What Happened?
What was the setting like during chapters VI-VII, the beach? (Surrounding, Environment, Senses)(Name 3 details)
Wind blowing, sun shining, wave crashing but quiet, lovers exchanging hearts, and people sporting
What was the conversation mainly about? What does she specifically say Robert should do towards this topic?
The Sea (Meaning and how it affects Edna?)
Sea connects to self-discovery. Edna is drawn to it, and it opens up her mind. Edna starts to feel her awakening when she is near or in the water. The sea isn't just nature it's where social pressure goes away.
What realization is Mrs. Pontellier beginning to reach at age 28?
She has the realization of her position in the universe. She is starting to realize she is an individual with a soul and a will of her own.
Textual Evidence: "Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her." (Chapter 6)
Who is Montel?
Montel is a friend of the LeBrun family. He is a businessman currently in Mexico, and he is the reason Robert leaves Grand Isle. Roberts uses Montel’s business venture as an excuse to get away from his feelings for Edna.
Textual Evidence:” Montel was a middle-aged gentleman whose vain ambition and desire for the past twenty years had been to fill the void which Monsieur Lebrun’s taking off had left in the Lebrun household.”
How did Edna feel when her kids went to stay with their grandmother in New Orleans?
She feels relieved and liberated, but later is overcome with loneliness
Why does Madame Ratignolle tell Robert she can see Edna as someone who could behave wrongly?”
Because Edna is different from other women, she is independent and unconcerned with social rules
Edna's Childhood Memories(Meaning)
Edna misses her old self and independence before she was pushed into a social role. Her old memories represent freedom, imagination, and emotional independence.
In what ways does the summer remind Mrs. Pontellier of how she felt during her childhood walk through the green grass?
The Grand Isle triggers a memory of Enda’s childhood. She was walking through a “sea” of grass similar to the sea off the isle. The feeling evokes a sense of aimlessness and escape. She compares her feeling of running away from her father’s prayers to her yearning for a different life with her husband.
Textual Evidence:” I was running away from prayers, from the Presbyterian service, read in a spirit of gloom by my father that chills me yet to think of.” (Chapter 7)
Define tete montee
Tête Montée is a French expression used to describe someone who is excited, overstimulated, or self-absorbed.
Who did Robert come to the beach with? (3 individuals)(Names are extra points)
Two Pontellier boys(Etienne and Raoul) and Madame Ratignole's little girl(Marie Louise Ratignolle)
How does their conversation reinforce Madame Ratignolle’s identity as a “mother-woman”?
The Lovers on the Beach (Meaning)
Reflects Edna's romantic longing and unattainable desire. Edna sees young lovers who seem to be carefree and completely absorbed. This contrasts with her marriage and her unhappiness.
Why does Adele Ratignolle want Robert to leave Mrs. Pontellier alone?
Mrs. Ratignolle wants Robert to leave Edna alone because she thinks Edna might take his attentions seriously. Adele recognizes that Edna is different and lacks the will to treat romance as a game.
Textual Evidence: "She is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously." (Chapter 8)
Why is Madame Ratignolle's character important in these chapters?
She reminds Edna of societal norms and displays a true "Mother-Woman," highlighting Edna's personal awakening
What did Robert bring Madame Ratignolle?
Cup of bouillon(broth)
Open fields and Meadows in her Dream(Meaning)
This reflects childhood innocence and having no restraints. The fields are wide open and non-confining spaces where she was able to truly be free. This reflects her true self before society.
How does Mrs. Pontellier view her husband? Her children?
She views her husband as a social partner or a provider, not as a soulmate. She doesn’t mind him, but she doesn’t care for his obsession with property or his social status. She loves her children in an uneven, impulsive way. She is not a “mother-woman”. She describes her affection a variable things.
Textual Evidence: The acme of bliss, which would have been a marriage based on sympathy, she did not imagine” (Chapter 7)
How does Edna feel when walking with Madame Ratignolle?
She feels different, realizing her desires contrast with those of society
What actions does Robert take towards Madame Ratignolle that make him an attentive caretaker? (Name 3)
Walks her home, helps her lie down in bed, brings her bouillon, bathes her face and hands, fans her to keep her cool
Beach(Meaning)
Represents boundary between social norms(society) and freedom(rejection of standards). The beach acts as a transitional space between society and freedom. It's where Edna starts questioning her life and her place in the universe
Define the “dual life”
ual life is Edna’s split existence to survive the social climate. Her outward persona is the one she presents to the world; it is one of a compliant woman who follows tradition. Her inner persona is filled with long, questioning, and anguished thoughts.
Textual Evidence: "Even as a child, she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period, she had apprehended intuitively the dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions." (Chapter 7)