Always interested in art, she begins spending more time painting and sketching portraits than on household and social duties.
As a result of her continuing process of self-discovery, she becomes almost capricious in meeting her desires and needs, no longer putting appearances first. The sudden seriousness of his romantic feelings for her compels him to follow through on his oft-stated intention to go to Mexico to seek his fortune.Įdna is distraught at his departure, remaining obsessed with him long after she and her family have returned to New Orleans. Unexpectedly, Robert and Edna become intensely infatuated with each other by summer's end. This summer, Edna is the object of his attentions.Īs Edna begins the process of identifying her true self, the self that exists apart from the identity she maintains as a wife and mother, Robert unknowingly encourages her by indulging her emerging sensuality. Robert devotes himself each summer season to a different woman, usually married, in a sort of mock romance that no one takes seriously. Mademoiselle Reisz's piano performance stirs Edna deeply, awakening her capacity for passion and engendering the process of personal discovery that Edna undertakes - almost accidentally - that summer.Īnother Grand Isle vacationer is the young and charming Robert Lebrun.
Although Mademoiselle Reisz offends almost everyone with her brutal assessments of others, she likes Edna, and they become friends. In contrast to Madame Ratignolle's character is Mademoiselle Reisz, a brilliant pianist also vacationing on Grand Isle. Madame Ratignolle is the epitome of a "mother-woman," gladly sacrificing a distinct personal identity to devote her entire being to the care of her children, husband, and household. Also staying at the pension is the Ratignolle family Madame Ratignolle is a close friend of Edna's, although their philosophies and attitudes toward child rearing differ fundamentally. They are staying at a pension, a sort of boarding house where each family has their own cottage but eat together in a main dining hall. Edna, her husband Léonce, and their two children are vacationing for the summer on Grand Isle, an island just off the Louisiana shore near New Orleans. Her devotion to that purpose causes friction with her friends and family, and also conflicts with the dominant values of her time.Įdna Pontellier's story takes place in 1890s Louisiana, within the upper-class Creole society. The Awakening explores one woman's desire to find and live fully within her true self.
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