Ethical Dilemmas and Vocation in "The Awakening"

We've traveled through the novel together from the beginning. Even though I sort of skipped the last section for y'all (hey, I might go back and add it later! Don't hate me!) the meat of ethical dilemma has been adequately covered. So let's break it down. 

First ethical issue: Sanctity of Marriage

I mean, come on. You knew this one was coming. You can't discuss The Awakening without bringing up the question of adultery. Was Edna justified in falling in love with a man other than her husband? What about sleeping with another man? Should we take her marital unhappiness into account? What about her historical circumstances? 

Don't worry, Ron! I'm about to tell you.

First, you have to understand that I'm a feminist. I believe that men and women are fundamentally equal, and that any differences are socially constructed by our culture. I believe that women can do anything men can do. So when I read The Awakening, I do not read it as a contemporary reader of the novel would have read it. I read it from my own perspective. 

I think that marital infidelity is bad. Not the worst thing you can do, but not good, either. I think Edna's flaws are numerous: she is indecisive, sometimes self-absorbed, often too cowardly to communicate when she needs to. If she was a modern woman, I would tell her to break things off with Leonce before pursuing anything with another man. This certainly would have solved her problems; after all, at the end of the novel, Robert leaves her because she is married. 

However, I also urge the reader to take her circumstances into account. Sure, marital infidelity is wrong. But Edna didn't live in our society. She lived in a society that looked down on her and judged her for having another man walk into her house. A society that would have considered another woman guilty by association just for walking into Edna's house. Social customs did not allow women freedom. Women's roles were as mothers and wives; Madame Ratignolle is the poster child for this society's ideal domestic woman. 

Madame Ratignolle - domestic goddess.

What women do we see who are not married? Mademoiselle Reisz is the only one of note. She is the picture of Edna's life without love, without marriage even, or children. On the last pages of the novel, Edna realizes that even her love for Robert would soon fade, and that if she cannot be free in a world without love - if love is the only outlet she has for happiness - then she cannot ever be truly happy. She would become old, miserable, disagreeable, and lonely, like Mademoiselle Reisz. 

So can we justify Edna's actions? While I do not think they are ideal, I think the alternative is equally awful. For Edna to leave Leonce is unthinkable. And anyway, she essentially leaves him in every way she is able - she stops regarding him as her husband and moves out of the house. Her marital infidelity is certainly important, but it is not the most pressing ethical issue of the novel. It doesn't hold a candle to...

Second ethical issue: Patriarchy/Owning Oneself

The patriarchy is the root of all the evils of the novel. Let's face it - The Awakening is a feminist text. Just as Edna awakens to her new self, her sexual desires, and her need for agency and independence, Chopin asks us to awaken to the oppression of women in our society. 

Any of this sound familiar?

The beauty of how Chopin treats this issue lies in the disparity between Edna's actions and Edna's ability to gain full agency. On the surface, one can argue that Edna faces no real oppression: she does what she wants, goes where she wants, loves who she wants - she even moves into her own house. However, it is her children who will always hold her hostage. She loves her children, but she is not particularly good at being a mother. However, she can never be free to truly do whatever she wants because she must always think of her children - children she only had because her social role in the patriarchy is to get married and have children. 

Is Edna selfish? Of course it seems that way. Her actions are motivated by her desire to do what she wants. But that's the point - Edna realizes that she will never be able to be truly selfish. She must always live for her children. She loves them, even though she was coerced into having them by the social structures in place around her. She will always have to do exactly what she pledged she could never do - give up herself, her freedom, her desires, her independence, for her children. 

So no matter who she loves, she will never be free to act on that love. Not as long as she has the children to think of. 


Third ethical issue: Suicide

Since I didn't cover the last part of the novel with you, I owe it to you to let you know on the very last pages of the story, Edna returns to Grand Isle to commit suicide. After Robert leaves her, she reflects on the nature of happiness and fulfillment in her life. As I discussed above, Madame Ratignolle's entreaty "Remember the children" haunts Edna, and she realizes that they will never allow her to live, love, and do as she desires. Her love for her children will always tie her to them. She will always have to give herself up for them; her life and her society give her no option.

Edna swims out as far as she can into the ocean until she is too tired and too far out to swim back. 

Courtesy of a google image search for "woman in ocean"

This raises questions, of course, of the ethical legitimacy of suicide as an escape. Edna - as she well knows - has children to think of. I'm sure she considered that they didn't seem to ever really need her; they are relatively self-sufficient throughout the story, and though she loves them, she is never particularly attendant to them. Does her unhappiness and inability to gain total agency over herself justify her suicide? 

I believe that each individual has absolute rights over their own body. That's why you can't take organs from someone unless they're an organ donor. That's why you can't rape someone. Many people treat suicide as murder, but I think every individual has a right to do with their body and life what they want. 

Does Edna's suicide hurt other people? Of course. Our dear Monsieur will be without a wife; sadly, she has died without him ever truly knowing her. Her children are left without a mother or an explanation. The only person who may know why she killed herself is Robert, who loves her and will certainly be wracked with guilt for leaving her. But what could any of them have done? Edna is a slave to her social position. Realistically, her options were limited. Edna kills herself because she has no true escape from her unhappy life and no foreseeable way to become happy. 

Many critics of the story blame Edna for not being happy about being a mother. Her children, they believe, should be her true happiness. Those people have missed the point of the story. Not all women find fulfillment in their children. Some do, and Chopin is certainly not discrediting that - Madame Ratignolle is a fairy goddess of domesticity, she has a loving, mutually-respectful and fulfilling relationship with her husband. She loves her children and her life. But Edna is not Madame Ratignolle. She must fulfill her life by living her life to the fullest, and she simply cannot do that.

Application to Vocation 

I remember when I became a feminist. It was the weirdest thing - my whole life I knew I was a female. But for some reasons, issues of sexism felt distant to me. One day, during a lecture about feminism, I woke up. I turned on. My brain made the connection - these instances of sexism all around me? Those affect me. I am a woman. This oppression and misrepresentation had to do with me. I am not separate from this. 

Since that day, I have learned and observed everything I can about gender, gender roles, gender stereotypes, sexism, gender inequality, misogyny, misrepresentation, devaluing of women, violence toward women, rape culture, etc. I correct my boyfriend when he refers to a grown woman as "girl" on accident. I write dissertation-length explanations of sexism to explain to my friends and family why certain things are misrepresentative of or unfair toward women. Feminism matters to me because I want to be able to live a fulfilling life, to have the options Edna didn't have. 

Do I want to get married? Probably. Do I want to have kids? Most likely. Do I think those will make my life fulfilling? Not on their own. I need to be able to pursue my interests, my vocation as a teacher or land owner or horse-camp instructor or whatever I want to do. I need to be able to make decisions about my life independently. I need to have agency, and I need to fight for a world in which all women have agency. 

My vocation is to educate, and that means both in classrooms and in the world. I need to raise my (maybe) children to respect all people. I need to inform people of injustice and work toward fixing it. I need to spread the word and fight the good fight. 

I need to remember Edna. I need to hope no one ends up like her. 

Week 3 - A Bird Uncaged

Hey-o! So you're probably thinking "Hey, you were supposed to post one of these each week. What gives?"

School, that's what...doesn't...give. I'm catching up now, okay? Cut me some slack - these are pretty in-depth posts. I mean, call me an overachiever, but I like to really get into this stuff. 

And by this stuff I mean Edna's BRAIN. 

...Or her story. That's cool, too. We left her soon after she determined to live for herself and be her own woman. The story has shifted from the timid Edna of the first part of our journey, to the conflicted but determined woman of the second part. Now, we see Edna truly embracing her own independence - and the good and bad things that come with it.

Allons-y!

LET'S GO!

1. Summary: Chapters 20-29

This section of our journey begins with Edna visiting Mademoiselle Reisz. She's not entirely sure why, but for some reason, this dour, eccentric woman always makes her feel better. Maybe it has to do with the music she plays. Maybe it's because she speaks honestly, something a society woman like Edna isn't use to. Or maybe it has a liiittle bit to do with the fact that Robert is sending M. Reisz letters. Though Edna originally went to M. Reisz to hear her play music, which has always calmed her, once she figures out that Robert has been writing to the spinster, she spends time with her, in part, to feel a connection with Robert. Of course, she's annoyed that Robert isn't writing to her, but we'll find out why toward the end of this section of the book. 

Letter couldn't have been for me, could it? No, of course not.

First, Edna finds out Robert has written and sits in M. Reisz's apartment and sobs, while Mademoiselle plays the piano. Well, I mean, they talk and stuff first. 

Later, we see our lovely Monsieur Pontellier visiting the family doctor. He is concerned, you see, about Edna's mental health. He complains that she has been erratic and nonsensical since they returned from summer vacation. He doesn't know what to do about her lack of interest in the housekeeping. Of course, he says that she is being so contrary and he doesn't "want to quarrel or be rude to a woman . . . yet I'm driven to it" (because men don't have control over their actions, apparently) because "she's making it devilishly uncomfortable for me". (BOO HOO POOR BABY.) The doctor, a wise - though equally misogynistic - man tells him to leave her alone and let her do what she wants. She'll come around. 

"I...wait, what?"

Edna's father has been visiting. She and him attend many events together - dinners, events at the race track, soirees. Edna seems to enjoy spending more time around him than around Leonce, but not by much. During these outings, she makes many new friends, several of whom are male. She doesn't become attracted to them the way she was to Robert, but she enjoys the freedom of being in their company. 

One such dinner that occurs while her father is present is the dinner Leonce invited the doctor to when he visited him about Edna. The doctor does, indeed, notice a change in her. A perceptive old man, he guesses its reason. He leaves thinking "I hope to heaven it isn't Alcee Arobin." 

I'm sorry, Edna, I couldn't help it!

Edna refuses to attend her sister's wedding, the reason her father is returning home. He leaves, sure her sisters will never speak to her again. Leonce leaves shortly after, attending to some business in New York, but planning on stopping by the wedding to make excuses for his wife's absence. Edna is sad to see her husband and children leave (her kids are conveniently going to spend some time with Leonce's mother,) but once they are gone she feels relieved and alive. She wanders around her home, exploring each room as though she'd never been there before. She plays in the garden, hangs out with her kids' dog, eats a delicious meal alone, and then goes to bed, entirely content. 

A beautiful, child/husband-free day!

Chopin describes how Edna spends her time - mostly at the race tracks and out in society with some of her new friends, including the aforementioned Alcee Arobin. These two, in particular, become more and more close, spending much time in each others' company. The next several pages describe a few scenes in which they hang out, just the two of them. After a dramatic scene at her house in which the sexual tension is palpable, Edna becomes nervous and basically freaks out on him. He leaves and she reflects on the evening. She thinks about what she almost did and worries about what Robert (not Leonce) would feel about it. 

"Edna, WHY?! Why would you do this to us?!"

Later, Edna visits her old friend, Mademoiselle Reisz. She explains to her a plan she's concocted, to move out of her house into a smaller one down the street. She is excited about the prospect of living on her own. "I know I shall like it," she says, "like the feeling of freedom and independence." M. Reisz tells her she's had another letter from Robert. In the letter, he says he is coming back soon from Mexico. Edna is delighted, and M. Reisz decides it's time to have "that" talk - you know which one I mean. The "you love him, don't you?" talk. Edna finally admits it aloud that, yes, she loves Robert. 

She explains to M. Reisz why she loves Robert, to which M. Reisz responds "Because you do, in short." Edna isn't able to give any concrete reason for loving Robert (and not Leonce); she just DOES. 

Teehee - he's just so haaandsome!

That evening, Arobin comes over to spend time with her. They banter for a while, and then end up doing the nasty - if you know what I mean. 

The next short, critical chapter discusses Edna's feelings following her infidelity. We will dwell on that more later. Edna later begins to make preparations for her move into her new home without waiting to hear back from her husband on the matter. Arobin shows up again to help her with move. They discuss Edna's plans for an elaborate dinner (on Leonce's dime) to celebrate her new home. Edna is now on the brink of total independence, as we see her thriving in her newfound agency. 

2. Major Characters

Edna

In the first part of the second half of the book, Edna is fleshing out her independence and continuing to take total control over her own life. She chooses with whom she will spend her time, she decides what she will do with her time, she controls where she goes and when. Edna is by no means perfect - in her journey to gain agency over her own life, she does not learn to take responsibility for her flighty feelings. She fails to break off her marriage before engaging in extramarital sex with Alcee Arobin. She acts selfishly and cowardly. However, she is still a more complete person at this point in the story than she was as a shadow of a person, without any control or direction over her life and her role in the world. 

Additionally, at this point in the story, Edna learns more about herself than she has previously. She begins to pinpoint and identify her feelings and act on those feelings. She gains the courage to make hard decisions about her life, such as moving out of her house. Though Edna is not a complete and whole person yet, she is vastly more substantial than before.

Leonce

...said Leonce Pontellier NEVER.

Leonce continues to be himself. He is perplexed by his wife, but leaves her alone for a while to visit New York. He stops by Edna's sister's wedding to make an appearance. He does nothing particularly significant except continue to be a burden to Edna's budding independence. 

Robert

Robert does basically nothing in this section, except write to say he's coming back from Mexico. I really just wanted an excuse to put another picture of this gorgeous man on here...you're welcome. :)

Mademoiselle Reisz

"So...you're in love with another man. Oh, boy..."

Mademoiselle Reisz is actually quite crucial to this section of the story. She has become Edna's only real confidante. As Robert sends letters to Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna chooses to spend time with her. The connection M. Reisz strengthens between Edna and Robert extends beyond just delivering letters; Edna enjoys spending time with M. Reisz because of her music. The music M. Reisz plays is symbolic of the passion Edna feels for Robert. Also, Edna enjoys spending time with the old spinster because they are honest and open with each other. Mademoiselle Reisz recognizes and convinces Edna to admit her love for Robert. She is the only person to whom Edna tells her secret. 

Alcee Arobin

My head-canon for Alcee

Arobin is Edna's lover. Though he is handsome and charming, Edna does not fall in love with him. She still loves Robert, but as she continues to realize her own agency, she starts having intense sexual desires, which Arobin is more than willing to help her explore. Throughout their affair, Arobin expresses fondness for Edna, but he never tries to claim her as his own or control her. 

3. Favorite Quotations 

(pg. 115) Mademoiselle Reisz and Edna discuss artistry: 

[MR] "And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul." 

[E] "What to you mean by the courageous soul?"

[MR] "Courageous, ma foi! The brave soul. The soul that dares and defies."

(pg. 118) Leonce speaking about Edna to Doc Mandolet:

"She says a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth. Nice thing for a women to say to her husband!"

(pg. 121)

"There were one or two men whom she observed at the soiree musicale; but she never would have felt moved to any kittenish display to attract their notice - to any feline or feminine wiles to express herself toward them. Their personality attracted her in an agreeable way." 

(pg. 123) Mandolet at dinner at the Pontelliers':

"[he] noted a subtle change which had transformed [Edna] from the listless woman he had known into a being who, for the moment, seemed palpitant with the forces of life. Her speech was warm and energetic. There was no repression in her glance or gesture. She reminded him of some beautiful, sleek animal waking up in the sun." 

Edna = adorable kitten. Wait...what...?

(pg. 124) On a story Edna relates at dinner:

"Perhaps it was a dream she had had. But every glowing word seemed real to those who listened. They could feel the hot breath of the Southern night; they could hear the long sweep of the pirogue through the glistening moonlit water, the beating of the birds' wings, rising startled from among the reeds in the salt-water pools; they could see the faces of the lovers, pale, close together, rapt in oblivious forgetfulness, drifting into the unknown." 

(pg. 127)

"Or else she stayed indoors and nursed a mood with which she was becoming too familiar for her own comfort and peace of mind. It was not despair; but it seemed to her as if life were passing by, leaving its promise broken and unfulfilled. Yet there were other days when she listened, was led on and deceived by fresh promises which her youth held out to her." 

(pg. 131) Budding sexual tension between Edna and Arobin:

"He stood close to her, and the effrontery in his eyes repelled the old, vanishing self in her, yet drew all her awakening sensuousness. He saw enough in her face to impel him to take her hand and hold it while he said his lingering good night." 

(pg. 132) Edna's reflections upon almost kissing Arobin:

"She felt somewhat like a woman who in a moment of passion is betrayed into an act of infidelity, and realizes the significance of the act without being wholly awakened from its glamour. The thought was passing vaguely through her mind, 'What would he think?'

She did not mean her husband; she was thinking of Robert Lebrun. Her husband seemed to her now like a person whom she had married without love as an excuse."

(pg. 133) Continued sexual tension between Edna and Arobin:

"They became intimate and friendly by imperceptible degrees, and then by leaps. He sometimes talked in a way that astonished her at first and brought the crimson into her face; in a way that pleased her at last, appealing to the animalism that stirred impatiently within her." 

hnnnnggggg

(pg. 135) Edna reflecting on discussing her move with Leonce:

"She did not how know it would be when he returned. There would have to be an understanding, an explanation. Conditions would some way adjust themselves, she felt; but whatever came, she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself."

(pg. 136-37) Mademoiselle Reisz and Edna discussing love:

[E] " 'do you suppose a woman knows why she loves? Does she select? Does she say to herself: 'Go to! Here is a distinguished statesmen with presidential possibilities; I shall proceed to fall in love with him.' [. . .] '

[MR] '[. . .] Are you in love with Robert?'

'Yes,' said Edna. It was the first time she had admitted it, and a glow overspread her face, blotching it with red spots. 

'Why?' asked her companion. 'Why do you love him when you ought not to?' [. . .]

'Why? Because his hair is brown and grows away from his temples; because he opens and shuts his eyes, and his nose is a little out of drawing; because he has two lips and a square chin, and a little finger which he can't straighten from having played baseball too energetically in his youth. Because - '

'Because you do, in short,' laughed Mademoiselle."

(pg. 137) Edna, on herself: 

" 'One of these days,' she said, 'I'm going to pull myself together for a while and think - try to determine what character of a woman I am; for, candidly, I don't know. By all the codes which I am acquainted with, I am a devilishly wicked specimen of the sex. But some way I can't convince myself that I am."

Reflecting on her visit with M. Reisz:

" . . . when I left her to-day, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said. 'The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.' "

Let's hope this isn't foreshadowing...

(pg. 139) Edna and Arobin:

"When he leaned forward and kissed her, she clasped his head, holding his lips to hers. 

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

This gif - I had to.

I leave you on that sexy, sexy note! Y'all have a loooovely day/night and I'll see you next week. :)

Week 2 - Changing Tides

Last week, we left Edna lounging on a hammock on her summer house's porch, some time around midnight. The rest of the vacationing community of Grand Isle is down on the beach. Robert escorted Edna home after she frightened herself by swimming a little too far out into the ocean, beyond her comfort zone. 

Let's pick up where we left off, shall we? 

1. Summary: Chapters 11-19

Chapter 11 begins where chapter 10 leaves off. Edna is on the porch still, though Robert has gone home. Mr. Pontellier comes home and expresses some surprise that Edna is still outside; he implores her to come inside, and she refuses. She more or less argues with him on principle, because she recognizes the way he has always treated her like a child, like someone he is responsible for bossing around, as though she can't take care of herself. Instead of obeying his request, Edna stays in the hammock. After throwing a bit of a tantrum, Mr. Pontellier decides to join her on the porch and angrily smoke a handful of cigars until she finally decides to go inside (sometime around dawn.) 

"You don't want to come in? Fine - two can play this game."

The next morning, Edna wakes up and decides to go to church - sort of. She invites Robert to go, they get on a little boat, and boat (what is the verb for going on a boat...floating? Voyaging? I don't know.) to the little island on which the church is located. On the boat, Robert talks to this Spanish girl named Mariequita, while Edna mostly sits there and listens, because she doesn't speak Spanish. 

When the boat arrives to the island, they all go to the church service (Edna, Robert, and the other people on the boat - not sure about Mariequita, though...) During the service, Edna starts to feel dizzy and drowsy, because of her lack of sleep the night before. Robert takes her to this lady's house - a woman he knows who lives on the island. The lady lets Edna take a nap in her room; meanwhile, Robert hangs out with the woman's son outside until Edna wakes up. She finally does, and after sitting outside and watching the sun set, she and Robert go back to Grand Isle. 

I mean, the book doesn't say they were touching, but they were totally touching.

Edna gets back home and discovers one of her sons was being a brat, but the kids have all gone to bed. Her husband was worried about her being gone, until one of the neighbors told him she was just "overcome with sleep and fatigue". He decides to go to his men's club for the evening. Edna waits up for him and thinks a lot about Robert. 

Some evenings later, Edna comes to dinner at the main house amidst a lively conversation. It turns out that Robert announced he'll be leaving for Mexico. While everyone is arguing about it, Edna and Robert exchange some "Why are you leaving" - "I have to; I'm in love with you" - "But you suck, I love you too" - "I know, but you're married so I have to leave" vibes across the table. 

Edna leaves dinner and goes to sit in reflection outside. Madame Ratignolle tries to convince her to come hang out with everyone, but Edna declines. Robert comes to talk to her, briefly, and he almost confesses his love for her, but doesn't. After he leaves, Edna finally acknowledges to herself her feelings for him. 

"Don't leave. I love you, you idiot." "That's exactly why I have to."

After Robert leaves for Mexico, Edna is (obviously) very sad. She talks to Mademoiselle Reisz about it - or rather, Mademoiselle asks Edna if she's sad. Then, Edna goes to Madame Lebrun's house to look at pictures of Robert; there, she reads a letter from him to his mother, in which she is briefly mentioned. Even Mr. Pontellier asks about Edna's mood after Robert leaves. 

Edna's life without Robert

Edna has a brief conversation with Mademoiselle Reisz (the scene from before, in which the Mademoiselle asks if she misses Robert, continues here) and they discuss the summer as a whole, as it is now coming to an end. 

After this chapter, we see the Pontellier family back at their home in New Orleans. The summer has clearly changed Edna. Much to Mr. Pontellier's displeasure, Edna has not been meeting with visitors who leave calling cards at the house (part of her 'domestic' duties), and she can't seem to hire a cook who is any good. They have a big fight at the dinner table - a sort of escalation of the conflict that had in the first section, when Mr. Pontellier accuses Edna of being a neglectful mother - which leads to Edna's emotions finally coming to a head. 

Edna: Bucket of Rage

Up in her room, Edna throws her wedding ring onto the ground and stomps on it; she throws a vase, because the ring stays intact, and "she wanted to destroy something". After calming down, Edna decides to just do whatever she wants with her life. And that something is to draw. 

The next day, Edna goes to visit Madame Ratignolle, with whom she has remained friends, even after the summer. She takes some of her work over, and Madame Ratignolle raves over Edna's talent and offers to buy one. In this chapter, we see the Ratignolles' relationship and cannot help but compare it to the Pontelliers' (Chopin offers a concession with Monsieur and Madame Ratignolle - while domestic, wifely, and maternal roles are clearly not meant for Edna, that isn't to say they aren't for all women. As we saw in the first part of the book, Madame Ratignolle is a wonderful mother. She is also a wonderful wife, but she and her husband have a very different relationship than the Pontelliers. Their relationship works, because it is built on mutual love and respect; they do not step on each others' toes, and they treat each other with patience and kindness. The Pontelliers', by comparison, are always butting heads in a power struggle, because Edna does not fit neatly into the mold that Monsieur Pontellier has created for an ideal wife. He also does not fit into the mold of the man Edna wishes to be with - obviously.)

Finally, the last chapter of this section describes the change in Edna and her home life. She begins, as I said earlier, to do basically whatever she wants. Turning the household into a modeling studio, Edna spends most of her time sketching and, for the first time, feeling - really acknowledging and experiencing emotions that she previously ignored and suppressed. Of course, since she decides to eschew her 'domestic duties,' Mr. Pontellier begins to wonder if she is unwell. 

"Oh, your wife doesn't want to spend all day doing pointless things, making your life perfect? Obviously she's crazy."

2. Major Characters

Edna

Edna spends this portion of the book recognizing - and subsequently wallowing in - her feelings for Robert. She begins to openly defy her husband's supposed authority over her, especially once they leave the island and return home to New Orleans. Her quest of self-discovery hits a turning point as she begins to take control of her own day-to-day actions and activities, deciding not only what she does but when, where, and with whom, and begins to recognize the humanity within herself. 

Edna realizes her emotional range in this part of the book as she falls in love with Robert, pines for him, argues with and rages against her husband, remains apathetic toward her kids, finds an art she is passionate about, and enjoys the company of friends. 

Robert

No cries, no cries, no cries...

 Robert doesn't have it much better than Edna does. He spends time with her on the island, taking care of her while she felt faint and then watching the sun set on the beach, and realizes he loves her. This is, of course, very obviously problematic as she is MARRIED (boo - that always seems to get in the way, doesn't it?) He decides that - for both their sakes - he needs to leave. Robert decides to go on a business trip to Mexico and leave Edna behind. 

Throughout the novel, notice that Robert is often connected to children and music. Hmmm...

Mademoiselle Reisz

Head canon: Maggie Smith, y'all

I don't remember how old Mademoiselle Reisz is supposed to be, but in my head she's Maggie Smith. So, shh. She actually becomes much more important in the third part of the book, but here, Chopin begins to establish the connection between Edna, Robert, music, and Mademoiselle Reisz - MR is really the only person to whom Edna can talk about Robert. MR comforts Edna by playing music for her (remember what I said about music and Robert?) She, unlike Edna, makes a point to avoid going in the water. Water --> sensuous --> love (for Edna, Robert)

Léonce (Monsieur Pontellier)

Poor Léonce~. Le Monsieur is having such a hard time with this headstrong, thinking woman of his. Monsieur is a rather particular man with very strong ideas about the duties his wife should be performing as a homemaker and mother. He begins to become increasingly frustrated with her, and as she continues to stay out at all hours of the evening and do whatever she wishes, he becomes worried for her mental health. Touching. 

3. Major Themes

Theme One: Obedience --> Independence

A huge part of Edna's awakening is the realization that she is an adult human being who should (but doesn't) have complete and sole control over her own life. This realization expresses itself in her growing "disobedience" towards her husband as she moves from dependence towards independence. While this does tie into the second theme - growing self-awareness - I think it deserves its own section because it deals with her external expression of her internal change (that is, her growing self-awareness.) 

We see Edna's disobedience of her husband begin on the very first page of this section. After a long night out with the neighbors, Leonce implores Edna to come inside to sleep. She realizes, then, that she doesn't want to, and that before this moment, her own will never seemed to matter. She would have done what he asked anyway. She does not yield this time, and so she stakes her first act of defiance. This sets the stage for much of the rest of this section of the book. 

DAMN. STRAIGHT.

Still, while she is on Grand Isle, Edna is only beginning to come to terms with her own agency. By the time she and her family return home to New Orleans, she is blossoming as the arbiter of her own fate. The chapter which first takes place in New Orleans begins as the book began - with Monsieur Pontellier. We see, from his point of view, a changed Edna. She stays out at all hours of the night rather than staying home to maintain the household. Callers come to the house to find that she is not there; they leave their cards, but Edna never gets back to them. The cook is a disaster, but Edna does nothing about it. Here is an Edna that eschews her traditionally domestic duties in favor of going out (whatever that means!) and visiting friends. 

After her argument with Leonce - which ends with her heatedly throwing off her wedding ring and stomping on it, smashing a vase to the ground, and taking her ring back up again - Edna decides to "do as she liked and to feel as she liked." This decision happens at the exact middle of the book - this is the direct turning point on which the story rotates. She has made the explicit change from an obedient housewife to an independent woman. Just as the first half of the book leads up to and develops this change, the second half of the book will deal with the consequences and results of this action. 

Get it girl.
(Meg. Because she's perfect.)

It's also interesting to compare the genders when it comes to the question of marital obedience. In the porch scene at the beginning of this section, Leonce asks Edna to come inside (well, as much as you can consider "Come on", "Edna!", and "I can't permit you to stay out there all night. You must come in the house instantly" asking [insert air quotes here.]) When she doesn't, he gets angry, insistent, and finally sits down to smoke cigars until she decides to come inside, as though he's supervising her. When she finally does come inside - after HOURS, mind you, of sitting outside - she asks "Are you coming in, Leonce?" His answer? Because of his male/husband privilege, he says "Just as soon as I have finished my cigar." 

Because this deserves two gifs.

Oh, Leonce... 


Theme Two: Growing Self-Awareness and Autonomy

The main way that Edna's growing self-awareness gets expressed is, as we said above, in her growing independence and "disobedience" (I put "disobedience" in quotes, by the way, because I think the idea that a woman should be obedient to her husband is stupid.) That is a result of her realization that she is her own person; more specifically, that in the time she got married and had children, she somewhere lost her identity as a woman independent of her role as wife and mother. During this summer on Grand Isle, Edna slowly reawakens to herself. This primarily comes about through her relationship with Robert, and it is the physical longing for him that ignites her physical, emotional, moral, and spiritual awakening. 

(NOTE: Though her 'physical' and sexual awakening is DEFINITELY important to the story, do not make the mistake of thinking that is the only way in which Edna realizes herself. Her relationship with Robert is the catalyst for a greater self-discovery that exceeds, but includes, a sexual longing and agency. THIS BOOK IS NOT JUST ABOUT EDNA GETTING LAID.)

But I mean...that totally happens. Later. Spoiler, sorry. 

Edna begins to understand herself as an independent entity in every way imaginable. In chapter 12, she examines her own body as though it were a building she'd just found on a street down which she'd walked her whole life. "She looked at her round arms as she held them straight up . . . observing closely, as if it were something she saw for the first time". She recognizes that she is somehow fundamentally different NOW than she has been her whole life: "She could only realize that she herself - her present self - was in some way different from the other self [of her past.]" Edna realizes her new self is also a lover, as well as a physical and fundamentally changed being: she feels she is an "impassioned, newly awakened being" when she thinks about Robert's leaving. Finally, as she explained to Madame Ratignolle, her self belongs to her only - it is not owned in ANY way by her husband, her children, even Robert. She belongs only to herself. She is independent. 

Domesticity = that glove. Get rid of that nonsense, girl; it's holding you back.

Theme Three: Husband versus Lover

Throughout this part of the book, Leonce and Robert get compared a lot. I mean, A LOT a lot. Basically everything one of them does, the other does, but differently. Confused? OK, let me explain. 

So we already talked about Leonce's impatience with Edna on the porch where he gets all "rah rah get in the house merrr" and she says no. He sits down and smokes angry cigars until she decides to go in. Conversely, when Robert and Edna travel to the Grand Isle for church and Edna starts feeling unwell, Robert patiently waits outside for her until she wakes up and feels better. Leonce waits outside WITH her, until she goes in alone. Then, Edna is alone in a (different) house while Robert waits for her outside until she joins him. Talk about symbolically leaving Leonce for Robert. 

Also, despite the fact that Leonce is the father of her children, Robert always seems to exist in the same realm as the kids. When Robert comes to talk to Edna after announcing his departure, he "[sits] down upon a stool which the children had left out on the porch." The regular juxtaposition of Robert and Edna's children highlights both that Robert is still, in some ways, a child himself, and that he reminds her of the love she felt in her youth (before she met Leonce), as well as the desire - perhaps - that he had been the father of her children instead of Leonce. 

Dean - I mean...Robert is ok with that.

Another quote is particularly interesting in this light:
As Robert lights a match (for no reason apparently, as he doesn't light a cigarette or cigar) Chopin writes "The  sudden and brief flare of the match emphasized the darkness for a while." So Robert lights a match, seemingly only for the purpose of this sentence. Quite interesting if you think about Edna's relationships - Robert, the flare (the "flame" if you will,) "emphasizes" the darkness, Leonce - or, rather, Edna's marriage to Leonce. Interesting.

Finally, we learn that Robert's journey to Mexico has made Edna so sad that she's actually talking to Leonce about it. Woah. She doesn't even have qualms about it. The way she sees it: "The sentiment which she entertained for Robert in no way resembled that which she felt for her husband, or had ever felt, or ever expected to feel." Edna recognizes her feelings for Robert are more passionate and stronger than anything she's ever felt toward Leonce. I'd feel bad for him, but I don't. Edna has finally allowed herself to admit that what she feels for Robert is different than what she feels for Leonce. 

Why, indeed, Edna. Why, indeed.

4. Favorite Quotations

(p. 78) "She [Edna] perceived that her will had blazed up, stubborn and resistant. She could not at that moment have done other than denied and resisted." 

(p. 88) Reflecting on the summer:

". . . she tried to discover wherein this summer had been different from any and every other summer of her life. She could only realize that she herself - her present self - was in some way different from the other self. That she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored and changed her environment, she did not yet suspect."

(p. 94) On Robert leaving:

"For the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation which she had felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her earliest teens, and later as a young woman. The recognition did not lessen the reality, the poignancy of the revelation by any suggestion or promise of instability. The past was nothing to her; offered no lesson which she was willing to heed. The future was a mystery which she never attempted to penetrate. The present alone was significant; was hers, to torture her as it was doing then with the biting conviction that she has lost that which she had held, that she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded."

ROBERT. 

(Gif win - my actual head-canon winking. SCORE.)

(p. 97) IF YOU NEVER READ ANY OTHER QUOTE FROM THIS BOOK READ THIS ONE:

"They [her thoughts and emotions] belonged to her and were her own, and she entertained the conviction that she had a right to them and that they concerned no one but herself. Edna had once told Madame Ratignolle that she would never sacrifice herself for her children, or for any one . . . Edna tried to appease her friend, to explain.

'I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself. I can't make it more clear, it's only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me.'"

Also my head-canon Robert...maybe I should just use only gifs of him? 
Oh, Jensen Ackles, you <3

(p. 107) On marriage: 

"It was not a condition of life which fitted her, and she could see in it but an appalling and hopeless ennui."

(p. 108) "It sometimes entered Mr. Pontellier's mind to wonder if his wife were not growing a little unbalanced mentally. He could see plainly that she was not herself. That is, he could not see that she was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world." 

(p. 109) Reflecting on and remembering times with Robert:

"She could hear again the ripple of the water, the flapping sail. She could see the glint on the moon upon the bay, and could feel the soft, gusty beating of the hot south wind. A subtle current of desire passed through her body, weakening her hold upon the brushes and making her eyes burn. 

There were days when she was very happy without knowing why. She was happy to be alive and breathing, when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day. She liked then to wander alone into strange and unfamiliar places. She discovered many a sunny, sleepy corner, fashioned to dream in. And she found it good to dream and to be alone and unmolested."

And on that note, I'll see y'all next week!!