Abstract: Kate Chopin designed The Awakening for her exploration of three issues: sexual desire,artistic pursuit and maternal obligation.The three heroines in the novel-Mademoiselle Reisz,Edna Pontellier and Madame Ratignolle-are actually embodying three structures of personality,respectively representing id,ego and superego.By analyzing the relationship among the three women characters,Chopin intends to look for solutions to the above three issues for her and for the other women of her time.