IndependentNovel3TheAwakening

=The Awakening=

chapters 1-10
The Pontellier family has rented out a vacation house in Grand Isle from the Lebrun family. The house is located in a wealthy New Orleans area among French Creoles. The Pontellier family consists of Leonce, his wife Edna, and their 2 children. Edna walks back from the beach one day tagging along with Robert Lebrun, the Lebrun's son. Leonce doesn't really mind it and invites Robert to go out. Robert denies it and decides to stay to talk to Edna. Leonce doesn't return back until later that night. When he comes home, he wakes his wife up to tell her that one of his sons has a fever and criticizes her for not taking care of him. Edna stays up and cries that whole night while her husband slept. The next day Leonce leaves for a week long business trip. While he's away he sends Edna back some gifts and all of the ladies in her town think that Leonce is the best husband ever but Edna is hesitant to go along with that. During the week, Edna and Robert hang out with their friend Adele. We learn that Leonce is a Creole and Edna is not yet comfortable with their customs. Later we find out that Robert devotes himself to Edna as her assistant for the summer. Her and Robert start hanging out a lot and at first they had an innocent relationship. Then Edna starts wondering if she deserves a relationship outside of the Creole lifestyle. Edna mentions that she never expresses her feelings and talks about her childhood. The only person Edna is open with is Adele. While Edna and Adele are in a deep conversation, Edna reveals her affections toward Robert. Adele knows that Robert is not being serious with Edna and she tells him to stop insulting her and hoping she doesn't take his words seriously. Edna watches Adele practice the piano and Robert decides to get Mademoiselle Reisz to play for Edna. When she plays, Edna feels the strong emotions that Mademoiselle is trying to show through her music and she claims that Edna is the only "true listener." The next few days, Edna starts noticing Robert not being around her as much. Not very long after, Edna learns how to swim. She was always hesitant to get in the water but she has felt brightened and encouraged to get in and swim far. After all the work she has proved to the people at the beach, she starts walking home and Robert follows her but he can't explain why. They talk on the way back and he is trying to hint to her that he understands how she feels.

chapters 11-20
When Leonce returns home, Edna is very defiant towards him. She feels that she can resist him and questions why she ever listened to him before. Edna and Robert start hanging out even more now and Edna starts feeling a dislike towards Leonce and he can tell that she hasn't been acting the same since their vacation to Grand Isle. Then Robert announces that he is leaving to go to Mexico. Edna is very shocked because she has been with him all the time and he never mention that he had to leave. Adele agrees with Edna when she feels that was a selfish thing of him to do. Robert decides to tell the full story to Edna just to satisfy her and so he wouldn't be worried that she was going to hold a grudge. Then he leaves. Edna feels like her life is so dull while Robert is gone. She realizes that she has infatuation toward him which was a bad habit that she has picked up as a child. She also gets jealous when Robert writes his mother and not her or when her husband sees Robert around sometimes. When they all get back to New Orleans, Edna feels even more of a disgust toward her husband. She wishes that they had never married and she feels trapped being with him. Edna lets her imagination take her mind away from her household chores, including taking care of the children. While Leonce scolds her daily for her not doing as she should, Edna feels even more careless and depressed. With no where else to go she seeks to go to Mademoiselle Reisz to listen to her play the piano. Edna finds out that the lady has moved so she visits Mrs. Lebrun to ask for her new address. While visiting them, Robert didn't write a letter to Edna and the family all question that she looks different.

chapters 21-30
When she visits Mademoiselle she finds out that Robert wrote Reisz a letter talking all about Edna. Edna is ecstatic and Reisz plays the piano while Edna gets emotional. Mademoiselle confirms that Edna is welcome there whenever she likes. Pretty soon, Leonce goes to the family doctor and physician, Doctor Mandelet, questioning why Edna is acting different. He tells him how she doesn't do or care about anything anymore and she doesn't talk to anybody. Doctor Mandelet decides to stay for dinner with the family to observe Edna. While observing her he feels like she has another man in her life but he refrains from telling Leonce that, and leaves. At Edna's sister's wedding, her whole family, including Leonce and Doctor Mendelet, enjoy each other's company. When they get back, Edna has her home to herself for a while. While alone, she spends some time with Alcee, who has been with about every lady in the town. The whole time she's with him she keeps her mind focused on Robert. When Edna feels down, she goes to Mademoiselle for emotional comfort. Mademoiselle helps Edna and makes her into being a stronger, and more independent woman. Edna announces to her that she is going to move out of her house. Also while her husband is gone, she cheated on him with Alcee, which she regrets and feels guilty about. She also finds out that Robert will soon return home from Mexico. Edna holds a party at her new house to show that she is now independent. Her father is very proud of her.

chapters 31-39
Alcee stays with Edna the night after the party. Leonce writes her a letter of disapproval of how she moved out and he is worried about his reputation. Edna has never felt more independent. Edna hangs out with Adele the next day after so long and tells her to be careful because the town is finding out about her and Alcee. Later, Edna takes a visit to Mademoiselle. When she got there, the house was empty and decides to sit inside until she comes back. She hears a knock at the door and is surprised to see Robert. They talk for a while and they feel the connection that has been there before. There are times when she encounters both Robert and Alcee at the same time and Edna chases Alcee away. Once Robert notices Alcee and Edna, he stays away from her for a while. Edna and Robert bump into each other one day and Edna is not afraid to express her feelings toward him. Robert confesses that his trip to Mexico was an escape from her love and he wishes that Leonce would set her free. She claims that she is not with Leonce anymore. Their talk got interrupted with Adele going into labor. Watching Adele go into labor makes Edna think about her childhood which angers her and when she arrives home she receives a note from Robert that says he's leaving her because he loves her. Edna decides if she wants to commit suicide.

characters

 * adele-** Married and is very devoted to her family and its traditions and is completely opposite of Edna. Although they are very different, Adele is one of the people to influence Edna to leave that lifestyle. Adele is the only person that Edna can tell everything to.

beautiful simple static


 * edna**-She is the protagonist of the novel, who is married to a French Creole, Leonce. While she feels like she is trapped and isn't feeling real love, she wants to find something better. She is very displeased with her marriage and the lifestyle that it has caused her. While on vacation with her family, her friends around her influence her to be independent and break out of Leonce's shell. The title "The Awakening" is based off of Edna and her change from a limited life to becoming completely loose in the world.

lean 28 years old romantic childish mysterious respectable dynamic charming uneven impulsive childlike artist passionate selfish defiant rebellious


 * leonce-**40 year old businessman and Edna's husband. He is very devoted to his family although he's not around much since he's always away on business trips. He's very much worried about his reputation within the community. Leonce has very few understandings of why Edna wants to change and he doesn't support it at all.

wealthy


 * mademoiselle-** While Edna goes through her dynamic change throughout the novel, she often seeks in guidance from mademoiselle. Mademoiselle gives her good advice and is also an influence to Edna for her to become independent and speak freely. She plays the piano for Edna and claims that she's the only person who can truly understand her music. She is like an older version of Edna.

old homely distant reserved entertaining talented unpopular inspirational small


 * robert-**The Lebrun's son, has sometimes played an important role, then would switch to a not-important role. Robert has done this thing every summer where he devotes himself to a girl to be their assistant. That summer he chose Edna. They would hang out all the time and suddenly caught feelings for each other. Since Robert has collected feelings for Edna, he decides to find an escape from them and flees to Mexico. He returns home from Mexico with hopes to be with Edna. When she admits her love toward him, he ends up leaving her.

flirty passionate dramatic cowardly


 * alcee-** A very charming young man that everyone in the town knows about. He is very seductive toward women and all of them know that. While Robert was in Mexico, Alcee takes his place for a while.

sexual manipulative


 * doctor mandelet-** the family physician whom which Leonce seeks help from concerning Edna's strange, new condition. The doctor guesses that she has another man in her life but doesn't let Leonce know about it.

worried helpful caring understanding clever

**lit elements**

 * foil-** Mademoiselle & Adele
 * symbols-** the sea/water, notes, piano, art, birds
 * syntax-** formal grammar

**motifs**
independence solitude self-expression/acknowledgement understanding music lifestyles family location influences