I am so confused with this book. I know it is about a woman that is defying the boundaries of sexuality of her time but other than that I am so lost. The book begins with a description of Mrs. Pontellier and her husband's home and community. Her husband comes outside to see his wife in the ocean with a boy that is notorious for having affairs with older married women. I don't think that he suspected anything. He then went to the bar and she spent more time with this boy, Robert. The story then goes into the story of how even since she was a little girl that Mrs. Pontellier has been different. She has always wanted to do something different from what everyone else was doing. The story then talks about how she has a close relationship with one of her friends and Robert but not with her husband. This section ends with her talking about the sensual qualities of the sea when she was in there with Robert. So at this point I think she is having an affair with Robert because she is unhappy with her husband and the way he tells her she is a bad mother. I am really confused with the relationship she has with her friend Mrs. Ratignolle. She seems just like a friend but she often watches her walk and even paints a picture of her. So at this point I am really confused.
So I am more confused then I was yesterday. So the book begins with her telling more of her troubled childhood. It says she has always been different than the other girls. She got married by accident and isn't attracted to her husband. She says she doesn't even like her kids. Then she goes to the beach with that lady from the beginning of the book. She watches her walk and sits with her for hours. So while I am reading this part I think that she is attracted to her lady friend. Then she talks about that she is starting to develop feelings for Robert. Other than the confusion I really liked this section. I liked the way the author showed her enlightening experience on the water. She became a whole new person after she ventured farther than she ever had before. I think this links to her search for her sexuality. I also enjoyed the way the author described the way the women fixed their skirts and hair the same way she described it in the beginning of the book. This might be something or it could not, I am not sure. Hopefully there will be more answers later in the book.
This part clears things up a bit but the whole section was a little boring. So I don't think that Edna, the main character is a lesbian. She is just in love with her neighbor or servant, I'm not sure which one, Robert. Well in this section of the book Robert decides to leave for Mexico. All the people in the neighborhood are very upset especially Edna and Robert's mother. He leaves with a rude goodbye to Edna. The only other thing that happened was that Edna keeps becoming sick or faking sick and then she gets Robert to take care of her. I think she does this just to get his attention. So on the last page of this section all the couples are preparing to go to their regular homes and leave summer behind. I think that Edna will get lonely and go find Robert or that he will come back to her. Who knows what is coming next, I guess that is what gets you to read more of the book!
In this section of the book, Edna's weird reaction to Robert and his departure are starting to be felt by the people around her. Her husband is becoming suspicious. He even talks to the town doctor who tells him that it is just a mood and that it will pass. Even though the doctor thinks it is because she is attracted to another man. She visits her neighbors and old friends. She even learns of a letter that Robert to one of her neighbors that was all about her. She is becoming more anxious and is looking for companionship that isn't with her husband. Her father comes to town and she has to relive all the memories that she had with her father in her childhood. The last line of this section is that she falls asleep more relaxed than ever before. I think that Robert is still going to come back or she is going to go find him. She just keeps getting more restless in her own life.
Well Edna has really broken away from her shell. She has started a relationship with another man, the third man if anyone is counting. She went to the races with this boy and he is falling in love with her. They even share a kiss at the end of this section. She feels passion with him but not love. She also decides she is going to move out of the house and move to a little apartment down the street. I also think that she is leaving her husband but I am not sure. The biggest news of this section is that Robert is coming back to town. He only writes to the neighbors and not Edna because he is in love with her. The biggest surprise that I saw was that she said that she wasn't going to do anything when he came home. She is still trying to hide from him but she admitted that she loves him. The author is doing a great job of showing how her thoughts and her desperate attempts to be different are affecting her entire life.
In this section of the book Edna is pulling away even farther from her husband. He is out of town and I don't think she could be any happier about it. She has her party and everyone enjoys it. The big surprise was Robert came home. She was upset that he didn't write to her and he didn't seem that interested in her anymore. Then he saw a drawing of Arobin, the boy she kissed, and he became jealous. Then Arobin came and they flirted and Robert became really jealous. Robert left her house and life went on as usual. She became more independent and her husband became more upset. He felt helpless to do anything. Arobin then asked her on what I thought was a date. I think that she is getting over Robert and likes Arobin now. She is becoming more and more adventurous and independent. I think she is going to jump of the deep end!
Well, this is my last blog for summer reading and for this book and what a book it has been. It kept my attention through the whole book and I couldn't put it down at the end. Edna visits with Robert, they kiss, they profess their love for each other, so happy ever after right? Wrong. Robert leaves because he doesn't want to break up the marriage. Edna swims out into the lake farther then ever using some of the same language that was used to describe her two swim experiences earlier in the book. She swims farther than ever gets weak and gives up. End of book! I have to admit this was a pretty good book. I was unsure of the message of the book and why she was so different and I finally figured it out. She didn't let other people determine her actions. She didn't let her children put her in slavery for the rest of her life, she wasn't going to wait for her husband to end their marriage and she chose whom she wanted to love. So in other words the book was about a woman who did what she wanted, when she wanted and how she wanted. It sends a good message of feminism and the independence of all women. I hope everyone had a good summer and that this will be a good school year!!!
Didn't the passage of background information say that Antigone was a victim of Creon's hubris? Some of you are suggesting that Antigone is the tragic hero. Thoughts on that.
7 comments:
The Awakening
(Chapter 1 -6)
I am so confused with this book. I know it is about a woman that is defying the boundaries of sexuality of her time but other than that I am so lost. The book begins with a description of Mrs. Pontellier and her husband's home and community. Her husband comes outside to see his wife in the ocean with a boy that is notorious for having affairs with older married women. I don't think that he suspected anything. He then went to the bar and she spent more time with this boy, Robert. The story then goes into the story of how even since she was a little girl that Mrs. Pontellier has been different. She has always wanted to do something different from what everyone else was doing. The story then talks about how she has a close relationship with one of her friends and Robert but not with her husband. This section ends with her talking about the sensual qualities of the sea when she was in there with Robert. So at this point I think she is having an affair with Robert because she is unhappy with her husband and the way he tells her she is a bad mother. I am really confused with the relationship she has with her friend Mrs. Ratignolle. She seems just like a friend but she often watches her walk and even paints a picture of her. So at this point I am really confused.
The Awakening
(Chapter 7-11)
So I am more confused then I was yesterday. So the book begins with her telling more of her troubled childhood. It says she has always been different than the other girls. She got married by accident and isn't attracted to her husband. She says she doesn't even like her kids. Then she goes to the beach with that lady from the beginning of the book. She watches her walk and sits with her for hours. So while I am reading this part I think that she is attracted to her lady friend. Then she talks about that she is starting to develop feelings for Robert. Other than the confusion I really liked this section. I liked the way the author showed her enlightening experience on the water. She became a whole new person after she ventured farther than she ever had before. I think this links to her search for her sexuality. I also enjoyed the way the author described the way the women fixed their skirts and hair the same way she described it in the beginning of the book. This might be something or it could not, I am not sure. Hopefully there will be more answers later in the book.
The Awakening
(Chapter 12-16)
This part clears things up a bit but the whole section was a little boring. So I don't think that Edna, the main character is a lesbian. She is just in love with her neighbor or servant, I'm not sure which one, Robert. Well in this section of the book Robert decides to leave for Mexico. All the people in the neighborhood are very upset especially Edna and Robert's mother. He leaves with a rude goodbye to Edna. The only other thing that happened was that Edna keeps becoming sick or faking sick and then she gets Robert to take care of her. I think she does this just to get his attention. So on the last page of this section all the couples are preparing to go to their regular homes and leave summer behind. I think that Edna will get lonely and go find Robert or that he will come back to her. Who knows what is coming next, I guess that is what gets you to read more of the book!
The Awakening
(Chapter 17-24)
In this section of the book, Edna's weird reaction to Robert and his departure are starting to be felt by the people around her. Her husband is becoming suspicious. He even talks to the town doctor who tells him that it is just a mood and that it will pass. Even though the doctor thinks it is because she is attracted to another man. She visits her neighbors and old friends. She even learns of a letter that Robert to one of her neighbors that was all about her. She is becoming more anxious and is looking for companionship that isn't with her husband. Her father comes to town and she has to relive all the memories that she had with her father in her childhood. The last line of this section is that she falls asleep more relaxed than ever before. I think that Robert is still going to come back or she is going to go find him. She just keeps getting more restless in her own life.
The Awakening
(Chapter 25-29)
Well Edna has really broken away from her shell. She has started a relationship with another man, the third man if anyone is counting. She went to the races with this boy and he is falling in love with her. They even share a kiss at the end of this section. She feels passion with him but not love. She also decides she is going to move out of the house and move to a little apartment down the street. I also think that she is leaving her husband but I am not sure. The biggest news of this section is that Robert is coming back to town. He only writes to the neighbors and not Edna because he is in love with her. The biggest surprise that I saw was that she said that she wasn't going to do anything when he came home. She is still trying to hide from him but she admitted that she loves him. The author is doing a great job of showing how her thoughts and her desperate attempts to be different are affecting her entire life.
The Awakening
(Chapter 30-35)
In this section of the book Edna is pulling away even farther from her husband. He is out of town and I don't think she could be any happier about it. She has her party and everyone enjoys it. The big surprise was Robert came home. She was upset that he didn't write to her and he didn't seem that interested in her anymore. Then he saw a drawing of Arobin, the boy she kissed, and he became jealous. Then Arobin came and they flirted and Robert became really jealous. Robert left her house and life went on as usual. She became more independent and her husband became more upset. He felt helpless to do anything. Arobin then asked her on what I thought was a date. I think that she is getting over Robert and likes Arobin now. She is becoming more and more adventurous and independent. I think she is going to jump of the deep end!
The Awakening
(Chapter 36-end!)
Well, this is my last blog for summer reading and for this book and what a book it has been. It kept my attention through the whole book and I couldn't put it down at the end. Edna visits with Robert, they kiss, they profess their love for each other, so happy ever after right? Wrong. Robert leaves because he doesn't want to break up the marriage. Edna swims out into the lake farther then ever using some of the same language that was used to describe her two swim experiences earlier in the book. She swims farther than ever gets weak and gives up. End of book! I have to admit this was a pretty good book. I was unsure of the message of the book and why she was so different and I finally figured it out. She didn't let other people determine her actions. She didn't let her children put her in slavery for the rest of her life, she wasn't going to wait for her husband to end their marriage and she chose whom she wanted to love. So in other words the book was about a woman who did what she wanted, when she wanted and how she wanted. It sends a good message of feminism and the independence of all women. I hope everyone had a good summer and that this will be a good school year!!!
Post a Comment