Major Characters
The novel's sad heroine; a 28-year old housewife and mother of two.
Edna Pontellier
The heroine's stiff and conservative father.
The Colonel
Symbols of freedom and imagination; they symbolize both the joys of freedom and its potential dangers.
Birds
"You are burnt beyond recognition"
Leonce
This man criticizes his wife's choices as a mother.
Leonce Pontellier
Robert Lebrun
An elegant, middle-aged socialite who introduces the heroine to A. Arobin
Mrs. Highcamp
For the heroine, this symbolizes the opposite of her orderly social world; it is infinite whereas the world is limiting, solitary when the world is crowded. . .
The sea
"At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life -- that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions."
Edna
This woman holds a party for her guests that is beautifully decorated, children are playing, adults are chatting. . . The Farival twins play a boring duet on the piano. . . "
Madame Lebrun
A plainspoken spinster, gifted pianist, and closest friend to the novel's heroine.
Mademoiselle Reisz
A mysterious widow who walks silently up and down the beach holding prayer beads.
The Lady in Black
This symbolizes the heroine shedding the societal rules to which she is bound.
Clothing
And the speaker is? "She won't go to the marriage. She says a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth."
Leonce Pontellier
She babysat Etienne and Raoul
Madame Ratignolle
The heroine's close friend and temperamental opposite. The model of Victorian womanhood: pretty, fragile, warm-hearted, and completely devoted to her husband and children.
Adèle Ratignolle
She welcomes the heroine into her home after mass to recuperate and rest after mass.
Madame Antoine
The playing of this instrument is symbolic of the social rules and customs of the period.
Piano
Scandal alert! "It was the first kiss of her life to which her nature had really responded. It was a flaming torch that kindled desire." Who was kissing whom?
Edna and Alcee Arobin
They quarrel when the heroine refuses to attend her sister's wedding.
The Colonel and Edna
A notorious player; fashionable; courts the heroine aggressively. Their affair is implied.
Alcée Arobin
The twin girls who often play the piano at Grand Isle.
The Farival Twins
the pursuit of this symbolizes the heroine's journey to the highest point of her awakening
Art
According to the heroine, this man "awoke me last summer out of a life-long stupid dream"
Robert Lebrun
When this man leaves, the heroine cries.