Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
February 27, 2008
Journal #33 Kate Chopin



Quote:
"How Mademoiselle Reisz would have laughed, perhaps sneered, if she knew!'And and call yourself an artist! What pretensions..."(Chopin 625).


Summary:
As Edna is about to die she has a multitude of thoughts going through her head. She thinks about her husband and children but most importantly she thinks about how Mademoiselle Reisz was right; she is the wounded bird.



Response:
Mademoiselle puts Edna in check by telling her that their is o use to her being pretentious. As I argued before I felt that Edna was trying to hard at reversing her gender role. Mademoiselle Reisz puts it perfectly by telling Edna earlier in the novel that she should not claim have qualities that she does not have. For example she begins to draw even though she is not a great artist. As I said before she is doing to many things at once. Few people see the hazard of what Edna is doing as does Mademoiselle Reisz. What I found strange about this novel is that it is not your typical romance novel. It does not have a happy ending where Edna and Robert form a loving relationship that lasts forever. Rather it ends with Robert telling Edna that they cannot be together and Edna committing suicide. This form of realism really helps give the novel a lot more depth and character. This novel acts as a textbook definition of what realism is, it exposes the harsh realities of the real world and it does not end with a cookie cutter happy ending. The ending is very dark and dismal. Although you could also argue that the ending serves as an ultimate expression of freedom. Edna's suicide frees her form all the problems and dilemmas that plague people in the real world. This novel serves as a tale of what can happen when a person falls in love with someone that is out of their reach. Ultimately Edna' affair is what kills her. I do want to point out how all of this may not fall completely on the shoulders of Edna. What if her husband had actually cared for her and not had went to the club every night. What if he would have actually shown his beautiful wife some affection. Would she still have strayed from her marriage or would she have lived happily ever after? Of course if she had lived happily ever after this would not have made for such a deep and great novel.