Kate Chopin’s novel
The
Awakening doesn’t contain any obviously deliberate Shakespeare references,
but there are two phrases she uses which seem to originate from Shakespeare.
The first is in her line “She needed the sun to mellow and temper her mood
to the sticking point” (p. 120). The term “sticking point,” or “sticking place,”
was used in
Macbeth. Lady Macbeth
says to Macbeth, “But screw your courage to the sticking-place,/And we’ll not
fail.” The term means the point at which something reaches its greatest
strength or limit. It’s related to the image of a crossbow pulled taut, and
means being firm and resolute. The other line worth mentioning is Chopin’s “I
couldn’t help loving you if you were ten times his wife” (p. 173), as it
reminds me of Hamlet’s line, “We shall obey, were she ten times our mother.”
The Awakening
was originally published in 1899. The edition I read is a hardcover book club
edition published by Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
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