| Acknowledgements | 第1-7页 |
| 中文摘要 | 第7-9页 |
| Abstract | 第9-12页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第12-17页 |
| ·The Literature Review on the Study of Kate Chopin and The Awakening | 第12-15页 |
| ·The Structure and Academic Significance of the Thesis | 第15-17页 |
| Chapter Two The Methodology of the Study | 第17-23页 |
| ·Introduction of Existentialism | 第17-21页 |
| ·The Basic Ideas of Existentialism | 第17-19页 |
| ·Sartre's Concept of Existentialism | 第19-21页 |
| ·The Influence of Existentialism on American Literature | 第21-23页 |
| Chapter Three Existentialist Elements in The Awakening | 第23-34页 |
| ·Sense of Alienation | 第23-26页 |
| ·Impotent and Helpless | 第24-25页 |
| ·Isolation from Society | 第25-26页 |
| ·Search for Selfhood | 第26-30页 |
| ·The Conflict between Selfhood,Motherhood and Wifehood | 第26-28页 |
| ·Search for Identity | 第28-30页 |
| ·Search for Freedom | 第30-34页 |
| ·Solitude as the Consequence of Independence | 第30-31页 |
| ·The Implications of Self-Expression | 第31-34页 |
| Chapter Four The Existentialist Ending of Edna | 第34-46页 |
| ·Responsibility for Her Choice | 第34-39页 |
| ·Spiritual Rebirth | 第35-36页 |
| ·Happiness as an Illusion-A Choice of One's Own | 第36-39页 |
| ·The Controversial Death—Schopenhaueran Approach to the Suicide of Edna | 第39-46页 |
| ·Suffering as the Essence of Life—Edna's Self-knowledge | 第40-42页 |
| ·Suicide as Inevitable to Life | 第42-46页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第46-48页 |
| Bibliography | 第48-50页 |
