What does a woman think of when she hears the word “summer?” Maybe of sunny days filled with warmth and days on the beach tanning and swimming, but how many think of winks and flirtatious smiles thrown around? In the 19th Century, this is what happened every summer; women became free souls, but once the temperature dropped, their freedom was frozen. Men once again claimed their wives and held them down for another year to come. This was accepted by society, as long as a woman followed the implied rules of fidelity, but when these rules were broken, there were deadly consequences. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna’s freedom of flirtation drags her down as she fights for independence from the possession-driven, man-powered, 19th Century world that eventually spirals into her death.…