Robert VS Edna

The Awakening by Kate Chopin reflects upon the limited rights of women at the very beginning of the book. In chapter 2, Robert and Edna (who in fact was referred to as Mrs. Pontellier throughout this whole portion) shared an introductory conversation describing their lives and ambitions. Robert "talked a good deal about himself" (pg 5), going on about his vacations, strife for Mexico, and his job as clerk and correspondent because he knows three languages- English, French, and Spanish. Edna describes her life......kinda. Well, she really just talks about the lives of people around her. "Mrs. Pontellier talked about her father's Mississippi plantation......read a letter from her sister, who was away in the East, and who had engaged herself to be married" (pg 5). However, the last detail about her sister is significant because of the fact that it proves the act of arranged marriages between women by their families during this time period. Women in the novel so far are seen as limited and by reading further on, Chopin hints at plenty of  more inequality between the genders.