The Awakening LitChart

The Awakening

AUTHOR BIOFull Name: Kate Chopin (born Katherine O’Flaherty)

Date of Birth: February 8, 1850

Place of Birth: St. Louis, Missouri

Date of Death: August 22, 1904

Brief Life Story: Katherine O’Flaherty was born in St. Louis to an Irish fatherand a French-Canadian mother. Her father died in a tragic accident when shewas only five, so she spent most of her childhood surrounded by a warmcommunity of widowed older women: her mother, her grandmother, and hergreat-grandmother, who taught Kate to love fairy tales, music, and Frenchculture. When she was a teenager, Kate attended a Catholic boarding schoolcalled the Sacred Heart Academy, where she was known for her intelligenceand literary wit. At the age of twenty, she married Oscar Chopin and moved toNew Orleans. By twenty-eight, she had given birth to six children.

By all accounts, the marriage was happily unconventional, and Kate wasindependent and outspoken. When Oscar’s business foundered, the familymoved to Louisiana. Oscar died of swamp fever only a few years later, andthirty-two-year-old Kate took over the family business. Soon after, she movedback to Mississippi, and in 1889 she began to publish controversial but well-received stories and magazine articles. The Awakening, however, met withuniversal shock and disapproval. After 1899, Kate wrote few stories. She diedof a hemorrhage only five years later.

KEY FACTSFull Title: The Awakening

Genre: Bildungsroman, a novel tracing a young person’s emotional andintellectual maturation.

Setting: Grand Isle and New Orleans in the late 19th century.

Climax: There are several potential climaxes in the story. One could choosethe night Mademoiselle Reisz’s music moves Edna to tears; her first kiss withArobin; or her last, fatal swim.

Antagonist: In the beginning of the novel the antagonist is Edna’s husband,Léonce Pontellier. Increasingly, however, every character exceptMademoiselle Reisz and Doctor Madelet comes to seem like Edna’santagonist: her admirers, her friends, and even her children.

Point of View: Third person.

HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXTWhen Written: between 1897 and 1899

Where Written: St. Louis, Missouri.

When Published: 1899

Literary Period: late Victorian

Related Literary Works: The Awakening is similar in theme to Flaubert’sMadame Bovary and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, which describe the boredom anddesperation of intelligent housewives. Kate Chopin’s writing has manyelements in common with the novels of Edith Wharton and Henry James, whowrote about the nuances, deceits, and dissatisfactions of American highsociety; such elements include intricate, contradictory psychological narration,witty dialogue, and a delicate subversion of stale but still powerful social rulesand prejudices. The Awakening is linked to the tradition of French existentialistliterature, as well; the narrators of novels like Camus’ Nausea share Edna’sformless dread and alienation.

Related Historical Events: In turn-of-the-century America, when Kate Chopinlived and wrote, the women’s rights movement was still quite young andtoothless. In Louisiana, a predominantly Catholic and conservative state, awoman was considered the legal property of her husband, and divorce waspractically unheard-of. Women (especially upper-class women) had to conformto Victorian ideals of femininity and motherhood: they were expected to bedelicate, passive, and saintly, and they were meant to find fulfillment in raisingchildren and tending to household tasks. The Awakening questioned thefoundations of this fading social order.

EXTRA CREDITDivorce in the Family. Kate Chopin’s great-great-grandmother was the firstwoman in Mississippi to legally separate from her husband. She went on toraise five children and run a successful shipping business.

Fame After Death. Female desire and nonconformism were so taboo in turn-of-the-century Louisiana that The Awakening was largely forgotten after itspublication; Chopin herself died in disgrace. Not until the 1960s did criticsrecognize Chopin’s last novel as a canonical work of literature.

The story begins at Grand Isle, a ritzy vacation spot near New Orleans, whereEdna Pontellier is summering with her husband and two children. Herhusband Léonce is often away on business, so she spends most of her timewith a beautiful, shallow friend named Adèle Ratignolle and a charming youngman named Robert Lebrun. From the beginning, the reader perceives that allis not harmonious in the Pontellier family: Edna seems bored by her childrenand frustrated with Léonce, who is silly, ill-tempered, and inattentive (his lavishgifts notwithstanding). Her friendship with Robert, though, has beenblossoming. They spend almost every day in each other’s company, strolling onthe beach and exchanging quiet jokes and observations.

The third-person narrator, whose voice blends somewhat with Edna’s innervoice, begins to remark on the artificiality of the other women and to questionEdna’s habitual obedience to her foolish husband. One night, Edna is moved totears at a party by the music of Mademoiselle Reisz, a sharp-voiced unmarriedwoman who most people dislike. Later that same night, Edna conquers herfear of the sea and swims far into the ocean. That night is the culmination ofher awakening, her critical, thoughtful examination of the social world and ofher inner life. Her friendship with Robert becomes romantically charged.Soon, Robert leaves Grand Isle for Mexico, where he hopes to forget the illicitromance. Edna spends the rest of the summer longing for his company.

In September the Pontelliers return to New Orleans. Edna begins to neglecther household and her children so that she can devote her days to painting,reading, and seeing friends. Her friendship with Madame Ratignolledisintegrates somewhat, but she goes often to see Mademoiselle Reisz, whogives Edna good advice, shows her Robert’s letters (which mention his love forher), and plays beautiful pieces on the piano. Edna’s concerned husbandconsults with Doctor Mandelet, a wise family friend, who advises him to waitit out. Edna also becomes romantically involved with Arobin, a fashionableyoung man with a bad reputation. She doesn’t love him, but she is stronglyphysically attracted to him. Their relationship is a source of confusion andanxiety to her.

Edna’s husband leaves for a long business trip and her children go to stay withtheir grandmother. She loves her new freedom and decides to move to asmaller house, moving out of her current home and leaving her husband. Byselling her paintings, she can become financially independent. She throws abeautiful going-away party, but is troubled throughout by feelings ofblankness and despair. One day, Edna learns from Mademoiselle Reisz thatRobert is due back in New Orleans. She runs into him at the pianist’sapartment a few days later. He is distant and formal at first, but she convinces

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him to have dinner at her new house, and soon enough they begin to talkfrankly and affectionately. He stays away from her for some time, in a lasteffort to avoid the affair, but when they run into each other again they returnto Edna’s house and confess their feelings openly.

They’re interrupted, however, by an urgent summons from MadameRatignolle, who is about to give birth. Edna watches the difficult procedure inhorror. On her way home, she talks haltingly with Doctor Mandelet about herconfused desire for freedom and her aversion to marriage. When she comeshome, Robert is gone. He has left a note explaining that he can’t be with her.

Not long after, Edna returns to Grand Isle. She says hello to Victor, Robert’sbrother who lives on the island year-round, and walks to the beach. She thinkswith despair about her indifference to the world and longs for completefreedom. As she begins to swim, bright and lovely memories from herchildhood flicker across her consciousness. In the book’s final, confusedmoments, as she feels completely free, she drowns.

Edna PEdna Pontellierontellier – The novel’s sad heroine, a twenty-eight-year-old housewifeand mother of two whose personality blurs and sharpens from minute tominute. The novel chronicles her transformation from a quiet, not entirelycontent housewife to a spirited, freethinking artist haunted by feelings ofaimlessness and despair. Her vacation at Grand Isle precipitates the momentshe calls her awakening: a combination of Mademoiselle Reisz’s beautifulmusic, Robert’s romantic attentions, and an inexplicable deepening of her self-understanding that together cause her to recognize the meaninglessness ofmost conventions, the deceits and injustices of family life, and the emptiness ofher social attachments. With time, she acts more and more freely according toher new convictions: she neglects family responsibilities and superficial socialobligations, and she seeks refuge in art and in the company of similarly mindedfriends. In the end, however, her unhappy love affair and her deeply conflicteddesire for total freedom are more than she can bear.

Robert LRobert Lebrunebrun – Edna’s close friend and almost-lover, Robert Lebrun is awealthy, charming twenty-six-year-old man without any apparent occupationbesides befriending pretty married women. After spending most of thesummer in each other’s company, Edna and Robert develop a strong romanticattachment to one another, and in an effort to protect Edna, Robert flees toMexico under the pretense of a business opportunity. He is absent duringmost of the novel except as the idealized, illicit object of Edna’s love. Despitehis irreverence and easy humor, Robert ultimately does not have the courageto love Edna without the sanction of marriage.

Mademoiselle ReiszMademoiselle Reisz – A rough-edged, plainspoken spinster, a gifted pianoplayer, and Edna’s closest friend. Many people in the novel dislikeMademoiselle Reisz for her harsh manner and impatience for social niceties.Edna, however, becomes deeply attached to the pianist and her music becauseboth seem to Edna to contain the emotional depth and spiritual freedom thatshe has recently discovered in herself, and which she has found sorely lackingin her friends and occupations.

Adèle RatignolleAdèle Ratignolle – Edna’s close friend and temperamental opposite, MadameRatignolle is the model of Victorian womanhood: she is pretty, fragile, warm-hearted, and completely devoted to her husband and children. She seems tofind satisfaction in her motherly and wifely chores, and she urges her friend todo the same. Her tiny, placid world, with its mundane pleasures and tepidartistic efforts, is precisely the world Edna tries to leave behind.

Alcée ArobinAlcée Arobin – A fashionable young man notorious for his relationships withmarried women. He courts Edna aggressively. His mixture of coyness andsincerity both repels and fascinates her, and they become close friends. Ednais attracted to Arobin, but does not love him. It’s implied that they eventuallybecome lovers, though the book does not describe anything more explicit thana kiss.

LLéonce Péonce Pontellierontellier – Edna’s husband, a pragmatic, sociable businessman whotakes great care to keep up appearances. He expects his wife to perform hersocial and motherly obligations in the conventional ways, and he is quick tochastise her for any perceived oversights. He loves Edna, in his way, but he is

deaf and blind to her turbulent inner life. He can’t understand her personaltransformation, or the unconventional lifestyle that results from it.

Doctor MandeletDoctor Mandelet – A wise family doctor, friend of the Pontelliers and theRatignolles. He seems to understand Edna’s predicament better than anyother character.

The ColonelThe Colonel – Edna’s stiff and conservative father, who has a penchant formaking elaborate cocktails.

Mrs. HighcampMrs. Highcamp – An elegant, middle-aged socialite who introduces Edna toArobin.

Madame LMadame Lebrunebrun – Robert and Victor’s widowed mother. She owns the GrandIsle cottages where the other characters vacation.

Victor LVictor Lebrunebrun – Robert’s impetuous younger brother.

Etienne and Raoul PEtienne and Raoul Pontellierontellier – Edna and Léonce’s two young sons.

MariequitaMariequita – A young Spanish girl that has a loose romantic attachment toVictor Lebrun.

The Farival TThe Farival Twinswins – Fourteen-year-old girls that often play the piano at GrandIsle parties. Their perfunctory music is set against Mademoiselle Reisz’spassionate performances.

The Lady in BlackThe Lady in Black – A mysterious widow who walks silently up and down thebeach counting her prayer beads. In this society, a woman without a husband isdoomed to live out the remainder of her days in grim, helpless solitude.

The LThe Loovversers – A couple that often walks on the beach in the happy oblivion ofyoung love. The brief, chaste period of courtship that precedes marriageseems to be the only appropriate moment for romantic love, according to theVictorian mores of 19th-century New Orleans.

Madame AntoineMadame Antoine – A friend of Robert’s and a native of Grand Isle. Shewelcomes Edna into her home to rest and recuperate after mass.

MrMr. and Mrs. Merriman. and Mrs. Merriman – A couple that attends Edna’s party. Mrs. Merrimanis flirtatious, and Mr. Merriman is dull.

Miss MaMiss Mayblunt and Mryblunt and Mr. Gouv. Gouvernailernail – Another couple at Edna’s party; bothhave vague intellectual pretentions.

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CONVENTION AND INDIVIDUCONVENTION AND INDIVIDUALITYALITYA person in the middle or high society of 19th century New Orleans lived byintricate systems of social rules. These largely unspoken rules governedminute details of dress and expression, and prescribed certain behaviors fordifferent social roles: mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, virgins andspinsters all measured against their respective Victorian ideals. Of course,every society in every period has created its own unwritten laws; but TheAwakening takes place in a society whose rules were particularly stringent. As ayoung woman, Edna assumes that she must live and die according to theserules, like all the people who surround her.

From an early age, she learns to separate her murky, curious, disobedientinner life from the anonymous outer life—a quality other people perceive asreserve. But sometime during her marriage the inner life goes dark under theweight of convention, and Edna enters a sort of long sleep. MademoiselleReisz’s music, Robert’s love, and the strange beauty of the sea startle herawake. Thought, emotion, and will return to her all at once; she examines hervarious roles as wife, mother, and friend, and finds them all duplicitous andbizarre.

Soon, she learns to ignore convention and to behave according to heridiosyncratic beliefs and impulses. But, as we know, this is much easier saidthan done. Edna abandons her entire worldview (which, borrowed though itwas, had guided her every step) in exchange for—what? When the initialdestructive thrill weakens and fades, she finds herself in an emotionalwilderness. She is strong enough to denounce and reject a false code, but notquite strong enough to invent a true one. Without it, she is lost—she must live

CHARACHARACTERSCTERS

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at the mercy of her emotions, which are violent with contradiction. In a way,Chopin’s novel is a cautionary tale: though individuality and inwardness muststruggle against convention, one cannot live by inwardness alone.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS, FEMININITYWOMEN’S RIGHTS, FEMININITY, AND, ANDMOMOTHERHOODTHERHOODIn the social world of New Orleans, femininity was controlled and defined withseverity. At every stage of life, a young woman faced myriad rules andprescriptions; a little girl should be A, a teenage girl should be B, an engagedwoman C, a young married woman D, a mother E, a widow F, and on and onand on. In 19th century America, when the women’s rights movement was stillquite new, conservative states like Louisiana granted women very few rights.Women could not vote, hold property, or (in most cases) file for divorce. And,in addition, there was a social world of more intangible restrictions: womenshould not be too warm or too cold, should not expose themselves to sun or towind, should fear dirt, physical exertion, violence, vice, confusion and darknessof every kind; women should desire marriage above all else, but they shouldmerely tolerate sex; the list seems never-ending.

In the early chapters of the novel, it becomes apparent to Edna that societyconsiders her a possession of her husband’s and a willing, even happy, slave toher children. As the ocean and her realization of her desires through herbudding love for Robert grow within her, she rejects these roles. She begins tonotice some of the more intangible rules, as well. She distinguishes betweentwo models of femininity: externalized femininity, where nothing is hidden,which is characterized by perfection, delicacy, purity; and internalizedfemininity, which is thoughtful, strong, contradictory, and chaotic.

The eccentric Mademoiselle Reisz is an outlier to this model, because insociety’s eyes her spinsterhood strips her of her femininity. By the end of thenovel Edna comes to doubt the harsh, moralizing oppositions of Victorianfemininity. She is neither exposed nor hidden, neither shy nor outgoing,neither dirty nor clean, neither bad nor good; like Mademoiselle Reisz, shesees herself as existing outside the roles society has defined for her. And, as anoutsider, she sees no role or world for herself.

REALISM AND RREALISM AND ROMANTICISMOMANTICISMRealism is a perspective that emphasizes facts, surfaces, and life’s practicalaspects, and romanticism as a perspective that focuses on emotion, varietiesof experience, and the inner life. In Chopin’s novel, realism emerges from aconventional worldview, and romanticism emerges from an individualisticworldview. Pontellier and Madame Ratignolle, who are preoccupied almostexclusively with surfaces—the appearance of a comfortable home, theappearance of a happy family—exemplify realism. Edna and MademoiselleReisz, who seek out emotional and spiritual experience, exemplifyromanticism. Robert, Victor, Arobin and several other characters are moreambiguous, because they switch sometimes from one perspective to theother: Robert, for example, is interested in business and respectability, but heis also sensitive to the magic of a summer night.

Edna herself passes through several phases. Her memories of childhood aremostly image and emotion; but when she decides to marry Pontellier, “she feltshe would take her place with a certain dignity in the world of reality, closingthe portals forever behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams.” Herloveless, practical marriage carries her into realism – a period that coincideswith what she remembers as a long sleep, a time when her feelings andthoughts lay dormant. As she awakens, she begins to see the world as througha misty lens. Romance occludes her ordinary vision and sharpens her inwardvision. She shows a growing contempt of daily tasks and small pleasures, whichshe feels chase away some more thrilling and essential aspect of life (art andlove are central to this other existence). Eventually, her sense of realityabandons her almost completely; when she can no longer see romance in thepeople and things that surround her, they become alien and irrelevant, and shewithdraws totally into herself.

AACTION AND REFLECTIONCTION AND REFLECTIONEdna senses a gulf between action and thought, between “the outwardexistence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” She feels morecomfortable in the inner life, which she has rediscovered very recently. As she

questions her habitual actions, her thoughts often seem separate from herbody. Other women in the novel are represented by their hands, which areexpressive, which do things. Edna’s central feature is her eyes, which arereflective. She is often looking and observing: her sight is a symptom of hernew wakefulness. Action, on the other hand, is often related to artifice—thebustling mothers in the park, the dutiful but bored pianists and dancers atMadame Lebrun’s soirée.

But as Edna becomes more confident in her new identity, her actions expressher thoughts and beliefs more faithfully. She abandons many tasks that othersexpect her to perform, like visiting days and household chores, and spends hertime painting and visiting real friends. Her love for Robert, especially, seems toconnect the outer and the inner self, but the loss of that love divides themirremediably. After Robert leaves, her love becomes a more generalizeddesire, and the experience of physical desire without its emotional partnershifts her focus to surfaces once again. By the end of the novel she seemstrapped in a strange middle space, a limbo between the inner and the outerlife, without the resolve to reenter either.

FREEDOM AND EMPTINESSFREEDOM AND EMPTINESSFreedom, for Edna, is release from the binding rules and stereotypes ofconvention, which the narrator compares to an ill-fitting garment. Freedom,for her, is also disengagement from obligation of any kind, includingobligations to her husband and children. This desire for radical freedom iswhat is behind her obsession with the sea, a place of complete solitude andemptiness. As she loses her desire for a connection to others, she gets thesense that the people around her are “uncanny, half-human beings” in “an alienworld.” She feels loosed from her place in the world, as though she is free to beno longer human. Life itself, with its peculiar and humiliating processes, comesto seem like an obligation when she watches her friend give birth.

Over the course of the novel Edna longs more and more deeply for freedomfrom, a negative liberty, but she has no clear idea of the freedom to, theimpulse to seek satisfaction and achievement - perhaps because her smallworld gives her so few opportunities. In this way, desire for negative freedombecomes a desire for emptiness, for nothingness. Early on in the novel,convention had seemed to Edna like an uncomfortable outer garment; by theend, emotion itself is such a garment. Even her soul is something that anothercan possess, and she wants to be possessed in no way. When she dies,drowning alone in the sea, she finally feels naked, finally free.

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BIRDSAs in many Romantic works of the 19th century, birds in The Awakening aresymbols of freedom and imagination. In flight, they soar above earthly rulesand inhibitions. They observe the world from a cool distance, like passengerson a plane watching abstract squares of farmland. The power of flight(imagination) allows the birds to escape the laws of the earth.

THE SEASuch freedom comes with a price, however. The novel’s birds symbolize boththe joys of freedom and its potential dangers. As she listens to MademoiselleReisz’s music, Edna imagines a man watching a bird flying into the distance.Later, Edna’s story about illicit love makes her listeners hear the romanticrustling of birds in the dark. In both instances, birds are markers of forbiddendesire. And as the book draws to its conclusion, birds become warning signs.Edna watches a bird with a broken wing float down to the ocean in themoments before she drowns.

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CHAPTER 1“You are burnt beyond recognition,” he added, looking at his wife as one looksat a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage.

—Léonce Pontellier, Narrator

CHAPTER 2Mrs. Pontellier’s eyes were quick and bright; they were a yellowish brown,about the color of her hair. She had a way of turning them swiftly upon anobject and holding them there as if lost in some inward maze of contemplationand thought. … She was rather handsome than beautiful. Her face wascaptivating by reason of a certain frankness of expression and a contradictorysubtle play of features.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 3An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliarpart of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. It waslike a shadow, like a mist passing across her soul’s summer day.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 4They were women who idolized their children, worshipped their husbands,and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and growwings as ministering angels.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 6Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as ahuman being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the worldwithin and about her.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 7At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life—thatoutward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.

—Narrator

The acme of bliss, which would have been marriage with the tragedian, wasnot for her in this world. As the devoted wife of a man who worshipped her,she felt she would take her place with a certain dignity in the world of reality,closing the portals forever behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 10A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import hadbeen given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grewdaring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out,where no woman had swum before.

—Narrator

A thousand emotions have swept through me tonight. I don’t understand halfof them… I wonder if I shall ever be stirred again as Mademoiselle Reisz’splaying moved me tonight. I wonder if any night on earth will again be like thisone. It is like a night in a dream. The people about me are like some uncanny,half-human beings.

—Edna Pontellier

CHAPTER 12She was blindly following whatever impulse moved her, as if she had placedherself in alien hands for direction, and freed her soul from responsibility.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 17Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet.When she saw it lying there, she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it.But the small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the littleglittering circlet.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 18She felt no interest in anything about her. The street, the children, the fruitvender, the flowers growing there under her eyes, were all part and parcel ofan alien world which had suddenly become antagonistic.

—Narrator

The little glimpse of domestic harmony which had been offered her, gave herno regret, no longing. It was not a condition of life which fitted her, and shecould see in it but an appalling and hopeless ennui. She was moved by a kind ofcommiseration for Madame Ratignolle,—a pity for that colorless existencewhich never uplifted its possessor beyond the region of blind contentment, inwhich no moment of anguish ever visited her soul, in which she would neverhave the taste of life’s delirium.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 19He could see plainly that she was not herself. That is, he could not see that shewas becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which weassume like a garment with which to appear before the world.

—Narrator

There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why —when it didnot seem worth while to be glad or sorry, to be alive or dead; when lifeappeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium and humanity like wormsstruggling blindly toward inevitable annihilation. She could not work on such aday.

—Narrator




CHAPTER 22She won’t go to the marriage. She says a wedding is one of the mostlamentable spectacles on earth.

—Léonce Pontellier

CHAPTER 23He observed his hostess attentively from under his shaggy brows, and noted asubtle change which had transformed her from the listless woman he hadknown into a being who, for the moment, seemed palpitant with the forces oflife. Her speech was warm and energetic. There was no repression in herglance or gesture. She reminded him of some beautiful, sleek animal waking upin the sun.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 27“One of these days,” she said, “I’m going to pull myself together for a while andthink—try to determine what character of a woman I am; for, candidly, I don’tknow. By all the codes which I am acquainted with, I m a devilishly wickedspecimen of the sex. But some way I can’t convince myself that I am.”

—Edna Pontellier

It was the first kiss of her life to which her nature had really responded. It wasa flaming torch that kindled desire.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 30But as she sat there amid her guests, she felt the old ennui overtake her; thehopelessness which so often assailed her, which came upon her like anobsession, like something extraneous, independent of volition. … There cameover her the acute longing which always summoned into her spiritual visionthe presence of the beloved one.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 32There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with acorresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she tooktoward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansionas an individual. She began to look with her own eye: to see and apprehend thedeeper undercurrents of life.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 35She answered her husband with friendly evasiveness, - not with any fixeddesign to mislead him, only because all sense of reality had gone out of her life;she had abandoned herself to Fate, and awaited the consequences withindifference.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 36I always feel so sorry for women who don’t like to walk; they miss so much—somany rare little glimpses of life; and we women learn so little of life on thewhole.

—Edna Pontellier

You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming ofimpossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am nolonger one of Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not. I give myselfwhere I choose. If he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she isyours,’ I should laugh at you both.

—Edna Pontellier

It was you who awoke me last summer out of a life-long, stupid dream.

—Edna Pontellier

CHAPTER 37With an inward agony, with a flaming, outspoken revolt against the ways ofNature, she witnessed the scene of torture.

—Narrator

CHAPTER 38The trouble is… that youth is given up to illusions. It seems to be a provision ofNature; a decoy to secure mothers for the race. And Nature takes no accountof moral consequences, of arbitrary conditions which we create, and which wefeel obliged to maintain at any cost.

—Doctor Mandelet

CHAPTER 39There was no one thing in the world that she desired. There was no humanbeing whom she wanted near her except Robert; and she even realized thatthe day would come when he, too, and the thought of him would melt out ofher existence, leaving her alone. The children appeared before her likeantagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to dragher into the soul’s slavery for the rest of her days. But she knew a way to eludethem.

—Narrator

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SUMMARY & ANALSUMMARY & ANALYSISYSIS




CHAPTER 1As the book begins, Mr. Pontellier isreading a day-old newspaper next to agroup of summer cottages at GrandIsle, a vacation spot near NewOrleans. Madame Lebrun’s noisyparrot begins to annoy him, so herelocates to a chair outside his owncottage. There, other noises distracthim: children playing the piano, othersplaying croquet, Madame Lebrunshouting orders to her servants.

Pontellier’s character is introduced anddismissed in almost one stroke. Wegather right away that he is a cranky,unsettled, slightly ill-tempered man whodoes not look kindly on the disorder ofanimals, women, and children. He prefersorder and quiet.

As he smokes a cigar, Pontellierwatches his wife and Robert Lebrunwalking towards him from the beach.When they reach him, he reproacheshis wife for going to the beach in themiddle of the afternoon, and for herunsightly sunburn. She quietlyretrieves the wedding rings she hadgiven to him for safekeeping. She andRobert laugh to each other knowinglyabout some small incident theywitnessed at the beach; Pontellierasks them to explain, but the jokeloses its appeal in the retelling.

Pontellier treats his wife as a possessionhe does not like to see damaged. He isaffectionate and intolerablycondescending all at once. Here we see,for almost the last time, the sort of wifeEdna had been until now: docile,obedient, and uncomplaining. Herfriendship with Robert, which is happyand comfortable, stands in stark contrastto her marriage.

Pontellier decides to go to Klein’s, anearby hotel, to play billiards andperhaps to eat dinner. He invitesRobert, but the young man declines infavor of Mrs. Pontellier’s company.

It does not occur to Pontellier to spendthe evening enjoying his wife’s company,as Robert does. Edna and Pontellier arenot friends.

CHAPTER 2We learn that Mrs. Pontellier hasyellow-brown hair and eyes, which areinward-looking and contemplative.She is lovely and reserved, whileRobert is bright and carefree; they aresimilar in appearance. She and Roberttalk easily about this and that—thebeach, the romping children, theirpasts, and their future plans. Robertintends to go Mexico in the fall afterhe and his mother leave Grand Isle.Mrs. Pontellier describes her father’splantation in Mississippi and herchildhood in Kentucky. Then Mrs.Pontellier leaves to get ready fordinner.

We learn that the foundations of Ednaand Robert’s friendship are similarinterests, senses of humor, andsensibilities. Their similar appearancessuggest that their friendship is that ofequals. Compared to their easyconversations, Edna’s stilted interactionswith Pontellier seem like businessnegotiations. Edna and Robert are linkedinwardly, while Edna and Pontellier arelinked only outwardly, by law andconvention.

CHAPTER 3Pontellier comes home late at nightand wakes Mrs. Pontellier to tell herabout his night. She answers himdrowsily, and he takes offense at hernonchalance. He forgot the candy hepromised to bring the children, but hegoes to the bedroom to check onthem. He tells his wife that Raoul hasa fever; Mrs. Pontellier assures himthe child is fine, and Pontelliercriticizes her for her perceivedneglect. She checks on the children tohumor him. Soon thereafter he fallsasleep.

Pontellier expects Edna to attend to hisevery need, though he does not give athought to her needs. When Pontellierfeels his needs are not being met, hechildishly diverts his irritation to Edna’scapacities as a mother. He is an ill-tempered bully who expects to have hisway in every situation.

By now, Mrs. Pontellier is awake. Shecries a little and goes out onto theporch. Suddenly she begins to cryintensely. She had never reacted quitethis strongly to a domestic squabble;she feels a nameless darkness andexhaustion overcome her. She ignoresthe bites of the mosquitoes swarmingaround her.

Though Pontellier often scolds andbullies her, Edna responds to thisinstance with unusual intensity. She hasa strong sense that something is wrong;that sense of injustice gives her a feelingof emptiness. Her awakening isbeginning.

Pontellier eagerly sets out for a weekof work in the city the next morning.He gives his wife a little money, whichshe accepts gratefully. Wife andchildren say a cheerful goodbye. A fewdays later, he sends her an expensivegift of food and wine, as is his habit.Mrs. Pontellier shares the gift withher friends, and they compliment hisgenerosity. Mrs. Pontellier accepts thecompliments with just a hint ofsarcasm.

Despite her strange despair, Ednabehaves with her usual docility the nextmorning. She obeys the force of habitand accepts Pontellier’s presents. Butthough her external behavior has not yetchanged, some internal darkness anddoubt have taken root.

CHAPTER 4Pontellier considers his reasons forcriticizing his wife’s choices as amother. The children are independentand self-sufficient—they never cometo their mother for comfort. The othermothers at Grand Isle, by contrast, arenervous, protective, and self-sacrificing. Adèle Ratignolle, a friendof Mrs. Pontellier’s, is the epitome ofsuch a woman: beautiful, graceful, andmotherly, with small delicate hands.

Femininity, in this place and time, isclosely bound to motherhood: a womanwithout children is not quite a woman.Mothers—and women byextension—exist to care for children.They must put the needs of their childrenabove their own needs. Edna does notalign perfectly to this stereotype. Herdeviation from the norm irritates herhusband.

Madame Ratignolle is sewing a child’sgarment at Mrs. Pontellier’s cottagewhen Mr. Pontellier’s package arrives.Mrs. Pontellier takes up some sewingas well, though it doesn’t muchinterest her; Robert watches themidly. We learn from the narrator thatMrs. Pontellier had never spent muchtime with Creoles, Americans ofFrench and Spanish descent, until thissummer; she reflects that they areextremely open and uninhibited.

Though Edna realizes that she does notfeel the overwhelming devotion to herchildren that the other mothers seem tofeel, she does her best to put up a goodshow. She is not yet fully conscious of herdifference; her habitual respect forconvention, as well as her naturalreserve, hold her back from any openlyunconventional behavior.



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CHAPTER 5As Madame Ratignolle sews, Robertand Mrs. Pontellier chat intimately.Robert has been spending a great dealof time with Mrs. Pontellier thissummer, as is his habit—he usuallyattaches himself to a married orunmarried woman for the vacationseason; once he even admiredMadame Ratignolle, and he speaks ofit freely. Mrs. Pontellier is glad he isnot so shameless with her. She looksadmiringly at Madame Ratignolle’ssaint-like beauty and sketches her idly.She is not a professional artist, but sheis naturally gifted.

Sewing children’s clothes cannot holdEdna’s attention – she would rather drawand talk to Robert. She would ratherdevelop her own sense of self, bothsocially and artistically, than cater to theneeds of her children. We learn thatRobert’s relationship with Edna is notquite like his flirtations with otherwomen on the island. It is more sincereand more respectful; it is a relationship ofequals.

Robert compliments her drawing, butMrs. Pontellier does not think muchof it. He tries to lay his head on herarm, but she pushes him away. Hertwo children run in from outside andbeg for candies. Madame Ratignollesays she feels ill, as she often does;Mrs. Pontellier suspects that it’s onlyan affectation. Her friend picks up herchildren and goes home. Robertconvinces Mrs. Pontellier to come tothe beach.

Robert tries to steer his friendship withEdna in a more conventional romanticdirection, with small displays of physicalaffection and exaggerated praise, butEdna resists him. She is learning todemand respect and exert control overher relationships with men.

CHAPTER 6Edna Pontellier wonders why shefollowed Robert to the beach, thoughshe had not wanted to go. She isbeginning to become aware of herplace in the world—she feels a newunderstanding settling on her, and itmakes her gloomy and thoughtful.

Edna’s awakening is still in a hesitant,transitional phase. She has becomeaware of her individuality and heropinions, but she is not quite sure how toact on these new impulses.

CHAPTER 7We learn from the narrator that Mrs.Pontellier has always been veryprivate, and has always been aware ofthe distinction between the inner andthe outer life: the inner life is free, theouter life is confined by custom.Under Adèle’s influence, she has beengrowing less reserved.

Edna’s mannerly upbringing—her genteelreserve– has allowed her to betray, evenforget about, her convictions and herimpulses. She has taken it for grantedthat action does not come from feeling,but from external rules.

Adèle and Mrs. Pontellier walk to thebeach one morning. Mrs. Pontellier isslim, poised, and modest, whileMadame Ratignolle is plump and frilly.They sit in the shade and talk, glancingat the widow counting her beads andtwo lovers talking in blissful ignoranceof their surroundings. Ednaremembers walking as a child througha meadow in Kentucky, which seemedendless; she still feels like that childtoday, confused and aimless. MadameRatignolle touches her armconsolingly.

In this chapter, the narrator begins to callthe heroine not Mrs. Pontellier butEdna—a narrative technique that marksEdna’s changing relationship to herself.She begins to see herself not as the wifeof Pontellier, or as the society woman onher calling cards, but rather as a privateperson, a simple but profound first name.

Edna remembers that she had neverhad any affectionate friendships; sheand her sister often fought, and herone close friend had been reservedjust like her. She remembers that as ayoung girl she was in love with acavalry officer, then later she fell inlove with a young man who wasengaged, and finally she loved afamous tragedian (an actor). Ataround that time she met her futurehusband, who fell in love with her andconvinced her to marry him. Shedoesn’t love him, and she loves herchildren only intermittently. Ednaconfesses most of this to MadameRatignolle. Robert and the childrenapproach them; Madame Ratignolleleaves the beach with Robert.

Edna had felt the touch of romance as agirl and a young woman, but somethingabout her upbringing and the socialcustoms of the time convinced her thatromance is both too low and too high fora respectable woman like her—both toofrivolous and too magical. She acceptedas a very young woman that hermarriage would not include romanticlove: married life would bring her respectand stability, but not freedom andhappiness. Suddenly, in retrospect, herchoices become strange to her.

CHAPTER 8On their way from the beach,Madame Ratignolle asks Robert tokeep away from Mrs. Pontellier, who,she says, might take his attentions tooseriously. Robert brushes her off.They watch the lovers and the lady inblack walk by. He says a courteousgoodbye, after giving the “sickly”woman some soup, and goes to hisown cottage. He reads as his mothersews. She asks him to pass along aFrench book to Mrs. Pontellier.

What Edna has told Madame Ratignollehas disturbed her. Edna's transformationis beginning to show, and the moreconventional people around her—theminor guardians of the socialorder—have begun to act defensive.Robert, though, watches thetransformation with pleasure. The loversand the lady and black, like bookends,define the proper arena for love—youngyouthful love leading to marriage, or, forthose women who don’t marry, a lonelylife as a spinster outside of regularsociety.

Robert calls down to the street to hisimpetuous younger brother Victor,who rides away without responding.Madame Lebrun tells Robert that afriend of hers invited Robert to staywith him in Vera Cruz—news Robertreceives enthusiastically.

We learn that Robert is somewhat morecool-headed and polite than his youngerbrother. He is curious and adventurous,but he is the more conventional of thetwo.

CHAPTER 9A few weeks later, Madame Lebrunholds a party for her guests. The placeis beautifully decorated, children areplaying, adults are chatting. Twoyoung girls called the Farival twinsplay a boring duet on the piano, andeveryone but the irritating parrotlistens patiently. Two other siblingsrecite some literature, and a verysmall girl in a fancy costume performsa dance as her mother watches avidly.Madame Ratignolle plays thepiano—mostly, she says, for the sakeof her family.

The first half of the party is occupiedwith examples of art that is dull,insincere, and socially motivated. Thetwin girls play because it is appropriatefor young girls to perform on the piano,not because it brings anyone pleasure;the little girl dances a grotesque parodyof femininity at her mother’s behest; andMadame Ratignolle’s performance is justanother example of her performance as amother.









Mrs. Pontellier dances for a while andthen retreats to the windowsill toobserve the party. Robert offers toask Mademoiselle Reisz, a talentedmusician and a cantankerous spinster,to play the piano; to Mrs. Pontellier’sdelight, the old woman agrees. Mrs.Pontellier loves hearing the womanplay—the music often creates imagesin her mind. This time, MademoiselleReisz plays a piece Edna calls“Solitude.” Edna responds to the musicnot with images but with powerfulfeelings, and begins to cry. The pianistnotices her strong reaction andspeaks to her with approval.

Madame Pontellier is bored by the firstthree displays, but Mademoiselle Reisz’smusic overwhelms her with feeling. Thedifference is that Mademoiselle Reiszplays from her self, and for herself. Thetwins, the child, and Madame Ratignolleperform to obey (more or lessconsciously) a set of social conventions.Edna reacts so strongly to theMademoiselle Reisz’s music because itconveys to her a glimmer of individuality.

CHAPTER 10Robert convinces the party to go tothe beach. The women walk with theirhusbands, and Edna wonders whyRobert doesn’t join her; he hasn’t beenspending as much time with her asusual. Edna had never been able toswim, and Robert had tried allsummer to teach her; but she wasalways strangely afraid of the water.Tonight, though, she swimsconfidently for the first time, and itbrings her great joy and relief. Thewater seems infinite, and she feels anewfound strength. When shereaches shore again, she leaves theparty and starts toward home.

We never learn why Edna had beenafraid of swimming, but we can infer thatit has something to do with the ocean’sinfiniteness and opaqueness. The oceanis a place that is at once dangerous andcompletely free, a place where a personloses various kinds of gravity—the gravityof the limbs, the gravity of the socialorder. It has often been compared to thesoul. Edna, now, plunges into the oceanlike she plunges into her own formerlyremote self.

Robert joins her; Edna describes heroverwhelming response to the musicand her estrangement from thepeople around her. She settles into ahammock near her cottage, thoughthe hammock is not very clean. Robertbrings her a blanket and sits by herside in pregnant silence. He leavesquietly as the other guests returnfrom the beach.

Robert is the only person Edna wantswith her during her awakening. He is notmerely one of the doll-like guests at theparty. He and Edna are together asindividuals, not as members of the socialmachine. Their romantic attractiondeepens during this night.

CHAPTER 11When he returns from the beach,Pontellier comes to ask his wife tocome inside. Edna insists on staying inthe hammock, though she usuallyobeys him in similar situations. Hetries to be patient, but becomesannoyed; he stays up drinking andsmoking. Finally Edna slips out herreverie and goes to bed.

Edna is learning to act on her impulsesinstead of obeying the men around her.She begins to translate feeling intoaction—not for the sake of any highergoal, but to be true to her inner life.

CHAPTER 12Edna sleeps very badly; early thatmorning, when others are sleeping orin church, she sends a servant girl toget Robert—a liberty she had nevertaken before. They eat a quickbreakfast and go to mass by boat withseveral others. The lady in blackappears once again, praying andfeverishly counting her beads. Roberttalks to Mariequita, a Spanish girl heis friends with (and with whom he hadperhaps been romantically entangled).He invites Edna to go to Grand Terre,a romantic nearby island, and shejokingly accepts.

Just as she begins to disobey men, Ednabegins to ignore social conventionsrestricting her relationships. Robert’sflirtatious friendship with Mariequitasuggests that he, too, is willing to ignoreconventions. He welcomes Edna’s newfreedom and reciprocates her advances.Their romance becomes possible outsideconvention. The lady in black appearsonce again, shrunken and dried by therules Edna and Robert ignore.

CHAPTER 13Edna grows very tired and weakduring the service, so she and Robertleave the church and go to rest in thehouse of Madame Antoine, a Creolewoman who lives in the village. Shewelcomes them into her spotlesshouse; Edna naps in a private roomwhile Madame Antoine cooks dinnerand talks to Robert and later to Tonie,her son. Edna wakes up to find a smallmeal laid out for her in the kitchen.She walks outside, where Robert hadbeen waiting for her; they joke thatshe must have slept for a hundredyears. By now, Madame Antoine andTonie had both left. Edna and Roberteat a meal and relax until MadameAntoine returns in the evening. Shetells them many fantastic stories. Lateat night, they finally return to GrandIsle.

As Edna begins to resist the various rulesand habits that have governed her adultlife, the outlines of her days begin to bluras well: her previously orderly eating andsleeping have become lively anddisarranged. The new disorder gives hernew friendships and experiences, whichare both tiring and elating. Robertaccompanies her on these adventures, sotheir intimacy quickly deepens.

CHAPTER 14When she comes home that night withRobert, Edna takes Etienne and Raoulfrom Madame Ratignolle, who hadbeen watching them, and helpsEtienne get to sleep. Pontellier hadbeen a little worried about Edna’sabsence, but eventually he went to theKlein hotel to do business. MadameRatignolle leaves for her own cottage;Edna and Robert say goodbye. Ednawaits for her husband outside,pondering the changes taking place inher mind and dreaming of Robert’svoice.

Edna’s awakening is beginning to createdifficulties for her family, which functionsa bit awkwardly without her. But herchildren are independent, and herhusband’s concern is tempered withgood humor and indifference —hergradual withdrawal creates no real lack.Her role in the family proves ephemeral.









CHAPTER 15One evening, Edna comes into thedining room to find a noisy discussion:the vacationers are talking aboutRobert’s sudden decision to leaveimmediately for Mexico. He had notmentioned it to Edna, and avoids hereyes with embarrassment. He explainsthat he had always planned to try hisluck in Mexico, and that a family friendinvited him to come post-haste.Guests give him various kinds ofadvice.

Though it seemed that Robert wouldaccompany Edna on her frightening andexciting project of rule-breaking and self-knowledge, here he clearly retreats. Hehad been reticent at times before, but hissudden departure makes it clear that hehas decided not to join her - he is toofirmly rooted in realism and convention.

Edna quickly finishes her dinner andreturns to her cottage. She tidies andfusses, changes into casual eveningclothes, and helps put the children tobed. A servant girl brings an invitationfrom the Lebruns, but Edna declinesfor now. Outside, she complains toMadame Ratignolle about Robert’sdramatic decision; her friend leaves tosay goodbye to Robert soon after.

Edna does not fully understand theconfusion and disappointment sheevinces in her behavior. Though thisindicates a sort of repression, an evasionof feeling, it is also a new kind of freedom:her actions derive spontaneously fromher feelings, rather than from socialexpectations.

Later still, Robert comes to tell Ednagoodbye. Edna talks to him withirritation; he stammers and promisesto write her. She cries to see him go.She realizes that she has feelings forhim, and dreads her slightly emptiedfuture.

We see the rift between Edna and Robertbegin to grow. She ignores propriety andshows her sadness; he tries to fit themoment into a conventional model offriendly goodbyes.

CHAPTER 16As she walks to the beach onemorning with Mademoiselle Reisz,Edna reflects on her response toRobert’s sudden departure. She thinksof him all the time, and feelsdisinterested in the life around her.She swims often and visits MadameLebrun, who talks to her about Robertand shows her Robert’s things. Oneday, she gives Edna a letter thatRobert had sent to his mother, butthere’s no mention of her.

Why does Robert’s departure make Ednafeel that her life is meaningless? This sortof dependent love, we should note, is nota particularly feminist subplot. Edna’sawakening and her budding romancetake place at the same time, so perhapsin her mind they become dependent onone another.

Edna remembers telling MadameRatignolle in a casual conversationthat she would never sacrifice herselffor her children—she would sacrificealmost anything, but not her self.

Like many people around her, Ednaunderstands motherhood as sacrifice.For someone like Madame Ratignolle, itis a sacrifice that gives meaning to life.For Edna, it is an impingement on herfreedom, which is meaningful in itself.

She talks to Mademoiselle Reiszabout Robert on their way to thebeach. Edna says that MadameLebrun must miss her son, but MlleReisz answers that she cares moreabout his brother Victor. The olderwoman remembers that the twobrothers quarreled over the girlnamed Mariequita. Edna grows sadand swims for a long time. Back onshore, Mlle Reisz invites Edna to comevisit her in the city.

Robert’s departure doesn’t entirely derailEdna’s awakening. Though he’s gone, shestill enjoys swimming in the ocean, whichstands for the freedom and self-knowledge she seeks. His departure doescolor her awakening a darker shade ofennui and despair.

CHAPTER 17Back home in New Orleans, thePontelliers live in a very expensive andrefined home, where Mrs. Pontellierusually receives callers on Tuesday.One Tuesday, however, Pontelliernotices that Edna is not wearing herusual Tuesday dress, but an ordinaryhousedress; she informs her husbandthat she went out for the day insteadof receiving callers. Pontellier asks herto fulfill her social obligations andcomplains about the quality of thedinner. He storms out to eat dinner atthe club.

Edna start to ignore social conventionslike visiting days in more overt, pointedways. Her evasions had been blurry andintuitive; now, she consciously disregardssocial rules in order to prioritize her ownpreferences and beliefs and to live morefreely. Her husband reacts with angerand incomprehension. Society does notunderstand or countenance suchbehavior.

Another night, Edna might have gonein and reproached the cook; tonight,she simply finishes the meal and goesto think in her own room. The murky,flowery atmosphere helps her think.She grows upset, tears apart ahandkerchief, and stamps on herwedding ring - but the ring remainsintact, so she throws a vase. She putsthe ring back on with resignation.

One after another, Edna breaks oldhabits and begins to find her own way.But despite her relative freedom ofaction, she is helpless against her smallbut intractable marriage ring, which alsostands in for the rules of society at large.

CHAPTER 18The next morning, Pontellier asksEdna to help him pick out some newfixtures for the house, but shedeclines. She watches the childrenplaying absent-mindedly; everythingaround her seems indifferent andstrange. She considers speaking to thecook again about the flawed dinner,but instead she takes up some of herold drawings and looks at themcritically.

Edna begins to reject familial obligationsalong with social ones. She realizes thatshe does not care much about householddetails, and she is not absorbed by herchildren. Her choice of painting overtaking care of her home and children issmall but pivotal.








Since she is not in the mood to draw,Edna leaves the house to visitMadame Ratignolle. As on mostoccasions, she thinks a great dealabout Robert. When she reaches herfriend’s house, Edna asks MadameRatignolle for her opinion of Edna’ssketches, though she knows thatopinion will be neither objective norwell-informed. Madame Ratignollepraises the sketches effusively, andEdna gives her most of them. She eatslunch with husband and wife, who areincredibly harmonious in all matters.Their harmony repels and depressesher.

Edna values her individual perspectivemore than the opinions ofothers—especially Madame Ratignolle’s,who is an embodiment of general socialattitudes. Edna’s growing respect for herown values and opinions is an importantpart of her awakening. In this process,she also becomes much more honestwith herself: she acknowledges thatconventional marriage disgusts her.

CHAPTER 19As time passes, Edna feels less andless frustration; she stops taking careof the household and does whatevershe pleases. When her husband scoldsher, she fights back. She spends agreat deal of time painting, though shedoes not think highly of her work. Herchildren and the nurse model for her.

As Edna begins to act on her thoughtsand feelings, she feels happier andcalmer: she narrows the gap betweenfeeling and action, the interior andexterior, and the anxieties of insincerityand hypocrisy dissipate.

As Edna paints, she often thinks of thesummer, and she feels something likedesire. Some days she is happy anddreamy, other days life seems darkand meaningless; when she is sad, shecan’t paint.

Edna places more importance on herinner life, and less on social surfaces; buther emotions are turbulent, so herbehavior is erratic.

CHAPTER 20On one of her dark days, Edna decidesto go see Mademoiselle Reisz; to findout her address, she visits MadameLebrun. Victor greets herenthusiastically and begins to tell hera very personal story about anencounter with a pretty girl, butMadame Lebrun’s entrance happilyinterrupts the story. Victor recites thetwo letters they’d received fromRobert: they are factual and spare.Edna despairs to hear that he didn’tinclude any message for her. Addressin hand, she leaves to findMademoiselle Reisz.

Victor, the wild younger brother, has freeand unconventional ideas aboutromantic relationships; if he is the freerof the two brothers, Robert must be themore conservative. Edna is hurt byRobert's apparent indifference. Byanother book’s standards, he might beconsidered the more delicate and gallantof the two brothers; here, his formalityseems thick-headed and harmful.

CHAPTER 21Mademoiselle Reisz lives in acramped, untidy attic apartmentcrowded by a beautiful piano. She isvery pleased to see Edna; she did notthink Edna would accept herinvitation. When Edna learns that MlleReisz has a letter from Robert, sheconvinces the older woman to let herread it. The letter mentions her veryoften; as Edna reads, MademoiselleReisz plays sad, beautiful music. Ednacries over the letter and promises tocome see the pianist another time.

Madame Ratignolle and other womenlike her revere cleanliness and neatness,but Mademoiselle Reisz does not payattention to the surfaces of her home.Her piano, her passion, is all thatmatters. Edna, too, often disregardsmesses—she sleeps in a dirty hammockand lets her face burn in the sun. Shechooses the internal over the external.

CHAPTER 22One day, Pontellier goes to visitDoctor Mandelet, an old friend who isknown for his wisdom. He tells thedoctor that Edna has been unwell: shehas been acting strangely and ignoringher housewifely duties—she hadmentioned something related towomen’s rights. The doctor suggeststhat Pontellier send Edna to hersister’s wedding, but Pontellier repliesthat she refuses to go—she hates theidea of marriage. The doctor thinks fora minute and advises him to leave hiswife alone for a while, until herstrange mood passes. Pontellier plansto go away on business for a while,and the doctor tells him to leave hiswife in New Orleans if she prefers it.He promises to come see the couplelater that week.

For the first time, the narrator mentionswomen’s rights as such. We’ve observedthat Edna’s dissatisfactions have mostlybeen linked to her identity as a wife andmother, but now Edna herself hasconnected her sadness to her position asa woman in late nineteenth century NewOrleans – and she tells her husband asmuch, in her new confidence andforthrightness. We can infer, from herhusband’s confused report, that sheexperiences marriage as one of the mainfactors of female oppression.

CHAPTER 23Edna’s father, referred to as theColonel, comes to New Orleans tobuy a wedding present for his otherdaughter Janet. Edna enjoys spendingtime with him; she sketches him, theyattend a musical party at theRatignolles’, and they bet at the races.

We finally learn a little bit about Edna’spast and family life. Perhaps Edna enjoysher father’s company because with himshe is neither a wife nor a mother—shecan take part in more masculineactivities, like betting and painting.

When Doctor Mandelet pays them avisit, he finds Edna in a very goodmood: she seems free and easy. ThePontelliers, the Colonel, and thedoctor have a very pleasant dinner.They all tell stories; the doctordescribes a woman that has anextramarital affair but eventuallyreturns to her husband, and Ednamakes up a story about two loversthat got lost at sea. The doctorassumes Edna is in love with anotherman.

It seems odd to us that the Colonel’s visitwould cause such a change in Edna’sdisposition. The elusive freedom andsatisfaction she seeks is so mysterious toher, and so difficult to define, that shepicks up traces of it in many differentsituations.

CHAPTER 24Edna and her father quarrel whenEdna refuses to attend her sister’swedding, and she is glad to see himleave. Pontellier decides to make upfor his wife’s rudeness with expensivegifts; the Colonel advises him to keepa stricter rein on his wife.

We learn from the Colonel’s incidentalcomment that Edna grew up in a harsh,restrictive family, where her fatherdominated over her mother and thethree sisters.










As Pontellier prepares to leave for hisprolonged business trip, Ednabecomes affectionate and solicitous.But his departure, and the departureof the children gone to visit theirgrandmother, comes as an enormousrelief. She feels a new sense offreedom and a renewed curiosity forher surroundings, especially thegarden. She even enjoys planning hermeals. She determines to use her freetime to read and study, and picks up acopy of Emerson’s essays.

When her husband and children leave,Edna realizes how much she values thefreedom their absence affords her—bothfreedom from familial obligations andfreedom from immediate emotional ties.Her choice of reading material issignificant: Emerson is famous for hisessays on freedom and self-reliance.

CHAPTER 25When it is sunny, Edna enjoys workingon her painting, which is becomingmore confident. On dark days shevisits friends about town or sits athome and broods. She often goes tothe horse races with Alcée Arobin, apopular and somewhat notoriousyoung man famous for seducingmarried women, and Mrs. Highcamp,a cold and sophisticated woman in herforties.

At this stage, Edna seeks happiness andsatisfaction in her art and in thecompany of socialites. They may not betrue friends like Mademoiselle Reisz, buttheir pleasure-seeking habits are apleasant distraction that focuses onindividual desires. Edna tries both toremedy the emptiness she feels and toescape it.

Edna knows a great deal about horseracing from her father, so her firsttime at the races she bets verysuccessfully. Arobin becomesinfatuated with her. Dinner with Mr.and Mrs. Highcamp and Arobin thatnight is a little dull; when Arobindrives her home, he insists that theygo to the races again before long. Shecannot sleep because of a mixture ofboredom, anxiety, and excitement. Shewrites a frenzied letter to herhusband in her mind.

Edna’s social identity is changing. At thebeginning of the book, people admire herfor her grace and reserve; now, herfriends value her high spirits and hercharm. Although Edna does not muchlike Arobin as a person, his flirtationstrouble and excite her—they remind herof her past infatuations, of the romancethat is absent in her marriage.

A few days later, Arobin comes to visither alone; she can’t think of anacquaintance to chaperone them, sothey spend the evening together ather house. They talk frankly, and theevening rises to a romantic pitch.When Edna impulsively touches a scaron Arobin’s hand, she becomesuncomfortable and tries to cut theevening short. She refuses Arobinwhen he invites her to the races orasks to come see her paintings; buther earlier excitement encourages himto confess his feelings, in aroundabout way. We are led tounderstand his declaration is notentirely genuine. Edna thinks ofRobert and feels ashamed of herbehavior.

Edna’s reactions to Arobin’s persistentcourtship are at times difficult tounderstand. If she loves Robert and feelsindifferent toward Arobin, why shouldshe feel so excited and moved by hiscourtship? The implication that Ednaneeds not only romantic, idealized lovebut also sensual love (of the kind Arobinoffers her) was very controversial at thetime the novel was published. It wasquite revolutionary back then to suggestthat women have sexual needs similar tomen’s.

CHAPTER 26Arobin sends her a romantic letter ofapology; to downplay its significance,Edna answers as though nothingmuch had happened between them,and invites him to come look at herwork. From that moment on, theybegin to spend a lot of timetogether—they see each other nearlyevery day.

Edna slips into a romantically chargedfriendship with Arobin as though byaccident—in reality, through his carefulmanipulation. Her attempts at strengthand independence are partially thwartedby a powerful and dishonest man.

For peace of mind, Edna often goes tovisit Mademoiselle Reisz. Oneafternoon, Edna tells her friend thatshe wants to leave the house sheshares with her husband and move toa smaller house in the sameneighborhood; she wants to live onher own income, which comes from asmall inheritance and from occasionalsales of her paintings. A smaller housewould also be more convenient. Shedecides to have a glamorous party justbefore she leaves.

Though Edna has faltered in herromantic independence, she takes animportant step to achieving financialindependence. Though she cannot get adivorce, she shrugs off the trappings ofmarriage one by one – romantic loyalty,financial dependence, living in the samehouse as her husband.

As usual, Edna reads the most recentletter from Robert whileMademoiselle Reisz plays piano.Robert does not know that Edna seeshis letters; Mademoiselle Reisz tellsher Robert does not write to herbecause he loves her and wants toforget her. This last letter says thatRobert will be coming home soon.Seeing Edna’s excitement, the olderwoman muses that she would fall inlove with a great and famous man ifshe were young. Edna admits to MlleReisz that she is in love with Robert –not because of any particular qualities,but because of something intangible.

Here we learn about Edna’s idea ofromance, or at least one of her ideas.Real romantic feeling is not rational, andhas nothing to do with even the mostelevated worldly ambitions. It hasnothing to do with the practical facts ofthe world, like marriage, career,reputation, or class; it is an impulse thatis disconnected from the external world.In this light, Victor’s carefree flirtationsare more romantic than proper,marriage-oriented courtship.

Edna is very happy for the rest of theday. She sends candy to her childrenand writes her husband a pleasantletter, in which she tells him about herplans to move to a new house.

The news of Robert’s return thrills Edna.Romantic love is in some wayinextricable from her freedom andawakening.

CHAPTER 27That night, Arobin notices herunusually good mood. She enjoys thecareless way he touches her hair andher face. She wonders aloud whethershe is a good woman or a bad one, butArobin dismisses the thought. Sheremembers something interestingMademoiselle Reisz had said about awayward bird needing strong wings;Arobin has heard only unpleasantthings about the pianist, and wishesEdna would pay attention to himinstead. They kiss on the lips for thefirst time.

Edna’s excitement and optimism isdirected not only at Robert, at its source,as we conventionally assume aboutromantic feeling; it spills over into a letterto her husband and into her strangefriendship with Arobin. Her love andenergy are for herself, not for anyone else,and she will do with it what she pleases.But her emotional waywardness is also akind of weakness, and recalls Mlle Reisz’warning.







CHAPTER 28Edna cries when Arobin leaves. Shefeels assailed by her husband in theform of the house around her, and byher love for Robert. The kiss makesher see the world very vividly; heronly regret is that this clarity did notcome from love.

Edna's waywardness is freeing, but alsoconfusing—it suspends Edna in an emptyspace without rules, without principles,without any sort of certainty.

CHAPTER 29Edna rushes to arrange her move intothe smaller house. She moves all herthings and cleans and decorates thenew house with the help of herservants. Arobin comes to visit her asshe does work in the new house, andinsists on helping with the manuallabor. The party is scheduled to takeplace at the old house in two days’time: it will be very glamorous, andEdna will use Pontellier’s accounts topay for it. After the party, she willmove to the new house for good. Soonafter, Edna insists that Arobin leaveher. She invites him to the party, butrefuses to see him before then.

As her emotional and spiritual lifebecomes increasingly confusing andvague, Edna compensates with vigorouschanges in her practical life. She enjoysher handiness and physical strength, andit briefly helps her recapture her spiritualfirmness as well: she has the convictionto show Arobin the door, and to see himonly on her terms, at her convenience.

CHAPTER 30Out of the eleven invited, nine attendEdna’s party: Arobin, MademoiselleReisz, Mrs. Highcamp, MonsieurRatignolle, Victor Lebrun, and twocouples—Mr. and Mrs. Merriman, apretty woman and her dull husband,and Miss Mayblunt and Gouvernail,who are self-described intellectuals.The table is beautifully arranged, thefood is expensive, and Edna herselflooks splendid. It is her twenty-ninthbirthday.

Edna’s party is the culmination of herefforts at a controlled revision of her life.She can carefully arrange her party inevery detail—the food, the guests, thedress and jewels. However, it should benoted that such desperate control overappearances often extends from innervagueness and helplessness.

Monsieur Ratignolle andMademoiselle Reisz talk a littleawkwardly about music, but the Mlleis mostly interested in the fine foodand wine. Mr. Merriman tries to tell astory, but it falls flat. Mrs. Merrimantalks about books eagerly withGouvernail, who is not veryforthcoming. Mrs. Highcamp isfascinated by Victor. Edna isglamorous and queenly, but a familiarvague despair overcomes her for noreason she can understand. All in all,the party is very happy.

Edna’s mood changes so suddenlybecause she shifts her attention from thebrilliant exterior to the cloudy interior,which is no more clear despite all theparty’s bright lights. The guests seemhelpless too, with their clumsyconversation, transparent pretentions,and mismatched interests. The romanceof the party is in its failure, not itssuccess.

Monsieur Ratignolle andMademoiselle Reisz go home. Mrs.Highcamp drapes some flowers andher write scarf over Victor, whosuddenly looks very lovely andstatuesque. He begins to sing aFrench love song to Edna; when sheclaps her hand over his mouth, hekisses it passionately. Soon, all theother guests (except Arobin) drifthome.

Victor is the model of spontaneity,romance, and callous boyishness. Hisromantic adventurousness is moreinnocent than Arobin’s, who iscalculating and deceitful. When Arobinrejects social conventions, he feels (andbecomes) wicked; Victor blithely ignoresthem, and lives peacefully.

CHAPTER 31When they are alone, Edna tellsArobin that she is ready to leave forher new home. She lets him bring hershawl, but refuses to accept flowers.She is silent when he walks her to her“pigeon-house.” The living room iscozy and welcoming; it is filled withflowers Arobin had sent while she wasaway. She is tired and anxious. Arobinoffers to leave, but he stays for a whileto touch her face and shoulders: sheaccepts these attentions almostdespite herself. It is implied that heseduces her, but the scene is veryvague.

As the party’s controlled atmospheredissipates, so does Edna’s strength andresolve. Though she rejects Arobin’sadvances at first, she becomesmesmerized by his manipulation ofsurfaces—his flowers in the living room,his touch on her skin. With Robert,romance connected her inner self withher physical body. Arobin touches herbody without touching her self, and theself drifts out of sight even as the bodysuccumbs.

CHAPTER 32Pontellier writes Edna to say that hedoes not approve of herrelocation—he is worried about whathis business partners might think. Tomask the awkwardness of thesituation, he decides to remodel theirhouse: such a project would serve asan excuse for Edna’s move. Edna feelshappier and freer in her new home.

Pontellier is more concerned withmaintaining the appearance of a happymarriage than with the marriage itself.One might conjecture that thedistinction between marriage and theappearance of marriage does not existfor him.

Soon after the move, Edna goes tovisit the children, who are staying inthe countryside with Pontellier’smother. She has a lovely time, and issad to leave them—but when shereturns to the city she is glad to bealone again.

Edna loves her children when she is withthem, but she does not love themanymore (or thinks she doesn’t) whenthey’re out of sight. Without the glue ofconvention, her emotions are veryinconsistent.

CHAPTER 33Mademoiselle Reisz is not home oneafternoon when Edna comes to visither, so Edna lets herself in to wait inthe living room. Earlier that day,Madame Ratignolle had interruptedEdna’s painting with a social visit. Sheadvised Edna not to spend so muchtime alone with Arobin—people hadbeen gossiping about them. Then Mrs.Highcamp and Mrs. Merriman visitedher and invited her to a card game.

Edna feels guilt about her relationshipwith Arobin because she does not lovehim, but she is invulnerable to society’sreproaches – Madame Ratignolle’sadvice is irrelevant. She is unsatisfied bymost of her friendships, because they areonly skin-deep.

While Edna waits for MademoiselleReisz, she plays a song on the piano.Suddenly, Robert comes in. She isdismayed to hear that he has beenback in New Orleans for two dayswithout coming to see her. He isembarrassed and offers half-heartedexcuses. He has come back, he says,because business in Mexico did not gowell. Edna thinks she detects love inhis eyes, but he is cool and polite.When she asks why he did not write toher, he avoids the question.

Edna is passionate and forthright, in thelittle attic room where she is usually freeto act on her thoughts and feelings, butRobert conceals his emotions beneath abland, polite veneer. Society hasdemanded that they act according to acomplicated set of social rules; Edna hasrefused, but Robert has acquiesced.










Robert walks Edna home. He refusesher invitation to dinner, but decides tostay when he sees her dismay. He asksjealously about a photograph ofArobin on her living room table, andshe explains that she had beensketching his head. When they try totalk about the few months they’d beenapart, they confess that they’ve beendoing little but thinking about thesummer at Grand Isle.

Though he has determined to actproperly, Robert teeters betweenpoliteness and sincerity. Edna’sunhappiness and Robert’s jealousy tiphim into sincerity. Finally, they speak(almost!) openly about their feelings forone another. They are instantly closeagain.

CHAPTER 34Edna and Robert talk pleasantly overdinner. Edna asks jealously about anembroidered tobacco pouch Roberthad received as a present from aMexican girl, and Robert assures herthat she is not important to him.Arobin stops by with a message, andRobert quickly leaves.

Edna repays Robert’s jealousy withjealousy of her own. Though she hasturned away from the rubber-stampedpossessiveness of marriage, she is seizednonetheless by the possessiveness oflove—for this, she would yield some ofher freedom.

Edna decides not to go to Mrs.Merriman’s card game, and Arobinagrees to mail her note of apology. Sherefuses Arobin’s invitation to go for awalk and ignores his flirtations. Afterhe leaves, she thinks sadly of herincomplete reunion with Robert.

With Robert’s visit, Edna remembers thewarmth and depth of real romance andfriendship, so she brushes away theunsatisfying substitutes.

CHAPTER 35Edna feels a renewed cheerfulnessthe next morning, and thinks withpleasure of her future friendship withRobert. She receives letters from herson, her husband, and Arobin. Sheanswers her husband, who hadwritten to say he would take her on along trip abroad, and promises to sendthe children candy. She paintsenergetically.

The warmth of Robert’s visit cheersEdna, and allows her to moreenergetically engage with the socialworld, including her husband andchildren. It also fuels her painting, theexpression of her inner self.

She is sad that Robert does not cometo see her that day, nor any other day.She always hopes that he might come,but eventually she gives up expectinghim. She lets Arobin take her out andreceives his attentions withindifference.

In the absence of social conventions,Edna has no framework, no moral code,to live by. She dwells in something likeemptiness, punctuated occasionally withstrong feelings. Her awakening has freedher, but the restrictive social conventionsof New Orleans society give her no placeto land, no place to be herself in thewider world.

CHAPTER 36Edna likes to visit a tiny, little-knowncafé on the edge of town for goodcoffee and seclusion. Though she doesnot usually run into friends there, shelooks up from her book one afternoonto see Robert. He seemsuncomfortable, but she invites him toshare her dinner. Edna presses him toexplain why he has not come to seeher, despite his evasions; he is almostdesperate to avoid any intimatetopics. Instead, they talk about thedelicious coffee.

Though she still allows Arobin to see her,Edna tries to isolate herself fromunwelcome company. Her friends neitherfill nor distract from her emptiness.When Edna tries to talk to Robert openly,he rebuffs her with politeness. LikePontellier, he wants to keep upappearances.

Robert walks Edna home. They comein without a word. Edna leaves for amoment; when she comes back intothe living room, she kisses him. Heputs his arms around her and admitsthat he has stayed away because heloves her and cannot have her. Hedreamed of marrying her, but blamedhimself for it. She laughs at him andtells him she does not belong toanyone any more. She is called awaysuddenly to help Madame Ratignolle,who is having some sort of crisis.Before she leaves, she tells Robert sheloves him and begs him to wait for her.

Edna’s kiss tips Robert again intosincerity and openness. He admits thathe has been distant and formal withEdna because he cannot marry her: sincehe can’t be with Edna in a sociallyacceptable way, he chooses not to bewith her at all. When Edna tells him shedoes not belong to anybody, she meansher soul is her own. But Robert still seessocial convention. It is ironic that Edna'sefforts to free Robert from socialconvention in order to be with her areinterrupted by the social convention andfemale obligation she has been trying toescape: she must attend to her friend(whom she doesn't even really like) whois giving birth.

CHAPTER 37Edna goes to see Madame Ratignolle,who, it turns out, is about to give birth;she is tired and inconsolable. FinallyDoctor Mandelet arrives. As shewatches Madame Ratignolle’ssuffering, Edna vaguely remembersher own experience giving birth,which was strange and dispiriting. Shewatches the birth take place withterror. Nature itself seems cruel andoppressive.

We have seen Edna react withdiscomfort and vague suspicion tomotherhood, and we’ve heard her admither own ambivalent feelings toward herchildren and toward motherhood itself.That unease sharpens suddenly intoterror and disgust. Motherhood seemslike a strange illness, a bondage tonature.








CHAPTER 38Afterwards, Doctor Mandelet walksEdna home. He regrets that she hadto be present for the birth, and asks ifshe plans to go abroad with herhusband when he returns. Shestammers yes and then no—she thinksno one has the right to force her to doanything—except, perhaps, herchildren? She can’t come to a clearconclusion. Delicately, the Doctorsuggests that love is a trap set bynature to ensure procreation, andmarriage is a system we erect aroundthat trap to make it respectable andrational. Edna seems to agree. Shegives him a rambling, ambiguous,pained answer—she wants freedom,but she doesn’t want to hurt anyone,especially her children. The doctorleaves her at her door, urging her tocome see him.

Edna had felt the bonds of family only bycharting onto them the rules offemininity and respectability. Whenthose rules lose meaning, her familyfeeling disintegrates, and the chores andobligations that emerge from that feelingbecome meaningless burdens. Ednawants freedom from those burdens, butshe feels guilt at the thought ofabandoning her children, for whom shedoes feel genuine affection. Edna is notheartless by any means, but she neverformed a worldview of her own, apartfrom convention, that included love forfamily. The doctor seems to agree, tounderstand her, and his gentlecompassion seems to offer a way forEdna to eventually work with him toreconcile her newfound freedom with therules of society.

Robert is not waiting for her at home.She does find a note from him: it saysthat he left because he loves her. Ednasits up all night, numb and sleepless.

But that possibility is shattered whenEdna’s brief absence gives Robert time toreturn to his senses. He remembers thathe is not prepared to enter into aromantic relationship with a marriedwoman, and abandons her. Edna nowbelieves that she cannot be free andhappy in society.

CHAPTER 39Victor is repairing one of the housesat Grand Isle and telling Mariequitaabout Edna’s glamorous party. Shebecomes jealous of Edna, and tellsRobert haughtily that she could havemany other lovers if she wanted to;Victor’s passionate and obedientjealousy calms her down. Suddenly,Edna herself approaches them. Shehas come down to Grand Isle for avisit, and asks if she could have a roomin the house and a seat at dinner. First,though, she wants to go for a swim.

Victor and Mariequita’s flirtations are abit silly, but they seem beautifully openand real compared to Edna and Robert’sneedless estrangement. Thedisappointment of the previous daymakes Edna long for the depth andsimplicity of the ocean, and perhaps forthe place where her awakening onceseemed like a beautiful thing.

After Robert left that night, Edna satup thinking about her indifference forthe people around her; even Robert,whom she loves, will one day fadefrom her life, and she will becompletely alone. Her children wantto drag her soul into love, but shedoesn’t want to sacrifice her soul tothem. The sea in front of her is invitingand solitary, and a bird with a brokenwing is circling overhead.

At first, Edna’s restless sadness mighthave been focused by the issue ofwomen’s rights. Now, her despair hasbecome something else –she can feelonly emptiness. The bird with a brokenwing symbolizes the young womanwhose rebellion has taken her toofar—who has failed to find a substitutefor the conventions she rejected, whowishes to fly but can only go in circlesbecause she has been hurt by the world.

Edna takes off her bathing suit andstands naked in the open for the firsttime. She loves the free feeling. Shewalks into the cold water and swimsfarther and farther out. She becomesvery tired, then afraid for a moment,then she remembers vividly the smellsof certain flowers form her childhoodand the barking of an old dog. Thereader must finish the sad storyherself.

The only feeling that remains to Edna islove of freedom. When nothing is worthhaving, and everything is a burden,freedom and emptiness becomeidentical. Just after the book ends, Ednadrowns. Her death is not violent or self-hating; it is a gentle step toward theemptiness she loves best.






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