Within the first few pages, a fact about Edna Pontellier becomes very clear: she is in great emotional pain. She feels a great and “indescribable oppression, which seem[s] to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, fill[ing] her whole being with a vague anguish” (8); such descriptions resemble the conditions of anxiety and depression. Understandably, Edna would have trouble describing and recognizing her feelings in a pretentious Victorian world, and readers are inclined to feel sympathy for her.
However, as the story progresses, less attention is given to these complicated feelings Edna experiences, and the descriptions of Edna’s pain never breach vague, flowery language:
However, as the story progresses, less attention is given to these complicated feelings Edna experiences, and the descriptions of Edna’s pain never breach vague, flowery language:
“[it] was like a shadow, like a mist passing over her soul’s summer day” (8).Readers are never provided a firm, solid clue as to a potential source for Edna's Pain, primarily because Edna never bothers to explore this herself. As the empty, whimsical plot of Edna's life unfolds, the descriptions of her pain occur only as a reason (excuse) for her recklessness. Edna Pontellier takes no action whatsoever to try to improve or even understand her situation. Instead, she allows her emotions to dictate every decision she makes, as though her mind is no match for this shadowy mist of sadness in her soul.
What a brave gal.
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