"Repressing the Awakening" is a psychoanalysis of Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening. It examines decadent, displaced, and transitory sexual repression in the characters. Complete with quotes.

<Tab/>In the 19th century, Sigmund Freud created a popular new method of psychological analysis, appropriately titled "psychoanalysis." Dealing primarily with subconscious impulses and desires, this popular method of evaluation soon spread beyond the realm of science and in to the literary world. In reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin, psychoanalysis introduces a significant revelation in regards to the novel's main characters. Using a Freudian analysis, the reader can see how …

…more subtle displacement of sexual passions and energy shown by her husband Mr. Pontellier, and back to the symbolism behind cigar imagery, readers can find themselves rediscovering these characters and their motives for the first time, providing deep insight as literary critics. These three categories: the decadent, the displaced, and the transitory, are the wonderfully complex ingredients that make up Kate Chopin's novel, elevating it to the position that so many critics proclaim it deserves.