Given Chopin's approach to the novel, there can be no happy ending for Edna, and this feature places The Awakening in the naturalist school of writing. Established in the last half of the nineteenth century, Naturalist and the closely associated Realist literature held that writing should offer an objective, empirical presentation of the human experience. Naturalism required an amoral stance towards a character's actions and aspirations — but nonetheless expected the worst both for and from the character. The influence of Darwin's theories on naturalism resulted in the sentiment that humans have little control over themselves or the forces that shape their lives, but must struggle to survive, prospering only at the expense of others. As if to emphasize that she is consciously including that school's principles or approach in her novel, Chopin has Edna reading a novel by the realist writer Edmund Goncourt.
In stark contrast with naturalism was the much older school of romanticism, which promoted the idea that anyone's life or worldview could be transformed by idealism and self-knowledge. American romanticism put an emphasis on the role of art in such a transformation. Ironically, The Awakening was heavily influenced by this school, as well: Chopin presents a character whose relationship with art both engenders and indicates her life's transformation. Although Edna is not a serious artist, her art does reflect her growth as a person. Her focus on developing her spiritual rather than material state is in keeping with the related transcendentalist philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau; in fact, Edna is shown reading Emerson her first night alone in the mansion. Transcendentalist writers, themselves influenced by the romantics, have an optimistic view about human potential and express the need to appreciate independence in spirit and action, even when in conflict with mainstream expectations. As Edna learns her own mind and follows her heart, defying her culture's traditions and orthodoxy, she is exemplifying the values of transcendentalism.
By presenting a heroine who attempts to transform her life but ultimately feels overwhelmed by those around her and defeated by herself, Chopin depicts the dark side, what cynics would call the realistic consequences, of Edna's romantic impulse to reconfigure her life according to her own true principles.
Chopin's novel arrived at a pivotal juncture in time: The roots of feminism had been established in the 1890s but the future of women's economic, political, and personal independence was far from determined. Just so Edna's life, which indicates the real possibility of a new independence but does not promise that such independence will be easily won or maintained.
