The Awakening, Chapters 31-39 Master
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The Awakening Chapter 31 Summary
-Arobin hangs around with Edna after the others have left.
-Without even cleaning up, Edna locks the doors of the big house, and Arobin walks with her to
her new, small house, just around the corner.
-Arobin sees that Edna is tired and he begins to stroke her hair and shoulders.
-He says good night, but then doesn’t leave until Edna has become “supple to his gentle,
seductive entreaties.
The Awakening Chapter 32 Summary
-When Mr. Pontellier receives Edna’s letter telling him about her planned move, he
immediately writes back expressing his disapproval.
-Realizing that she’s probably going to do it anyway, he comes up with a plan to save their
reputation.
-He arranges with an architect to have some work done on the big house.
-He puts a notice in the paper saying that the Pontelliers are planning a trip abroad and with
the renovations that are being done on their house, it won’t be ready for occupancy until their
return.
-This explains to the general public why Edna is living in the small house, making her move
appear less scandalous.
-Edna admires the skill of his maneuver and goes along with it.
-Edna likes living in the small house and after several days there, she feels happier and decides
to go visit her children n Iberville.
-She has a wonderful time with them there, and she tells them how the big house is being
renovated.
-They are full of questions and wish to see the small house where Edna now lives.
-After a week, Edna goes back home. Throughout the journey home their presence lingers with
her, but by the time she reaches home she feels alone again.
The Awakening Chapter 33 Summary
-Edna goes to visit Mademoiselle Reisz, but when she arrives at the house, no one is home.
-Edna knows where the key is kept, however, and lets herself inside to wait.
-As she waits, she reflects upon Adele’s visit that morning.
-Adele is very pregnant by this time, near her due date.
-Edna remembers how Adele talked with Edna about the dinner, asked about the new little
house and made Edna promise to come be with her when her new baby is born.
-Adele also warned Edna that people have been talking about Arobin’s constant presence at
Edna’s house.
-Adele comments on Arobin’s playboy reputation and how he could ruin a woman’s good name.
-Edna sits at Mademoiselle Reisz’s house thinking about this until someone knocks on the door.
-Edna tells whoever it is to come in.
-Surprise, surprise! Robert walks in. He’s back from Mexico. Just as surprised to see her as she
is to see him.
-Robert admits that he’s been home since the day before yesterday and Edna wonders, with a
pang, why he didn’t come to see her.
-She had always imagined that he would come to see her the minute he arrived at home.
-Instead of voicing her feelings, Edna and Robert sit ten feet apart and talk politely with each
other.
-Edna asks why he never wrote to her while he was in Mexico. He replies that he didn’t think
his letters would be of any interest.
-She calls him out on this, saying that it’s a lame excuse. She feels hurt and prepares to leave.
-Robert offers to walk home with her.
-When they arrive at her house, she invites him to stay for dinner.
-At first he makes and excuse, but when he sees her distress, he changes his mind and stays.
-Robert sees Arobin’s photograph on the table. Edna explains that she has been doing a sketch
for him.
-Robert doesn’t seem too happy about this.
-They talk briefly about what they’ve been doing since they last saw each other, then sit quietly
together until dinner is ready.
The Awakening Chapter 34 Summary
-Edna and Robert eat dinner together.
-Edna feels jealous when she learns that some woman in Mexico made an embroidered tobacco
pouch for Robert.
-Arobin drops by. The plot thickens.
-He has a note from Mrs. Merriman saying that her card party has been postponed.
-Robert and Arobin speak to each other politely, but after a few minutes, Robert shakes hands
with Arobin and leaves.
-Arobin questions Edna about Robert, wondering how she knows him.
-Arobin wants to stay with her, but she insists he leave.
-Edna can think only of Robert and feels jealous again, thinking of the Mexican girl.
-She knows she has been with Robert, has seen him and even touched his hand, but still he
seems as far away as if he were still in Mexico.
The Awakening Chapter 35 Summary
-In the morning, Edna tries to convice herself that htings are better (or will be better) with
Robert than they were the night before.
-If he really loves her, she tells herself, he will come to her.
-But she can’t stop thinking about him.
-The maid brings her a note from her son Raoul. He wants bonbons, and he tells her that ten
tiny pigs have been born to his grandmother’s pig, Lidie.
-A letter also comes from Edna’s husband saying he will be back in early March.
-Then she gets a note from Arobin. It’s a good morning note. It assures her of his devotion.
-She replies to her husband. It’s a friendly note, but full of all sorts of evasions.
-Edna puts Arobin’s note under the stove lid.
-Robert does not visit.
-Two days go by.
-Arobin comes to her house and insists on taking her for a drive. He seems to feel very strongly
about her.
-Arobin’s desire for Edna is intensifying.
-Edna, however, feels nothing.
The Awakening Chapter 36 Summary
-Edna and Robert bump into each other at a restaurant.
-Although Edna had told herself to act indifferent around him, two minutes later she’s trying to
persuade him to share dinner.
-He sits down and before long she comes right out with it: “Why have you kept away from me,
Robert?” she asks.
-He says she is cruel for insisting that he expose his wounds to her, when she has no intention
of healing them, nor the power to do so.
-She changes the subject, feeling that she doesn’t want to spoil his dinner. They make small
talk about the restaurant, the coffee, the food.
-She asks him if he’s going to smoke with his coffee.
-Robert gets out a cigar and lays it on the table.
-Edna asks who gave it to him.
-Turns out he bought it himself.
-Turns out he bought a whole box of cigars.
-After they eat, Robert walks her home and goes inside with her.
-Robert sits down. Edna kisses him.
-He jumps up, takes her in his arms and kisses her again.
-He pulls her down beside him on the sofa and tells her that now she knows what he has been
fighting against since last summer.
-He admits his love for her and tells her that he was thinking about her all the time he was in
Mexico.
-He says he went there in the first place because he had this wild dream that she could become
his wife.
-Edna is startled by the word “wife.”
-he admits it’s crazy but he can’t help thinking about it.
-Here’s the kicker, instead of proclaiming her love for him, Edna effectively declares her
independence. She makes it clear that she can be possessed by no one, not even Robert.
-Robert is afraid and shocked by this statement. He doesn’t know what to say.
-At this perfectly appropriate moment, there comes a knock on the door.
-Adele is having her baby.
-Robert kisses Edna passionately and begs her not to g, but she feels that she must.
-Edna extracts a promise from Robert that he will wait for her until she comes back.
The Awakening Chapter 37 Summary
-When Edna arrives, Adele is in labor and suffering greatly.
-Doctor Mandelet arrives and he and Edna attend to Adele.
-Edna begins to feel uneasy remembering her own experiences with childbirth.
-Edna begins thinking of all the people who die.
-Edna stays with Adele, witnessing the torturous scene. When it’s over, Edna says goodbye and
kisses Adele on the forehead.
-As Edna leaves, Adele tells her think of the children.
The Awakening Chapter 38 Summary
-Edna and the doctor walk home together.
-The doctor asks if she’s planning to go abroad with Mr. Pontellier in the spring.
-She says no, that she won’t be forced to do things she doesn’t want to do.
-The doctor seems to understand.
-He tries to talk to her some more. It’s clear that he really does understand.
-She can’t bring herself to tell him her inner conflict.
-He tells her that he will be able to help. She promises nothing.
-She goes inside her house, expecting to see Robert waiting in the parlor, but he is not there.
-instead, there is a note saying, “I love you. Goodbye, because I love you.”
-She grows faint when she reads the note.
-She lies down on the couch and is still lying there, awake, when in the morning her servant
comes in to light the fire.
The Awakening Chapter 39 Summary
-Victor and Mariequita are hanging out. Victor is describing, for the umpteenth time, Edna’s
final farewell dinner.
-Edna shows up alone.
-We learn that she spent all night thinking, concluding that no one can understand how she
feels.
-She cares about only Robert, and she cannot have him.
-The only thing she feels worried about and regretful over are her children, but she doesn’t
know if even they have the right to control what she does with her life.
-She feels depressed and the feeling will not leave her.
-When Edna shows up, Mariequita stares at her in amazement because Mariequita is jealous of
Victor’s infatuation with Edna.
-After observing Victo’s genuine surprise at seeing Edna, Mariequita realizes that he had no
idea she was coming.
-Victor and Mariequita go inside to prepare for dinner.
-Edna walks down to the beach to swim, even though Victor and Mariequita have both
indicated that the water is too cold.
-Still, she goes ahead with her plan.
-She changes into her bathing suit.
-As she stands on the desolate beach, Edna realizes: she can go skinny dipping.
-she takes her bathing suit off.
-A bird with a broken wing flutters above, recalling Mademoiselle Reisz’s words to Edna about
strength and courage.
-Edna feels lacking strength and courage.
-The water coils around her ankles.
-Edna walks out into the sea and begins to swim.
-She begins to be afraid, but goes on and on anyway.
-Her arms and legs grow tired and she thinks of Mr. Pontellier and the children.
-She thinks of thema s part of her life, but as having no particular claim over her.
-Exhaustion hits her.
-She thinks of Robert’s note. Even he did not understand.
-Doctor Mandelet might have understood, she thinks, but it is too late.
-The shore is far behind her now and her strength is gone.
-She is afraid, but the fear shortly diminishes.
-Childhood memories pass through her mind as she drowns…presumably.