Condemned as scandalous and immoral upon its release, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening still stirs controversy over a century later. The novel boldly explores themes of female desire, independence, and identity in a repressive society. Dover’s Banned Books edition uncovers the outrage that The Awakening sparked in 1899—and why it continues to be labeled obscene by organized book-ban campaigns that push to censor this classic novel. banned books; classic; feminism; feminists; feminist classic; women; patriarchal system; southern Louisiana; Madame Bovary; self-actualization; creole; 1899; Victorian; awakened; infidelity; solitude; anguish; awakening; husbands; New Orleans; Grand Isle; Kelly McGillis; Jon DeVries; Adrian Pasdar; novella; romance; southern fiction; psychological fiction