Quesons to 10
1. What features make The Awakening a "local color" story? Three main related factors make Chopin's short novel a local color story: The amount of time she spent describing things, the setting, and the language used.
2. What customs and beliefs of Edna Pontellier's society are significant in relation to her psychological development? The flashbacks show Ednas rebellious natrures where there even before the awakening.
3. What attitudes and tendencies in the Creole characters does Edna have trouble adjusting to? Edna struggles with a number of Creole attitudes and cultural norms. In the Creole culture, the men are dominant and women are viewed as possessions to be prized and displayed like trophies. The Creole society is very open when it comes to sexuality, and Edna had trouble with that behavior.
4. Why did Edna marry Leonce? Is he the model husband? She was exercising her right to choose her own husband and find her own path, simply because her parents didn’t like him.
5. What incidents in the novel reveal that he may not be a good husband for Edna? He belives in the tradional roles in the Acadian society. He also is unwilling and lacks communication with Edna.
6. How do Mlle. Reisz and Mme. Ratignolle function in relation to Edna and the novel's view of women as mothers and artists? Because Edna is not strong enough to give up everything for her art, and because she she is too overwhelmed by the demands of society and children, she feels her only escape is suicide.
7. What kind of mother is Edna? What kind of artist is she? Painting evokes the passion that Edna lacks in her life. Edna also loves her children, however she would not give herself to her self to them but rather sacriface herself for them.
8. How are the background characters such as the young lovers and the lady in black at the shore, significant in Edna's story? They contrast with Edna and her struggles with her own identity and place in society.
9. In detail, explain how the flashbacks
2. What customs and beliefs of Edna Pontellier's society are significant in relation to her psychological development? The flashbacks show Ednas rebellious natrures where there even before the awakening.
3. What attitudes and tendencies in the Creole characters does Edna have trouble adjusting to? Edna struggles with a number of Creole attitudes and cultural norms. In the Creole culture, the men are dominant and women are viewed as possessions to be prized and displayed like trophies. The Creole society is very open when it comes to sexuality, and Edna had trouble with that behavior.
4. Why did Edna marry Leonce? Is he the model husband? She was exercising her right to choose her own husband and find her own path, simply because her parents didn’t like him.
5. What incidents in the novel reveal that he may not be a good husband for Edna? He belives in the tradional roles in the Acadian society. He also is unwilling and lacks communication with Edna.
6. How do Mlle. Reisz and Mme. Ratignolle function in relation to Edna and the novel's view of women as mothers and artists? Because Edna is not strong enough to give up everything for her art, and because she she is too overwhelmed by the demands of society and children, she feels her only escape is suicide.
7. What kind of mother is Edna? What kind of artist is she? Painting evokes the passion that Edna lacks in her life. Edna also loves her children, however she would not give herself to her self to them but rather sacriface herself for them.
8. How are the background characters such as the young lovers and the lady in black at the shore, significant in Edna's story? They contrast with Edna and her struggles with her own identity and place in society.
9. In detail, explain how the flashbacks