For Mrs. Pointeller, her being alone is her having her independence. Her husbands expectations of her are normal for the time period, yet back in her mind, an emotion which is sure to come out later in the novel, she feels as if the domestic duties that she is expected to do doesn't let her be her own person. The social constraints that Edna feels suffocate her in a way, yet the other characters in her story don't feel the way she does. This topic relates to the larger text because her realizing soceity's constraints are the beginning of her awakening.
Solitude - Edna is not "accustomed to...outward and spoken expression" (19) and "even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself" (15). She naturally isolates herself. Even when she is with madame Ratignolle and Robert she isolates herself. She is not yet at home with Creole openess/lack of modesty/etc. even though Mr. Pontellier himself is a Creole. She also isolates herself from friendly/sisterly touching. When Mme. Ratignolle clasps her hand Edna is confused and unsure but does acknowledge that it's nice/feels good. Edna also isolates herself from her family. Mr. Pontellier: she is flattered that he is so devoted to her but overtime she's realized "no trace of passion or excessive and fictitious warmth coloured her affection" (21) Her children:"She [is] fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way." (21)
There are also thoughts of solitude when Mme. Ratignolle plays a piano piece which Edna has re-titled "Solitude". And the sea symbolizes solitude for Edna as well. (32)
Freedom - To Edna, the absence of her children givese her a sense of freedom from the "responsibilty which she had blindly assumed" (21) and that she was not fitted too. Edna also feels a great sense of freedom in finally being able to swim in the sea--"As she swam, she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (32)
Independence/Freedom - When Edna talks or thnks about the sea it's always with a sense of freedom and independence. She loves the sea.
If we recognize Edna to be the green and yellow parrot, then Mr. Pontellier's reaction to its song is quite telling: when it irritates him with its song, he leaves. "Mr. Pontellier had the privilege of quitting [the birds'] society when they ceased to be entertaining," (1). This passage contrasts Mr. Pontellier's freedom with Edna's constraints. If we apply this metaphor to the cage, I would say it represents societal expectations and not Robert as we previously discussed in class.
After being woken up by her husband (who is free to visit Klein's, a place Edna cannot go due to her household and child-rearing responsibilities), Edna is overwhelmed by an "indescribable oppression" (7), most likely caused by her utter lack of control over her own life.
However, she is not without control when she is reinforcing, rather than opposing, societal norms. When Robert puts his head on her arm, she continually rebuffs him - because it is societally acceptable for her to do so. That having been said, she does not verbally rebuke him; she simply pushes him away.
In these chapters we see Edna consciously taking charge of her own destiny. She moves into a house alone, much as Mlle. Reisz does. Edna says to Mlle. Reisz, "I know I shall like it, like the feeling of freedom and independence," (94). Edna is conscious of why she is moving into the Pigeon house - although she initially attempts to lie, she acknowledges the truth readily.
Mlle. Reisz, while serving as Edna's shoulder angel of independence, is not sure she can do it. Edna says to Arobin, "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,'" (98). Mlle. Reisz is also aware of what Edna is trying to do, and knows that she needs to be strong to do it. She is not sure if Edna can make it, although she clearly wants Edna to succeed.
Immediately after this, "Edna cried a little that night after Arobin left her," (98). While she is enthusiastic about this new turn of events in her life, directed by her own will, she is still scared by how unknown her future is.
Edna moves into the pigeon house "without even waiting for an answer from her husband regarding his opinion or wishes in the matter," (99). She knows it is right for her and is going to move no matter what. The approval of her husband would not have made a difference. Of course, because of the doctor's advice, he would have approved anyways.
The dinner party, Edna's final farewell to her unwanted housewife role in society, seems forced and uncomfortable. Victor begins to sing and Edna loses control, crying for him to stop. The conversation seems awkward. When Edna is finally left alone, she seems to be relieved.
Chapter 31-34 In these chapters she starts off with being a free and independent woman, but when Robert comes back to New Orleans, we notice how alone she is. No one understands her, and she isn’t sure what she wants. When Arobin is walking Edna to her pigeon house after the dinner she says, “No; I don’t want anything” (108). She feels free, finally at peace with herself because she is living where she wants, doing what she wants, and finally feels like a woman who can accomplish anything. Edna is going to her house for the first time; she doesn’t want anything from Mr. Pontellier, or Arobin, she want to be left alone, to gather herself and live her life without others putting things together for her. When they arrive to Edna’s pigeon house she is tired. “I feel as if I had been wound up to a certain pitch-too tight- and something inside me had snapped”(109). She feels that with this new house and environment she is independent, free to do as she pleases. She feels as she has been “wound up,” and now she finally is free. When Robert comes back into town we really see Edna as a woman who was alone, most of the time. “You see I am alone, and it is so long since I have seen you”(117). Edna tells Robert that she has been lost without him there, she was alone and now with Robert back she feels as if he can fill up her free time. She is almost desperate in her attempts to keep Robert at her house because she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Before Robert came into town we didn’t really realize how lonely she was because Chopin only told us of her time when she was painting or visiting someone, but what about all the time in between. She has no kids to look after, no husband, no cleaning. She filled up her time with painting, and horseback riding. “When he saw her face in the lamp-light, looking pained, with all soft lines gone out of it, he threw his hat aside and seated himself”(117). Now that Robert is back she wants him to stay to keep her company because she has no way to fill up her time. ~Tesnime Selmane
Edna fills Mlle. Reisz with happiness because she thought she'd be alone waiting for Edna to come and visit her. Edna is filling up Mlle. Reisz's loneliness, kind of like she's relieving her own loneliness. The Doctor advises Mr. Pontellier to simply leave Edna alone, because that's how she'll get over her phase, as he puts it. In this way, again, the loneliness is a good thing. Later, too, being alone is good for the Doctor. He seeks the respite of being alone to get away from the craziness of human nature. The interesting thing about Edna's loneliness is that she's more lonely when she's surrounded by people. She's lonely around Mr. Pontellier and her kids. She's alone when she finds herself incompatible with the people she's with. But when her whole family is gone, she swells up to fill her own happiness and she isn't lonely.
So in this span of chapters we have two interesting points of solitude/independence and freedom, both when we see Mlle. Reisz at her home and with just the general observation of Edna seen through her husbands point of view and the way she acts around her father.
In chapter 11, I think it's really important that we hear others' impression of Mlle. Reisz, "Some people contended that the reason Mademoiselle Reisz always chose apartments up under the roof was to discourage the approach of beggars, peddlars and callers" (72). This, especially with the inclusion of her avoiding callers, which is goes along with the social expectation of women to be gracious hosts, clearly shows Mlle. Reisz isolated and alone, and I think it's importance to look at her solitude because it is both an influence upon Edna, and sort of a case study of what Edna could be/becoming.
Chopin here is portraying Reisz as alone, but I think what is most important here is that it was the Mlle's CHOICE to be alone. Especially at the beginning of the book, Edna would never have the choice of where her home was -- and even if she did, she was too asleep to chose to take the decision into her own hands. I think this is not really an example of Mademoiselle Reisz being alone, but of her being independent -- she chose to be alone.
I think what's also important to note about these chapters is the way Mr. Pontellier talks to the doctor about Edna, and what implications that leaves us with about her freedom/independence/solitude...
He definitely sounds concerned that she is not doing work, letting household go, etc. but it's intriguing to me that he never seems to have been forcing her into doing work... It seems to me as though, even though it is not well-received, she is free to act as she chooses... I think this is also shown again later in this section when her father is trying to convince her to go to the wedding, and complaining to her husband and everyone just really wants her to go, but she is adamantly against it and no one is taking away the fact that she has a choice in the matter.
It seems to me that although Edna is not completely free because she still has the social obligations, etc., she is certainly free to ignore those social obligations and deal with the consequences.
"The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in the abysses of solitude." (136)
Solitude - After her unhappy encounter with Robert, Edna keeps hoping every day he'll visit her, and every night when that did not happen she gets depressed. So much that "she was tempted to seek him out. But far from yielding to the impulse, she avoided any occasion which might throw her in his way. She did not go to Mlle. Reisz's nor pass by Mme. Lebruns's, as she might have done if she had still been in Mexico." (123) She is purposely isolating herself, but at the same time "when Arobin, one night, urged her to drive with him, she went--" (123) she's selectively isolating herself, which is different from how she used to isolate herself entirely in the beginning of the novel.
Since moving into the pigeon house Edna has continued to do as she wants, and in Ch. 36 she's found a quaint shop in which she can have alone time to think, or read under the trees. But at the same time it's also "the last place in the city where she would have expected to meet any one she knew." (125). Edna is once again isolating herself, but it's still different from her previous bouts of isolation/solitude. It's more of a freedom for her to sit and think now.
When Edna goes to be with Mme. Ratignolle as she's giving birth, "Edna began to feel uneasy. She was seized with a vague dread..." (130) and that "she began to wish she had not come...". Edna once again isolates herself, especially when Mme. Ratignolle says "Think of the children, Edna. Oh think of the children! Remember them!" (131) Even the Doctor realizes that Edna shouldn't have been there--"that it was no place for [her]" (131). This sets into motion many many many things.
In Edna's final moments at the beach she realizes: "There was no one thing in the world that she desired. There was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert; and even she realized that the day would come when he, too, and the thought of him would melt out of her existence, leaving her alone." (136)
Freedom - Edna and Robert finally reveal their passions for each other in her pigeon house. All of pg. 127 - 129 is full of freedom. Edna's decided to go against convention, against all of society’s expectations and the niche it's carved for her. "I love you...only you; no one but you. It was you who awoke me last summer out of a life-long, stupid dream. Oh! you have made me so unhappy with your indifference. Oh! I have suffered, suffered! Now you are here we shall love each other, my Robert. We shall be everything to each other. Nothing else in the world is of any consequence." (128-129) But when Edna leaves to go Mme. Ratignolle's side there's a feeling of apprehension from Robert, that he's not quite so ready to take that leap and ruin both his and Edna's place in society for love.
Edna also realizes many things about the children and the words she said. "'To-day it is Arobin; to-morrow it will be some one else,. It makes no difference to me, it doesn't matter about Leonce Pontellier--but Raoul and Etienne!' She understood now clearly what she had meant long ago when she said to Adele Ratingnolle that she would give up the unessential, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children." (136) She's unwilling to sacrifice her freedom for the sake of her children, because without her freedom and sense of independence, Edna would not be who she truly is. "The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days. But she knew a way to elude them..." (138) And in a final and permanent attempt to secure her freedom Edna commits suicide and drowns in the sea.
Independence - In the beginning of Ch. 35 Edna is answering the letters she received, but she does not answer Alcee's letter of good morning, hoping that she felt better, and that he loved her. The fact that Edna has an affair with him and is now putting him aside like that shows a degree of independence Edna did not have anywhere earlier in the book.
When talking to Robert (Ch. 36) Edna says "...but I have got into a habit of expressing myself. It doesn't matter to me, and you may think me unwomanly if you like." (125) Edna is asserting her new independence to the person she cares about most, and basically telling him she doesn't care what he thinks about her. (Which Robert says is cruel) Before Edna would have never dared nor thought to say she didn't care what people thought of her. Instead she would just behave and say what people wanted/expected to hear.
Edna also says "You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, 'Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both." (128) Not only is she further asserting her independence, but she is putting her foot down, and kind of declaring that she'll never go back to being on of Mr. P's possessions.
In Ch. 38 Edna tries to explain herself and her actions/wants to the Doctor, but at the same time exert her independence. She doesn't expect the doctor to understand and says "...I don't want anything but my own way." Shockingly the Doctor does seem to understand and expresses that he and Edna need to talk soon. And in the final moments of Edna's life, she thinks "perhaps Doctor Mandelet would have understood if she had seen him--but it was too late." (137)
With Robert far away in Mexico, Edna couldn't be more obvious about how she feels toward him. She has grown almost depressed in his absence, and many people around her in life are taking notice. I feel like... despite Edna having, still, even with Robert gone, many people around her, she is undoubtedly feeling very alone and isolated without her closest companion. I get the feeling that Robert is likely the key to, or the biggest part of, Edna's gaining... the freedom and independence she craves. He may even symbolize freedom and happiness (or rather, the opposite of loneliness...) for her. So with Robert gone, Edna naturally feels horribly alone. She jumps on the chance to read a letter from him, if only it would contain a message to her. And when Edna finds that he has -not- written to her in any form, her depression seems to only worsen. However, when Edna pays her a visit, Mlle. Reisz mentions that Robert -did- instruct her to play a particular song for Edna on her piano. Upon learning this bit, Edna couldn't be more excited and eager to hear Mlle. Reisz play (she had actually stopped at Reisz's to hear her play something, anyhow). This eagerness feels equal to Edna's striving for freedom.
Chapters 21-25 I do not think that by these chapters Edna has become independent or free from her oppressed society. She still relies on Mlle. Reisz and her letters from Robert to keep her going and to keep her remembering her awakening. I think that she almost craves the attention she gets from Roberts letters because she is straying farther away from her husband. Although by straying farther away from her husband she is becoming more independent from him and the children; however she becomes more dependent on others. So is she becoming independent at all or is she fooling herself by changing her surroundings more than her mental status? I think that when Edna thinks to change herself and to become awakened in this society she feels the need to get away (run away?). She does slowly become more independent from her family and her normal life by changing her surroundings.
chapters 31-34 These chapters show a new independence that Edna has not had so far in the book. In chapter 31 she moves into her pigeon house and out of her family mansion. She has left the cage. Her house is representative of everything she has been trying to escape from; society, her husband, expectations of her to fill her role. There is some specific language in these chapters narrating her becoming independent; "There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual... Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual." wealth?
chapters 21-25 Mr. P relates to his friend the doctor that he and Edna are no longer sleeping together which worries both of them. The doctor thinks she is either having an affair or associating with women's rights activists, he doesn't share the former idea with Leonce. This shows how Edna, trying to find independence, turns to solitude as a close substitute. In my opinion, however, they are not the same thing. You can be alone and still not be self sufficient or independent, and you can be strong and self reliant while surrounded by loved ones. Mr. P leaves on a business related trip for several weeks and the children go to stay with their grandmother, Leonce's parents in the country. Edna is now completely alone in her house and begins to crave human company. She goes to the races and meets Alcee Arobin who keeps her company throughout the rest of the novel, desiring her company more than she does his.
For Mrs. Pointeller, her being alone is her having her independence. Her husbands expectations of her are normal for the time period, yet back in her mind, an emotion which is sure to come out later in the novel, she feels as if the domestic duties that she is expected to do doesn't let her be her own person. The social constraints that Edna feels suffocate her in a way, yet the other characters in her story don't feel the way she does. This topic relates to the larger text because her realizing soceity's constraints are the beginning of her awakening.
ReplyDeleteCh. 6 - 10
ReplyDeleteSolitude - Edna is not "accustomed to...outward and spoken expression" (19) and "even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself" (15). She naturally isolates herself. Even when she is with madame Ratignolle and Robert she isolates herself. She is not yet at home with Creole openess/lack of modesty/etc. even though Mr. Pontellier himself is a Creole. She also isolates herself from friendly/sisterly touching. When Mme. Ratignolle clasps her hand Edna is confused and unsure but does acknowledge that it's nice/feels good.
Edna also isolates herself from her family.
Mr. Pontellier: she is flattered that he is so devoted to her but overtime she's realized "no trace of passion or excessive and fictitious warmth coloured her affection" (21)
Her children: "She [is] fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way." (21)
There are also thoughts of solitude when Mme. Ratignolle plays a piano piece which Edna has re-titled "Solitude". And the sea symbolizes solitude for Edna as well. (32)
Freedom - To Edna, the absence of her children givese her a sense of freedom from the "responsibilty which she had blindly assumed" (21) and that she was not fitted too. Edna also feels a great sense of freedom in finally being able to swim in the sea--"As she swam, she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (32)
Independence/Freedom - When Edna talks or thnks about the sea it's always with a sense of freedom and independence. She loves the sea.
Chapter 1-5
ReplyDeleteIf we recognize Edna to be the green and yellow parrot, then Mr. Pontellier's reaction to its song is quite telling: when it irritates him with its song, he leaves. "Mr. Pontellier had the privilege of quitting [the birds'] society when they ceased to be entertaining," (1). This passage contrasts Mr. Pontellier's freedom with Edna's constraints. If we apply this metaphor to the cage, I would say it represents societal expectations and not Robert as we previously discussed in class.
After being woken up by her husband (who is free to visit Klein's, a place Edna cannot go due to her household and child-rearing responsibilities), Edna is overwhelmed by an "indescribable oppression" (7), most likely caused by her utter lack of control over her own life.
However, she is not without control when she is reinforcing, rather than opposing, societal norms. When Robert puts his head on her arm, she continually rebuffs him - because it is societally acceptable for her to do so. That having been said, she does not verbally rebuke him; she simply pushes him away.
Chapters 26-30
ReplyDeleteIn these chapters we see Edna consciously taking charge of her own destiny. She moves into a house alone, much as Mlle. Reisz does. Edna says to Mlle. Reisz, "I know I shall like it, like the feeling of freedom and independence," (94). Edna is conscious of why she is moving into the Pigeon house - although she initially attempts to lie, she acknowledges the truth readily.
Mlle. Reisz, while serving as Edna's shoulder angel of independence, is not sure she can do it. Edna says to Arobin, "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,'" (98). Mlle. Reisz is also aware of what Edna is trying to do, and knows that she needs to be strong to do it. She is not sure if Edna can make it, although she clearly wants Edna to succeed.
Immediately after this, "Edna cried a little that night after Arobin left her," (98). While she is enthusiastic about this new turn of events in her life, directed by her own will, she is still scared by how unknown her future is.
Edna moves into the pigeon house "without even waiting for an answer from her husband regarding his opinion or wishes in the matter," (99). She knows it is right for her and is going to move no matter what. The approval of her husband would not have made a difference. Of course, because of the doctor's advice, he would have approved anyways.
The dinner party, Edna's final farewell to her unwanted housewife role in society, seems forced and uncomfortable. Victor begins to sing and Edna loses control, crying for him to stop. The conversation seems awkward. When Edna is finally left alone, she seems to be relieved.
Chapter 31-34
ReplyDeleteIn these chapters she starts off with being a free and independent woman, but when Robert comes back to New Orleans, we notice how alone she is. No one understands her, and she isn’t sure what she wants.
When Arobin is walking Edna to her pigeon house after the dinner she says, “No; I don’t want anything” (108). She feels free, finally at peace with herself because she is living where she wants, doing what she wants, and finally feels like a woman who can accomplish anything. Edna is going to her house for the first time; she doesn’t want anything from Mr. Pontellier, or Arobin, she want to be left alone, to gather herself and live her life without others putting things together for her.
When they arrive to Edna’s pigeon house she is tired. “I feel as if I had been wound up to a certain pitch-too tight- and something inside me had snapped”(109). She feels that with this new house and environment she is independent, free to do as she pleases. She feels as she has been “wound up,” and now she finally is free.
When Robert comes back into town we really see Edna as a woman who was alone, most of the time. “You see I am alone, and it is so long since I have seen you”(117). Edna tells Robert that she has been lost without him there, she was alone and now with Robert back she feels as if he can fill up her free time. She is almost desperate in her attempts to keep Robert at her house because she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Before Robert came into town we didn’t really realize how lonely she was because Chopin only told us of her time when she was painting or visiting someone, but what about all the time in between. She has no kids to look after, no husband, no cleaning. She filled up her time with painting, and horseback riding. “When he saw her face in the lamp-light, looking pained, with all soft lines gone out of it, he threw his hat aside and seated himself”(117). Now that Robert is back she wants him to stay to keep her company because she has no way to fill up her time.
~Tesnime Selmane
Chapters 21-25
ReplyDeleteEdna fills Mlle. Reisz with happiness because she thought she'd be alone waiting for Edna to come and visit her. Edna is filling up Mlle. Reisz's loneliness, kind of like she's relieving her own loneliness.
The Doctor advises Mr. Pontellier to simply leave Edna alone, because that's how she'll get over her phase, as he puts it. In this way, again, the loneliness is a good thing. Later, too, being alone is good for the Doctor. He seeks the respite of being alone to get away from the craziness of human nature.
The interesting thing about Edna's loneliness is that she's more lonely when she's surrounded by people. She's lonely around Mr. Pontellier and her kids. She's alone when she finds herself incompatible with the people she's with. But when her whole family is gone, she swells up to fill her own happiness and she isn't lonely.
Chapters 11 - 15
ReplyDeleteSo in this span of chapters we have two interesting points of solitude/independence and freedom, both when we see Mlle. Reisz at her home and with just the general observation of Edna seen through her husbands point of view and the way she acts around her father.
In chapter 11, I think it's really important that we hear others' impression of Mlle. Reisz, "Some people contended that the reason Mademoiselle Reisz always chose apartments up under the roof was to discourage the approach of beggars, peddlars and callers" (72). This, especially with the inclusion of her avoiding callers, which is goes along with the social expectation of women to be gracious hosts, clearly shows Mlle. Reisz isolated and alone, and I think it's importance to look at her solitude because it is both an influence upon Edna, and sort of a case study of what Edna could be/becoming.
Chopin here is portraying Reisz as alone, but I think what is most important here is that it was the Mlle's CHOICE to be alone. Especially at the beginning of the book, Edna would never have the choice of where her home was -- and even if she did, she was too asleep to chose to take the decision into her own hands. I think this is not really an example of Mademoiselle Reisz being alone, but of her being independent -- she chose to be alone.
(To be continued)
Alright, back to business. Chapters 11-15...
ReplyDeleteI think what's also important to note about these chapters is the way Mr. Pontellier talks to the doctor about Edna, and what implications that leaves us with about her freedom/independence/solitude...
He definitely sounds concerned that she is not doing work, letting household go, etc. but it's intriguing to me that he never seems to have been forcing her into doing work... It seems to me as though, even though it is not well-received, she is free to act as she chooses... I think this is also shown again later in this section when her father is trying to convince her to go to the wedding, and complaining to her husband and everyone just really wants her to go, but she is adamantly against it and no one is taking away the fact that she has a choice in the matter.
It seems to me that although Edna is not completely free because she still has the social obligations, etc., she is certainly free to ignore those social obligations and deal with the consequences.
The last post I actually meant chapters 20 through 25... Sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteCh. 35 - 39
ReplyDelete"The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in the abysses of solitude." (136)
Solitude - After her unhappy encounter with Robert, Edna keeps hoping every day he'll visit her, and every night when that did not happen she gets depressed. So much that "she was tempted to seek him out. But far from yielding to the impulse, she avoided any occasion which might throw her in his way. She did not go to Mlle. Reisz's nor pass by Mme. Lebruns's, as she might have done if she had still been in Mexico." (123) She is purposely isolating herself, but at the same time "when Arobin, one night, urged her to drive with him, she went--" (123) she's selectively isolating herself, which is different from how she used to isolate herself entirely in the beginning of the novel.
Since moving into the pigeon house Edna has continued to do as she wants, and in Ch. 36 she's found a quaint shop in which she can have alone time to think, or read under the trees. But at the same time it's also "the last place in the city where she would have expected to meet any one she knew." (125). Edna is once again isolating herself, but it's still different from her previous bouts of isolation/solitude. It's more of a freedom for her to sit and think now.
When Edna goes to be with Mme. Ratignolle as she's giving birth, "Edna began to feel uneasy. She was seized with a vague dread..." (130) and that "she began to wish she had not come...". Edna once again isolates herself, especially when Mme. Ratignolle says "Think of the children, Edna. Oh think of the children! Remember them!" (131) Even the Doctor realizes that Edna shouldn't have been there--"that it was no place for [her]" (131). This sets into motion many many many things.
In Edna's final moments at the beach she realizes: "There was no one thing in the world that she desired. There was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert; and even she realized that the day would come when he, too, and the thought of him would melt out of her existence, leaving her alone." (136)
Freedom - Edna and Robert finally reveal their passions for each other in her pigeon house. All of pg. 127 - 129 is full of freedom. Edna's decided to go against convention, against all of society’s expectations and the niche it's carved for her.
"I love you...only you; no one but you. It was you who awoke me last summer out of a life-long, stupid dream. Oh! you have made me so unhappy with your indifference. Oh! I have suffered, suffered! Now you are here we shall love each other, my Robert. We shall be everything to each other. Nothing else in the world is of any consequence." (128-129)
But when Edna leaves to go Mme. Ratignolle's side there's a feeling of apprehension from Robert, that he's not quite so ready to take that leap and ruin both his and Edna's place in society for love.
Edna also realizes many things about the children and the words she said.
"'To-day it is Arobin; to-morrow it will be some one else,. It makes no difference to me, it doesn't matter about Leonce Pontellier--but Raoul and Etienne!' She understood now clearly what she had meant long ago when she said to Adele Ratingnolle that she would give up the unessential, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children." (136)
She's unwilling to sacrifice her freedom for the sake of her children, because without her freedom and sense of independence, Edna would not be who she truly is.
"The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days. But she knew a way to elude them..." (138)
And in a final and permanent attempt to secure her freedom Edna commits suicide and drowns in the sea.
(to be continued...)
Independence - In the beginning of Ch. 35 Edna is answering the letters she received, but she does not answer Alcee's letter of good morning, hoping that she felt better, and that he loved her. The fact that Edna has an affair with him and is now putting him aside like that shows a degree of independence Edna did not have anywhere earlier in the book.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking to Robert (Ch. 36) Edna says "...but I have got into a habit of expressing myself. It doesn't matter to me, and you may think me unwomanly if you like." (125) Edna is asserting her new independence to the person she cares about most, and basically telling him she doesn't care what he thinks about her. (Which Robert says is cruel) Before Edna would have never dared nor thought to say she didn't care what people thought of her. Instead she would just behave and say what people wanted/expected to hear.
Edna also says "You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, 'Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both." (128) Not only is she further asserting her independence, but she is putting her foot down, and kind of declaring that she'll never go back to being on of Mr. P's possessions.
In Ch. 38 Edna tries to explain herself and her actions/wants to the Doctor, but at the same time exert her independence. She doesn't expect the doctor to understand and says "...I don't want anything but my own way." Shockingly the Doctor does seem to understand and expresses that he and Edna need to talk soon. And in the final moments of Edna's life, she thinks "perhaps Doctor Mandelet would have understood if she had seen him--but it was too late." (137)
Fin~
Chapter 21-25
ReplyDeleteWith Robert far away in Mexico, Edna couldn't be more obvious about how she feels toward him. She has grown almost depressed in his absence, and many people around her in life are taking notice. I feel like... despite Edna having, still, even with Robert gone, many people around her, she is undoubtedly feeling very alone and isolated without her closest companion. I get the feeling that Robert is likely the key to, or the biggest part of, Edna's gaining... the freedom and independence she craves. He may even symbolize freedom and happiness (or rather, the opposite of loneliness...) for her. So with Robert gone, Edna naturally feels horribly alone. She jumps on the chance to read a letter from him, if only it would contain a message to her. And when Edna finds that he has -not- written to her in any form, her depression seems to only worsen. However, when Edna pays her a visit, Mlle. Reisz mentions that Robert -did- instruct her to play a particular song for Edna on her piano. Upon learning this bit, Edna couldn't be more excited and eager to hear Mlle. Reisz play (she had actually stopped at Reisz's to hear her play something, anyhow). This eagerness feels equal to Edna's striving for freedom.
Chapters 21-25
ReplyDeleteI do not think that by these chapters Edna has become independent or free from her oppressed society. She still relies on Mlle. Reisz and her letters from Robert to keep her going and to keep her remembering her awakening. I think that she almost craves the attention she gets from Roberts letters because she is straying farther away from her husband. Although by straying farther away from her husband she is becoming more independent from him and the children; however she becomes more dependent on others. So is she becoming independent at all or is she fooling herself by changing her surroundings more than her mental status? I think that when Edna thinks to change herself and to become awakened in this society she feels the need to get away (run away?). She does slowly become more independent from her family and her normal life by changing her surroundings.
chapters 31-34
ReplyDeleteThese chapters show a new independence that Edna has not had so far in the book. In chapter 31 she moves into her pigeon house and out of her family mansion. She has left the cage. Her house is representative of everything she has been trying to escape from; society, her husband, expectations of her to fill her role. There is some specific language in these chapters narrating her becoming independent; "There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual... Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual." wealth?
chapters 21-25
ReplyDeleteMr. P relates to his friend the doctor that he and Edna are no longer sleeping together which worries both of them. The doctor thinks she is either having an affair or associating with women's rights activists, he doesn't share the former idea with Leonce. This shows how Edna, trying to find independence, turns to solitude as a close substitute. In my opinion, however, they are not the same thing. You can be alone and still not be self sufficient or independent, and you can be strong and self reliant while surrounded by loved ones.
Mr. P leaves on a business related trip for several weeks and the children go to stay with their grandmother, Leonce's parents in the country. Edna is now completely alone in her house and begins to crave human company. She goes to the races and meets Alcee Arobin who keeps her company throughout the rest of the novel, desiring her company more than she does his.