The Modern Library edition of The Awakening has an introduction by Kay Gibbons, who writes: "The Awakening shocked turn-of-the-century readers with its forthright treatment of sex and suicide. Departing from literary convention, Kate Chopin failed to condemn her heroine's desire for an affair with the son of a Louisiana resort owner, whom she meets on vacation. The power of sensuality, the delusion of ecstatic love, and the solitude that accompanies the trappings of middle- and upper-class life are the themes of this now-classic novel." – As Kay Gibbons points out, Chopin “was writing American realism before most Americans could bear to hear that they were living it.”

To give you an idea of the subject matter, Project Gutenburg catalogues The Awakening under “Adultery — Fiction — Women — Louisiana — New Orleans — Social conditions.”
(Summary by Denny Sayers)