Mrs. Pontellier and Robert are very good friends. They connect way better than Mrs. Pontellier has ever connected with her husband. Just being in each other’s presence, or hanging out, puts them in good spirits and they don’t even realize it. For example, when Mrs. Pontellier invites Robert to join her on a boat ride, Chopin writes, “his face was suffused with a quiet glow when he met her” (Chopin 80).
However, similar to many modern love triangles, Robert is stuck in the friend zone. It is not until he leaves for Mexico that Mrs. Pontellier becomes conscious of her feelings for him. “For the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation… with the biting conviction that she had lost that which she held, that she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded” (Chopin 94). She realizes that Robert was the only reason she enjoyed life. He also served as a form of escape from her struggles. Without him, she is falling apart slowly.
I strongly agree that it took him leaving for her to realize how she really feels about him. Whenever she doesn't see him she is more sad or less exuberant then she would be with him.
ReplyDeleteThis is very true. Robert was the man who gave her happiness, not her husband. You start to see this when Robert leaves.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think that it's kind of unfortunate that Edna didn't realize how she felt about Robert until he left, I do think it was necessary because, in my opinion, she wouldn't have come to acknowledge these feelings. Good job highlighting an important change in Edna's character!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think that it's kind of unfortunate that Edna didn't realize how she felt about Robert until he left, I do think it was necessary because, in my opinion, she wouldn't have come to acknowledge these feelings. Good job highlighting an important change in Edna's character!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think that it's kind of unfortunate that Edna didn't realize how she felt about Robert until he left, I do think it was necessary because, in my opinion, she wouldn't have come to acknowledge these feelings. Good job highlighting an important change in Edna's character!
ReplyDelete