Chopin did not continue to write novels after awakening, and it was difficult to publish other works. Emily Toth believes that this is because Chopin "has gone too far: Edna's feelings are unbearable for male guards." Chopin's next novel was forced to be cancelled, and her health problems and family conflicts troubled her. When she died five years later, she had been forgotten. Norwegian scholar Per SeGester rediscovered Chopin in 1960s, making The Awakening a feminist work today. In the 1990s, when Chopin wrote this work, a series of social changes and conflicts brought "women's issues" to the public, which influenced Chopin's works. In Louisiana, the original site of the novel at that time, women were the legal property of their husbands; As a Catholic-dominated region, the divorce rate is very low, and women are expected to be loyal and obedient to their husbands. This also explains some reactions to awakening in 1899.

Linda Wagner-Martin wrote: "Sometimes it is regarded as' Europe' (at least' France') rather than American style, and these criticisms are precisely what makes the novel wonderful and prescient. Chopin's The Awakening and other19th and early 20th century novels were censored for their explicit immorality, including adultery. These arguments can be found in newspapers at that time. In any case, Margo Cali insisted that kate chopin was not the only woman who challenged gender ideology at that time; It was writing that made her shine.

In the19th century, readers have the impression that a woman abandoned her husband and children. This also reflects the strict responsibility of women at that time, a role that rebelled against social expectations and shocked readers. At that time, a book "Etiquette/Advice" said: "If she is really a maternal person, being with her children will be her first choice.