Madames Reisz And Ratignolle Character Analysis

Edna reassesses her spirit more and more as the novel proceeds, with her finally reaching the maxim when committing suicide. At the beginning of the novel she is completely

Another reason Mademoiselle Reisz is significant to Edna is because she is the only one who knows about and Robert and Edna’s love. Mademoiselle explains Robert’s love for Edna, “ It is because he loves you, poor fool, and is trying to forget you, since you are not free to listen to him or belong to him ” (95). Edna’s love for Robert is the reason why she quickly becomes uninvolved with her family and the life she is socially supposed to have. She does what she wants with disregard to anything her husband has to say.

Edna’s artistic pursuits are very different than Madame Ratignolle’s. Edna’s art represents her quest for individuality (Boren 181). Her form of art does not provide pleasure or enrichment to her household. Instead, it takes her away from her family and her domestic duties (Dyer 87). Edna paints in her “atelier” (Chopin 579). Mr. Pontellier chides Edna for spending too much time in her atelier; he says that she would “be better employed contriving for the comfort of her family” (Chopin (579). Edna makes good progress in her painting; she dreams of “becoming an artist” (Chopin 584). However, her devotion to art is contrasted to that of novel’s true artist.

A foil for Adele Ratignolle, Mademoiselle Reisz serves as a living example of an entirely self-sufficient woman, who is ruled by her art and her passions, rather than by the expectations of society. A small homely woman, unmarried and childless, Mademoiselle Reisz is a talented pianist and somewhat of a recluse. She represents the anti-mother along independence and freedom. The first time she is introduced in the novel she is introduced as being “eccentric and quarrelsome”, from that we are able to infer that she is unlike the other women. Later as the novel continues to progress from her house and manner of expression we are again able to infer that she is unlike the other Creole women. For her home is an apartment above everyone, with a view, that is disagreeable and often cold. Mademoiselle Reisz is the woman that Edna could have become should she have remained independent of her husband and children and lived to old age.

In Chapter 8, Madame Ratignolle pulls Robert aside and asks him to leave Edna alone. She explains that Edna,” Is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously.” Chopin’s use of repetition in Adele’s dialogue puts emphasis on Edna’s uniqueness and labels her as an outcast. Adele sees Edna drifting further and further away from the social norms of their accustomed society and wishes to stop her before its too late. Chopin also uses this scene to foreshadow Robert’s unwillingness to commit to Edna as he brushes off Madame Ratignolle’s warning, seeing his relationship with Edna as a fling rather than being the passionate lover Edna craves.

Mademoiselle Reisz is the epitome of what Edna wishes she had become, Edna is covetous of Mademoiselle’s lifestyle. Madame Reisz is a carefree woman who could not care less about what society thinks of her. Edna sees what kind of person Mademoiselle is through her music. “The woman, by her divine art, seemed to have reached Edna’s spirit and set it free.” Through Edna’s friendship with Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna starts to find herself as a woman. “She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet, half-darkness which met her moods.” Mademoiselle Reisz shows Edna that she can be herself and be independent

Edna’s awakening was the beginning to her suicide. As Edna realized her capacity to be honest with herself, the old Edna began to die. Edna slowly started to realize she did not want to be like other women, whom “idolized their children, worshiped their

This description of Adele by Edna Pontellier gives a deeper meaning to Adele 's characterization as the perfect mother. Other women were aware of her perfection and her immense love of her children and they envied how easily it was for her to love her life and be content with just being a homemaker. Both Mademoiselle Reisz and Adèle Ratignolle are extremely contrasting characters with completely different outlooks on life in the late nineteenth century.

She is moved by music. During that summer Edna sketches to find an artistic side to herself. She needs an outlet to express who she is. Edna feels that art is important and adds meaning to her life. After the summer is over and they are back to the city and Edna is a changed woman. She makes many steps towards independence. She stops holding "Tuesday socials", she sends her children to live in the country with their grandparents, she refuses to travel abroad with her husband, she moves out of the Lebrun house on Esplanade Street, and to earn money, she starts selling her sketches and betting the horses. She also starts a relationship with another man Alcee Arobin. He meant nothing to her emotionally but she used him for sexual pleasure. Edna evolved above her peers she did not believe that sexuality and motherhood had to be linked. The last step of her "awakening" is the realization that she can not fulfill her life in a society that will not allow her to be a person and a mother. Edna commits suicide in the ocean at Grand Isle.

Unexpectedly, Robert and Edna become extremely close with each other by summer's end. Unwilling to further his relationship with a married woman, Robert leaves the country for Mexico. Furthermore, Leónce truly believed he had no obligation to care for his children and that it was Edna’s duty to do so. “If it was not a mother’s place to look after the children, whose on earth was it?” (Chopin 7). In society’s eyes, all a man needed to do was support their kids financially while the woman supported them in other ways. Chopin focuses on two other female characters in the story, Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz. These women are examples of how women should be in the nineteenth century. Adele was an example of a "motherly woman.” She would gladly sacrifice anything to care for her children, husband, and household, while Edna would not. Edna finds both role models lacking and begins to see that the life of freedom and individuality that she wants goes against society. Not only did society have a specific look on how a women should be, but Leónce as well, towards Edna. “’You are burnt beyond recognition,” he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage.” This shows how Edna is not an acceptable color according to her husband’s wishes. Edna had specific guidelines to follow

However, Edna's suicide leaves many readers unsatisfied and disappointed. Almost everyone has their own interpretation of the ending. Edna's suicide represents her final attempt to fully escape.(Rosowski 46) She escapes her children, her lovers, and most important, time and change (Rosowski 47). As she swims out to sea and death, Edna's mind returns to her childhood dreams of limitlessness. In this sense, the sea symbolizes her dreams to have her youth back because "it had no beginning and no end."(Rosowski 58). Edna imagines herself walking through the Kentucky meadows that she remembered from many years ago. Edna died, but in a way she had created her own limitless awakening.

From even the first few chapters of the novel it is evident that Edna is becoming aware of her concealed wants and desires as she begins to distance herself from the society that she considers herself to be an outsider in. While walking in town Edna

“To be or not to be – that is the question…” (III, I, 56-) so starts Hamlet’s most famous and well-known soliloquy. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, written in the very late 1500’s, the audience is introduced to two “comical” characters at the beginning of the play; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. These two characters, clearly, had no clue of what is going on throughout the play; in addition, they followed orders without questioning them. Therefore, their role in the play was not clear. Ultimately, their role in the play was to support, as well as spy, on Hamlet, hence them taking orders from greater characters like Claudius. However, the comic duo serves a deeper purpose than just assisting their old childhood friend. Arguably, their role in the play is also to forecast ideas, bring out character traits to help readers understand them more, and come up with solutions to some of the questions that the play has left the readers to deal with. They are capable of accomplishing that due to their disloyal behaviors towards other characters.

It is apparent in the beginning of The Awakening that Edna Pontellier has her head in the clouds about life and the people around her. She is aware of her surroundings but there is a noticeable uncertainty about her. During what is called her “awakening” Edna experiences a whole new outlook on her simple life. She escapes the social standards of an average Victorian woman in her time, and learns to think and do as she pleases. This rebellious self journey of freedom ultimately leads her spiraling to her death.

Through Chopin’s focus on two other female characters, Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna’s options of life paths are shown. These women are the examples that the people around Edna compare her with and from whom they obtain their expectations for her. Edna, however, finds both role models lacking and begins to see that the life of freedom and individuality that she wants goes against both