** Homework Questions ** (See Q's for Part Two ) 4:
Describe the role of Fate in Edna's life.
Describe the relationship between Leonce and Edna. How do
they view each other?
5:
Explain: "Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman" (5).
Describe Adele Ratignolle. How does she compare to Edna?
9:
Explain: "The voice of the sea speaks to the soul"
(9).
10:
Explain: "As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for
the unlimited in which to lose herself" (10).
22:
Explain: "She was blindly following whatever impulse
moved her, as if she had placed herself in alien hands for
direction, and freed her soul of responsibility" (22).
33:
Explain: "I would give my life for my children, but I
wouldn't give myself" (33).
37:
Why does Edna stomp on her wedding ring and break a vase?
How do these acts relate to the discussion on page 35 of how
Leonce views his "possessions"?
40:
Explain: "He could not see that she was becoming herself
and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume
like a garment with which to appear before the world" (40).
Other Discussion Questions: 1:
Where is Grand Isle?
4:
Why is Edna crying?
6:
What is a Creole? How are Creoles characterized by the
narrator?
6-7:
Describe Robert Lebrun.
9:
Explain this description of Edna's "dual life":
"the outward existence which conforms, the inward life which
questions" (9).
11:
Who is "the tragedian"?
13:
Why does Adele tell Robert to leave Edna alone? How does
he respond?
14:
Why does Mrs. Lebrun have a "black girl" do the treadle
on the sewing machine?
17:
What is the significance of Edna's renaming a particular
song "Solitude"?
21:
Explain: "No multitude of words could have been more
significant than those moments of silence, or more pregnant
with the first felt throbbings of desire" (21).
Whom/What does she desire?
Why does Edna stay in the hammock, despite her husband's
insistence that she come inside?
23:
Who is Mariequita? What is her purpose here?
24:
What is the siginificance of the anchor and chain imagery
on this page? What do they represent?
25:
Why does Edna leave the church?
Why, according to Robert, is it "folly" even to have
thought about going to church?
28:
How does Edna appear different to herself?
29:
Why does Robert go to Mexico?
33:
Why is Edna jealous of Mrs. Lebrun for receiving a letter
from Robert? Is this jealousy justified?
36:
Why is it such a big deal that Edna goes out on Tuesday
instead of staying home and receiving callers?
39:
Who is Cité? Why is she significant?
40:
What is "blind contentment"? Why does Edna feel pity for
Adele for not being "uplifted" above it?
Why does Leonce suspect Edna is becoming "unbalanced
mentally"?
Part Two: Homework Questions: 47:
Why doesn't Edna want to go to her sister's wedding?
48:
Explain the significance of Edna's reply to the
suggestion that her husband should stay home more often.
49:
How does Dr. Mandelet describe the change he sees in
Edna? To what/whom does he attribute this change?
55:
Explain the suggestion that Arobin talks "in a way that
pleased her at last, appealing to the animalism that stirred
impatiently within her" (55).
Why is Edna moving in to her own place?
74:
Explain: "She had abandoned herself to Fate, and
awaited the consequences with indifference" (74).
To what extent can Arobin be considered a surrogate for
Robert?
80:
If Robert loves her, why does he say "Good-by"?
82:
Is it accurate for her to think that her children and
husband "thought they could possess her, body and soul"
(82)? Explain.
Why does she kill herself? When does she decide to
do so? Why does she choose drowning?
Other Discussion Questions: 44:
Why does Robert write to Mademoiselle Reisz?
46:
Why does Leonce consult Dr. Mandelet about Edna?
Explain Dr. Mandelet's attitude toward the "circle of
pseudo-intellectual women."
47:
Why does the doctor think it would be good for Edna to go
to her sister's wedding?
Why does he think "the mood will pass"?
49:
Compare the "stories" Dr. Mandelet and Edna tell after
dinner.
50:
How does her father tell Leonce to "manage" Edna?
How does Edna react to her husband's departure?
Why do the children leave?
52:
Why does betting on the horse intoxicate Edna?
Why does she have such an appetite when she gets home?
54:
Who is Edna afraid of upsetting when Arobin kisses her
hand?
56:
Why does Robert keep writing to Reisz, not Edna?
57:
Why is Edna throwing a party?
58:
Explain Mademoiselle Reisz's statement about "wings."
60:
Why will Edna let Leonce pay the bills for her farewell
party?
61:
What is the significance of the party occurring on Edna's
29th birthday?
62:
Why does Mrs. Highcamp "decorate" Victor Lebrun?
66:
How does Leonce "save appearances"?
67:
What is Mrs. Ratignolle's "hour of trial"?
69:
Why has Robert returned?
73:
Explain: "But some way he had appeared nearer to
her off there in Mexico" (73).
76:
What is the symbolic significance of the cat Edna and
Robert pet?
77:
Explain: "I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's
possessions to dispose of not" (94).
78:
How well does Edna's rememberance of childbirth
correspond to her experiences in this novel?
Why does Mrs. Ratignolle tell Edna to "think of the
children" (78)?
82:
How does the description of Edna standing naked at the
seashore compare to the vision of a naked man she has on page
17?
Does Edna "think of the children" at the end?
Explain.
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