The Awakening

Mrs. Pontellier is not used to discussing her feelings and private matters with others. Since she was a child, she had noticed a “dual life--the outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions” (35). But as Edna grows closer to Adèle, she becomes less reticent. When one day the two women stroll to the beach, their differences in character are made visible in their garments: while Edna is dressed simply, Adèle wears an elegant white dress. When they reach the beach, Edna immediately loosens her clothes. Nearby they notice the lady in black, absorbed in her reading, and a young couple, who are kissing in an unoccupied tent.

Noting that Edna is being very quiet and thoughtful, Adèle wants to know what she is thinking. Edna is trying to retrace her thoughts. She replies that the sea makes her recall her Kentucky childhood, and strolling through a meadow “that seemed as big as the ocean to the very little girl” (41). Edna confesses that she went on the walk through the meadow instead of attending a session of Sunday prayers. She admits that she did not quite understand religion back then, but up until now, she has adhered to religious traditions, even if out of habit. Leaning closer to her companion, Edna confesses that “sometimes I feel this summer as if I were walking through the green meadow again; idly, aimlessly, unthinking and unguided” (43).

After hearing these words, Madame Ratignolle lays her hand over Edna’s hand and caresses it gently. This gesture confuses Edna; she is still not used to the openness with which Creoles express their affection. Edna thinks about other female friends she had when she was young. Edna admits that she never had close ties with her younger sister, Janet, while her older sister, Margaret, was always busy, since she was the one to take up all the house chores after their mother died when they were still children. Edna’s closest friend was a girl “of rather exceptional intellectual gifts” (44), whom she admired and with whom she sometimes had heated debates about politics and religion.

Not only female but also male figures had a strong impact on Edna throughout her adolescent years. She had many intense crushes on men but they never led anywhere. When Léonce appeared in her life, his devotion towards her surprised and pleased her. She found the prospect of marrying him even more appealing given that her Protestant father and sister did not like him because he was a Catholic. Edna’s intention to accept Léonce’s marriage proposal had another grounding as well. When Léonce was already courting her, she was hopelessly passionate about a well-known tragedian of the time, and so she hoped that marriage would end her foolish fantasies and anchor her in the real world. Therefore, regarding her marrying Léonce, she did not have romantic expectations or yearnings. Later on, when she saw that her affection towards Léonce is absent of passion and excitement, she was not disappointed, but rather satisfied.

Edna’s thoughts then turn to her sons. She acknowledges that she is “fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way” (47). When they are away, except for the occasional minutes of longing, she does not miss them. Edna does not dare to admit, even to herself, that their absence is a kind of relief. When children are not around, Edna is liberated from responsibilities of motherhood “which she had blindly assumed and for which Fate had not fitted her” (48). Edna leans on her friend’s shoulder and, unexpectedly, shares some of these thoughts with Adèle. Her newfound honesty pleases her. Edna’s moment of openness with Adèle is interrupted by Robert, who comes to the beach together with the two women’s children. Edna goes off to join her children in the tent, forcing the young lovers under it to go someplace else, and Adèle, complaining of joint stiffness, asks Robert to accompany her as she walks back to the house. 

After Edna’s confessions, Adèle is worried that Edna might take Robert’s flirting seriously and warns him to leave her alone. At first, he acts insulted and says that he hopes Edna does take him seriously, since he is annoyed with Creole women, who view his attention merely as a joke. Adèle reminds him of the risk he is taking: if he were to flirt with married women with serious intentions in mind, then he would ruin his reputation as a gentleman, and Creole husbands would not trust him to be around their wives anymore. Robert begins to explain to Adèle the appeal of a real affair, but suddenly changes his mind and instead begins to tell stories of a well-known seducer, Alcée Arobin. Adèle goes to her bedroom while Robert, after a brief search for Edna on the beach, stays with his mother at her cottage. The two talk about Robert’s brother, Victor, and the suitor who has been courting Robert’s mother since her husband died a long time ago.

A few weeks after Adèle has warned Robert about Edna, Madame Lebrun and her renters hold a Saturday-night celebration to entertain their weekend guests. The Farival twins open the celebration with their piano playing. They are girls of 14, and are always dressed in blue and white colors because their parents dedicated them to the Virgin Mary at their baptism. After they are done playing, several other children perform, and then Adèle plays the piano while the other guests dance. Edna, having danced with her husband, Robert, and Monsieur Ratignolle, goes out on the porch and sits there for some time alone, looking at the Gulf. Robert approaches her and asks whether she would like to hear Mademoiselle Reisz play. Mademoiselle Reisz is a bitter, middle-aged woman who quarrels with almost everyone, but she agrees to play for Edna when Robert asks her to do it. Before beginning her performance, Mademoiselle Reisz asks Edna what piece she would like to hear, but Edna does not dare to choose.

Edna greatly appreciates music. She liked to sit in the room when Adèle practiced her different pieces. Piano music stirred images of varying emotions in her mind: a naked man staring out at a fleeing bird in “hopeless resignation,” (65) a dancing woman, children at play. But now, as she listens to Mademoiselle Reisz play, Edna sees no pictures of emotions. Instead, she feels “the very passions themselves” overwhelming her to an extent of leaving her trembling and in tears. When Mademoiselle Reisz is done playing and is about to go home, she touches Edna’s shoulder and tells her that she is the only one worth playing for in this crowd. Nevertheless, the others also greatly enjoyed the performance and praise Mademoiselle Reisz’s skills. Robert suggests that all the guests go for a nighttime swim.