Mr. Pontellier sees himself as a reasonable man. He goes to work, provides for his family, and smokes at the club. What Mr. Pontellier does not know though, is that he has oppressed his wife for the entirety of their marriage. He reproches “his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children” (Chopin 5). He even stereotypes the woman's role in the house by wondering to himself, “if it was not a mother’s place to look after children, whose on earth it was it?” (5). This mindset of a woman’s duty in his mind saddens Edna and causes her to wonder what her true purpose is outside of society’s norms. When Edna discovers independence, she decides to move to a smaller house while her husband and children are away. “When Mr. Pontellier