Characters
Who is the protagonist of The Awakening?
Edna
How are Edna and Adele different?
Adele is the embodiment of a good mom. She is seen as perfect and is happy in her position.
Edna is clearly not perfect. She struggles with the responsibilities of motherhood.
How can the reader see that the Creole culture is affecting Edna?
Edna is less reserved now and reveals some of her true thoughts to Adele.
Why is the sea referenced so many times throughout the novel?
The sea represents freedom for Edna. She first begins her "awakening" after learning to swim.
Use context clues to define the term, peignoir.
She began to cry a little, an wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her peignoir.
An item of clothing, such as a nightgown.
List 2 facts about Robert
Likes attention from married women
Goes to Mexico for business opportunities
Leonce wakes Edna up because the children need attention. How does she react?
Edna tends to the children because she feels she has to and starts crying after the exchange.
How does not being a Creole affect Edna's interactions with those around her?
Creoles are less reserved than Edna and openly speak about things that Edna views as private, such as pregnancy.
Why does Adele want Robert to stay away from Edna?
Adele is worried that Edna will take Robert's flirting too seriously. Edna is not a Creole, so she might not understand.
Use context clues to define the term, mournful.
"the everlasting voice of the sea, that was not uplifted [...]. It broke like a mournful lullaby...
expressing sadness
Who is Edna married to? List two adjectives to describe him.
Leonce
Egotistic
Rich
Oblivious
How is Edna an inconsistent mother?
Edna tires of the responsibility of motherhood. Sometimes Edna emphatically loves on her children and other times she ignores them.
How did Edna feel about Leonce when she married him?
She was fond of him, but she did not love him. She later views their marriage as an "accident."
Why is the novel titled The Awakening?
Edna is slowly awakening as a person. She realizes she wants more from life than what society wants from her.
Use context clues to define the term, countenance.
"What are you thinking?" asked Adele of her companion, whose countenance she had been watching [...] by the absorbed expression.
facial expression
What does Mademoiselle Reisz tell Edna about Robert?
Mademoiselle Reisz tells Edna that Robert is not his mother's favorite, and she reveals that Robert once went after his brother's love interest, Mariequita.
Why isn't Edna a mother-woman?
Edna does not idolize her children. She allows them to be independent from her and does not worry about them the way society thinks she should.
How does Edna react when Robert leaves for Mexico?
How does she feel when he sends writes a letter to his mother?
Edna is very upset when Robert leaves.
Edna is jealous that Robert wrote to his mother rather than to her.
In chapter 3, Edna and Leonce have a fight. The next week, he sends her a box filled with treats. What does this show about marriage during that time?
The gift shows that marriages succeed through gifts and the appearance of happiness, instead of actual happiness.
Use context clues to define the term, anecdotes.
"telling her anecdotes and bits of gossip and news that he had gathered during the day."
a. cures for poison
b.personal stories
c. emotions
personal stories
Why does Robert bring up Alcee Arobin?
Arobin is a known adulterer. Robert is trying to say that he wouldn't do anything as bad as Arobin's actions.
What does this quote mean?
"I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself. I can't make it more clear; it's only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me."
Edna will not sacrifice who she is as a person for her children. She will not give up what is essential to her, which shows that her priority is herself rather than her children.
What is the quote from page 47 referring to?
"A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength."
Edna finally learns to swim and it affects her mindset significantly.
Why is this quote from page 53 significant?
"Leonce go to bed," she said. "I mean to stay out here. I don't wish to go in, and I don't intend to. Don't speak to me like that again; I shall not answer you."
This is the first time that Edna does not submit to her husband.
Use context clues to define the term, reproached.
"He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children."
To express sharp disapproval