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Chapter 26
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
That night, Arobin notices her unusually good mood. She enjoys the careless way he touches her hair and her face. She wonders aloud whether she is a good woman or a bad one, but Arobin dismisses the thought. She remembers something interesting Mademoiselle Reisz had said about a wayward bird needing strong wings; Arobin has heard only unpleasant things about the pianist, and wishes Edna would pay attention to him instead. They kiss on the lips for the first time.
Edna’s excitement and optimism is directed not only at Robert, at its source, as we conventionally assume about romantic feeling; it spills over into a letter to her husband and into her strange friendship with Arobin. Her love and energy are for herself, not for anyone else, and she will do with it what she pleases. But her emotional waywardness is also a kind of weakness, and recalls Mlle Reisz’ warning.
Themes
Literary Devices
Quiz
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