Mrs. Pontellier is woman who married her husband, not because of true love, but to become part of a society known as Creoles. She becomes tired of him and the rules she has to follow as a woman. The way she goes off to live independently and separates her life from that of her children’s symbolizes her independence. Her paintings and her love for art are also symbols for her desire to be independent. She believed women should be able to express themselves freely and not be bound to the limitations or expectations that society has set for them.
One of Edna’s step toward freedom had to do with her changing houses. She changed houses from her husband’s house on Esplanade Street that they have in New Orleans to the Pigeon house she bought by
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She loved painting when she had the time and loved watching Mademoiselle Reisz play the piano. In Chopin’s book she says, “Mr. Rontelier was shocked and his wife’s absolute disregard for her duties as a wife angered him. When he got mad at her she grew in being rude and went to pINT.” Edna was mad at her husband and went on defying him. She decided to be mad at her husband and went on defying him. She decided to be independent that time and let nothing or no one tell her what to do. What she did was paint because that was her desire and her passion. In the book, Mademoiselle Reisz said, “To be an artist includes much; one must possess many gifts - absolute gifts - which have not acquired by one’s own effort. And, more, over to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul. The soul that dares and defies.” What Mademoiselle Reisz is saying to Edna is that she needs to be the type of woman that defies what people say and doesn’t care what others think. Obviously she does not think she can be a great artist because she is married to her husband and is expected to listen to him. Edna takes it as a challenge and throughout the story she acts as an independent person to prove to Mademoiselle Reisz that she is