"When Edna Pontellier stamped impetuously on her wedding ring and proceeded to turn her back on her husband, her home, and her children, she--and her creator--elicited outrage from the American literary establishment of 1899." Virginia Ross made a lot of wonderful points during this article. She never failed to impress me with her research and emphasis behind all of her points. Ross believed that Robert Lebrun's devotion to Edna at Grand Isle begins her desire for love and one of her first points is that Edna awakens as a sensual and sexual person. At first it was hard for me to grasp that but as I read on she proves it and captured me. Edna's artistic side reveals the sensual aspects of her identity but she got so caught up in wanting freedom from Leonce or anyone else who controlled her that you begin to see her satisfying her needs by sleeping frequently and eating more than usual, something I never noticed while reading. After awhile I started to connect the symbolism. The relationship between Edna and the Gulf of Mexico could mean much more than what meets the eye. Ross provided information regarding the ocean and it's symbolism. Chopin uses sentences like "sensuous, enfolding the body in it's soft, close embrace." to describe Edna's feelings about the ocean. The ocean "serves as a touchstone to the nature of her longings" according to Ross. When Edna is yelled at by Leonce for not taking care of her kids the way she should Edna listens to the water "like a mournful lullaby on the night". In Ross' research she finds out that Kate Chopin knew Walt Whitman's Poetry which could have led her readers to make a connection between Edna's feelings towards the ocean and Whitman's "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking." In this the sea carries a maternal voice "Like some old crone rocking the cradle, swathed in sweet garments, bending aside, / The sea whisper'd me." She moves on then to talk more about the sea and the psychological meaning of it. Her point being that water images in literature associate with the mother because water is a 'nourishing, receiving, comforting presence."
Ross then begins to talk about Edna's relationship with Adele and the constant reference of beauty and longing looks coming from Edna. Did Edna love Adele? Adele has a motherly aura to her and it shows in her relationship with her children and her husband. Edna's feelings for her show when Adele is having her baby when Edna leaves her lover for Adele's bedside. The trip to Grand Isle not only awakens her sensual feelings but also her intense need for a mother and Ross believes that those feelings come from Adele Ratignolle. Ross goes into great detail about her findings and she linked her point with a passage from the book that is all about Edna's feelings for Adele.
Ross wondered how much of Kate Chopin was in Edna because of her choice to make Edna a motherless character. Though Chopin had a mother and was very close to her the similarities didn't appear until after her husband died. Chopin a few years later was in a relationship with another man but then moved a way in the uncertainty of their relationship, as Edna did. Her mother died suddenly and left Chopin in complete sadness. This article completely changed my view on Edna. I loved her before and she is more of a friend to me now. I can see where she comes from and I can see where Virginia Ross got her points from and I am very impressed with all the information that was given to me through this article.
