Name:______Date:______Period:_____
Directions: Based on your reading of Chapters 21-30 of The Awakening, answer the following questions on your own paper (or type your responses on this sheet). Use specific quotes (CDs) from the book to support your answers and include the page # reference.
Chapter XXI
1. Describe Mlle. Reisz's apartment.
2. How does Mlle. Reisz react to Edna's arrival?
3. Mlle Reisz says to Edna, "To be an artist includes much; one must possess many gifts – absolute gifts –
which have not been acquired by one's own effort. And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must possess a
courageous soul. The brave soul. The soul that dares and defies." Has Edna displayed any
characteristics to indicate she has such a soul? Why/why not?
4. Has Mlle. Reisz's displayed any characteristics to indicate she has such a soul? Why/why not?
5. What do you think is in Robert's letter to Mlle. Reisz? Why hasn't he written to Edna?
Chapter XXII
1. Describe the conversation between Leonce and Doctor Mandelet.
2. Why would Edna tell Leonce, "A wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth"?
3. Do you agree with Doctor Mandelet's assessment that "woman...is a very delicate and peculiar
organism"? Why/why not?
Chapter XXIII
1. Describe Edna's father.
2. What is the doctor's assessment of Edna's health?
3. What story does Edna tell at dinner with the doctor and her father?
4. Why does the doctor say to himself, "I hope it isn't Arobin"?
Chapter XXIV
1. Edna's father gives Leonce the following advice concerning Edna: "Authority, coercion are what is
needed. Put your foot down good and hard; the only way to manage a wife."
Do you think this would be an effective way for Leonce to relate to Edna? Why/why not?
2. Who is Emerson? What kind of literature did he write? Why would Edna be reading his works?
(Hint: Do a Web search for Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Chapter XXV
1. Who is Arobin? What kind of man is he?
2. Describe Edna's encounter with Arobin after the races.
3. Edna imagines that her time with Arobin means she is being unfaithful to Robert. Does Edna ever think
of her husband?
Chapter XXVI
1. Mlle. Reisz acts like a mother towards Edna; why does Edna let her treat her that way?
2. How do you think Edna’s family will react to her decision to move out of her house?
3. Chopin says of Edna that she "resolved never again to belong to another than herself." How would this
kind of thinking be a challenge to the status quo in the late 1800s?
4. Edna admits to Mlle. Reisz that she is in love with Robert. How does Mlle Reisz react?
Chapter XXVII
1. Edna says to Arobin that she would like to "determine what character of a woman" she is. He replies,
"Why should you bother thinking about it when I can tell you what manner of woman you are." Think
about Edna's comments concerning wanting to be her own woman, to be possessed by no one. Why
would Chopin not have Edna protest such a comment?
2. Mlle. Reisz tells Edna, "The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must
have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth."
At this point in the novel, do you think Edna is strong enough to “soar”? Why/why not?
3. Arobin kisses Edna. What are the implications? (Remember what the doctor said about Arobin).
Chapter XXVIII
1. Describe how Edna feels after the kiss?
Chapter XXIX
1. Who are the "thousand muffled voices" telling Edna to leave her home?
2. Describe Edna's demeanor concerning moving.
Chapter XXX
1. We learn the. What is the second line in the song Robert sings to Edna? Why is it important? Why does
Edna not want Victor to sing that song?