality are also
recurrent topics in the novel. The protagonist feels detached from the society
she lives in because she feels she cannot be her true self, so she starts a
journey to find freedom and autonomy.
It was a controversial novel at the
time, both because of the topics discussed and the way Chopin depicts Victorian
society. I think it is a masterpiece ahead of its time and a very brave attempt
to denounce the social and gender roles that reduced women to mothers and wives.
It is considered a symbol of early feminism and a precursor of American
modernist literature that was later followed by other American authors such as
William Faulkner or Flannery O'Connor. I strongly recommend this novel as well
as Chopin's short stories. To conclude, I would like to share one of my
favourite quotes from The Awakening: "The bird that would soar above the
level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings."
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