In our class discussion, the character, Edna Pontellier, was discussed because she is the main character in the novel and she is also an outcast in the story. Edna is from Kentucky, and lives among these "Creoles" in the South. She is an unusual mother because in the beginning of the novel, it is discussed how Edna is not the traditional mother; her two sons don't receive the motherly love from her...she is not committed to throat 'cult of domesticity.'
During our discussion, Robert Lebrun's role in the novel was also brought up: what's up with him? Why is he there? When initially reading about Robert, we all thought that he would be someone to have an affair with Edna, but as the novel progresses, when the Spanish girl Mariequita asks him if Edna is his spouse, he responds that she is married. Robert is like an annoying boyish figure in the life of Edna who just seems to bother her. His role in the novel is still to be discussed as the novel progresses. As with the background characters, the general purpose of subordinate characters in novel is to enhance, or build up, the character of the protagonist--the background characters in this novel might serve the same purpose.
This novel is connected to the two poems read in class through their overall theme of feminism: Edna refuses to be a graceful, caring mother to her two sons, and also refuses to obey her husband, Mr. Pontellier, when he continually asks her if she will be going to bed. The omniscient narrator discusses how " she would, through habit, have yielded to his (Mr. Pontellier's) desire; not with any sense of submission or obedience to his compelling wishes, but unthinkingly..." (Ch. XI, pg. 33); but now Edna refused to do this. There is also Madame Ratignolle, who appears to have a "intimate relationship" with Edna. Whether this is just a friendly thing or they really have something going on, it appears to be an escape of her traditional role as a wife. The scene where Madame Ratignolle and Edna were together brings up some sensuality; moreover, Madame Raisz also appears to be a womanly love for Edna, since she claims that she only plays her instrument "for her." Edna's sexuality is now up for debate...perhaps this is what made the novel so controversial.
To the modern, twenty-first century audience, this novel may not seem very extreme or unusual, but it is the ideas and actions by characters that caused audiences to go bonkers in 1900s. The fact that Edna had the idea to be an individual and refuse to submit to her husband's will may have been to extreme an action for a fictional character. Edna doesn't appear to be the 30 year-old, married, mother-of-two type of woman, her character is much more free and individual.
