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Chapter 22
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Awakening, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Convention and Individuality
Women’s Rights, Femininity, and Motherhood
Realism and Romanticism
Action and Reflection
Freedom and Emptiness
Summary
Analysis
Edna’s father, referred to as the Colonel, comes to New Orleans to buy a wedding present for his other daughter Janet. Edna enjoys spending time with him; she sketches him, they attend a musical party at the Ratignolles’, and they bet at the races.
We finally learn a little bit about Edna’s past and family life. Perhaps Edna enjoys her father’s company because with him she is neither a wife nor a mother—she can take part in more masculine activities, like betting and painting.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
When Doctor Mandelet pays them a visit, he finds Edna in a very good mood: she seems free and easy. The Pontelliers, the Colonel, and the doctor have a very pleasant dinner. They all tell stories; the doctor describes a woman that has an extramarital affair but eventually returns to her husband, and Edna makes up a story about two lovers that got lost at sea. The doctor assumes Edna is in love with another man.
It seems odd to us that the Colonel’s visit would cause such a change in Edna’s disposition. The elusive freedom and satisfaction she seeks is so mysterious to her, and so difficult to define, that she picks up traces of it in many different situations.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
