A little bit confused, Leónce goes to Doctor Mandelet, an old family friend to ask for advice.
She begins to take up painting and starts behaving in what her husband considers an uncharacteristic manner. Soon, however, she stops taking callers, much to her husband's displeasure. At first Edna settles into her usual routine, receiving callers on Tuesday afternoons and accompanying her husband to plays and musical events on other nights. The Pontelliers return to the city, where Leónce busies himself with making money and purchasing extravagant possessions for their home on Esplanade Street. That summer Edna also befriends the pregnant Madame Ratignolle, who is the epitome of maternity, and Mademoiselle Reisz, an eccentric, unmarried old woman who can make Edna weep by playing the piano. Edna is upset when Robert leaves with only a few hours' notice, and she becomes depressed after he leaves. When Robert realizes that he and Edna are becoming too close, he suddenly departs the island and goes to Vera Cruz for business prospects.
One day they take a spontaneous day trip to another island in a boat, and Edna undergoes a metaphorical rebirth when she falls asleep for hours on the island. She and Robert also spend a lot of time in and near the ocean. At her great moment of awakening, she suddenly learns how to swim, after being frustrated in her efforts before. She realizes that she is not content to be simply a wife and a mother, and she begins to assert herself to her husband.Įdna's moments of self-discovery are closely tied to the ocean. Due to Robert's constant presence, Edna starts to experience a change within herself: she begins to develop a sense of herself as a whole person, with unique wants, interests, and desires. The two spend almost all their time together, and Edna greatly enjoys his company, especially since her husband is generally preoccupied with business. During the week, the women and children stay on the island, while the men return to the city to work.ĭuring the summer, Edna Pontellier meets a young gallant named Robert Lebrun, whose mother rents out the cottages on the island. Over the summer it is inhabited by upper-class Creole families from New Orleans who go there to escape from the heat and to relax by the ocean. The first half of the novel takes place in Grand Isle, an island off the coast of Louisiana. In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, the protagonist Edna Pontellier learns to think of herself as an autonomous human being and rebels against social norms by leaving her husband Leónce and having an affair.
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