of words could have been more significant than that silence, or more pregnant “no multitudes with the first-felt throbbings of This experience is described as only an desire”. “leaving impression upon her half-awakened senses of something Thus Edna is aware of unattainable”. the cultural and social impossibility of her and Robert being together, however in further defiance of the Madonna archetype and the social values it represents she continues to develop her relationship with Robert and the feelings it evokes within her. The very next day she invites him, or as the text puts it him, on an outing. This is unusual in that it was not the ‘commands’ place to invite a male companion or suitor, and in that had never sent for him women’s “she before. She had never asked for him. She had never seemed to want him before. She did not appear conscious that she had done anything unusual in commanding his Though presence”. Edna does not acknowledge it in the text, the narrator notes how her behavior is ‘unusual’, further evidencing that Edna has come to consider the rules and rotes of the mother-woman role as to not apply to her. Robert recognizes the inappropriate nature of his feelings towards Edna, which he will later explain was mainly his inability to her as she is already married, and so decides to ‘posses’ leave the island for Mexico. response to sudden departure and abandonment, an Edna’s Robert’s action on his behalf that can be seen to reject and show her attempts to establish an identity and love outside the condoned mother-woman realm as futile, by reverting back to her role as a mother-woman. She returns to her home where she begins to the toilet-stand to “set garments that were hanging on the backs of in and assisted rights…gathered stray chairs…went the quadroon in getting the boys [her children] back to where she told them a bedtime story, bed” and by doing so proceeded to successfully and willingly fulfil the mother-woman role for the first time in the novel. At this stage in her sensual awakening, Edna has found the new identity
“no multitudes of words could have been more significant than that silence, or more pregnant with the first-felt throbbings of desire”. This experience is described as “leaving only an impression upon her half-awakened senses of something unattainable”. Thus Edna is aware of the cultural and social impossibility of her and Robert being together, however in further defiance of the Madonna archetype and the social values it represents she continues to develop her relationship with Robert and the feelings it evokes within her. The very next day she invites him, or as the text puts it ‘commands’ him, on an outing. This is unusual in that it was not the women’s place to invite a male companion or suitor, and in that “she had never sent for him before. She had never asked for him. She had never seemed to want him before. She did not appear conscious that she had done anything unusual in commanding his presence”. Though Edna does not acknowledge it in the text, the narrator notes how her behavior is ‘unusual’, further evidencing that Edna has come to consider the rules and rotes of the mother-woman role as to not apply to her. Robert recognizes the inappropriate nature of his feelings towards Edna, which he will later explain was mainly his inability to ‘posses’ her as she is already married, and so decides to leave the island for Mexico. Edna’s response to Robert’s sudden departure and abandonment, an action on his behalf that can be seen to reject and show her attempts to establish an identity and love outside the condoned mother-woman realm as futile, by reverting back to her role as a mother-woman. She returns to her home where she begins to “set the toilet-stand to rights…gathered stray garments that were hanging on the backs of chairs…went in and assisted the quadroon in getting the boys [her children] back to bed” where she told them a bedtime story, and by doing so proceeded to successfully and willingly fulfil the mother-woman role for the first time in the novel. At this stage in her sensual awakening, Edna has found the new identity