The ""Awakening

Kate Chopin's ""The Awakening"" is a favorite of feminist critics, who see it as an early evocation of the ideas that would galvanize the women's liberation movement.

This new addition to the ""Bloom's Guides"" series gathers excerpts of numerous respected critical essays on the novel.

Topics discussed include the symbolic use of the sea, literary naturalism, and Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in regard to the novel.

Helpful features include an annotated bibliography, a listing of other works by the author, and an introduction by master scholar Harold Bloom.