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The awakening Chapter 5 + 6. Mariyam and Simran. Review – Chapter 5. Since Robert was a teenager, he has chosen one woman to spend each summer with One summer he decides to devote himself to Edna The reader learns that Robert and Edna are able to connect on an emotional level
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The awakeningChapter 5 + 6 Mariyam and Simran
Review – Chapter 5 • Since Robert was a teenager, he has chosen one woman to spend each summer with • One summer he decides to devote himself to Edna • The reader learns that Robert and Edna are able to connect on an emotional level • Edna sketches a picture of Adele that she is displeased with • Edna’s children help their mother bring her painting materials upstairs • Adele claims to be faint, so she decides to return to her cottage • Robert suggests that Adele and him go for a swim, but Adele declines • After some convincing, they end up going to the beach
Review – Chapter 6 • The narrator describes a light beginning to dawn in Edna Pontellier • Edna wonders to herself why she had not gone to the beach with Robert and is wishing that she had • This chapter is a description of an emotional event in which she begins to realize her position in the universe and her responsibility in it • One of many mini awakenings that occur of Edna • Shift in Edna’s self-awareness • Significant part of the book as it is also the beginning of a big awakening
Close Analysis • Character development of Edna • Edna awakens desires and urges for sexual satisfaction, art, and freedom that she can no longer keep hidden • Edna repulses Robert’s attempt to show affection because she does not want a physical relationship with Robert (“She could not believe it to be thoughtlessness on his part; yet that was no reason she should submit to it”) • Edna is slowly beginning to think of herself as an individual • She is pondering on the meaning of life and thinking about the beginning of time • Character development of Edna vs Adele • Foil Characters • Have different methods of handling situations
Close Analysis • Relationship development of Robert and Edna • Able to communicate on an emotional level (“Mrs. Pontellier sitting idle, exchanging occasional words, glances or smiles which indicated a certain advanced stage of intimacy and camaraderie”) • Robert displays romantic gestures to show affection toward Edna • Robert feels more physically attached to Edna but the feeling is not mutual • Her emotions for Robert are inexplicable as seen through her feeling of regret for not going to the beach with Robert
Close analysis • Theme – Suggestions of self-expression • Edna learns that she can express her thoughts and feelings • Initially, Edna is shocked but then she finds it liberating • Beginning of her realizing that the ocean is a reflection of her feelings • Literary devices • Symbolism (sketch, sea) • Juxtaposition (Edna vs Adele) • Personification (description of the sea) • Allusion (Femininity – “abysses of solitude” and “enfolding the soul”, water of the ocean shows allusion to the womb)
Discussion Questions • 1. Why do you think Adele was able to appreciate the sketch that Edna made of Adele and Edna was not? • 2. What do you think makes Edna different from the other women Robert has had affairs with so that he can express himself openly with her? • 3. How do you think Edna realizing her position in the universe is important to the overall plot of the novel? • 4. What is the significance of the sea and why does Edna feel so drawn towards it? • 5What indications are there in these chapters that Edna is being ‘awakened’ and move toward unconventional and different behavior?