Kate Chopin was quite wise in surrounding Edna Pontellier
with sharply distinctive characters who greatly contrast Edna's own social status.
Instead of corrupting Edna, or trying to change her, they all serve as extensions of
Edna. Her friends include Mademoiselle Reisz, who is an independent, liberated
bohemian-type musician, and Adèle Ratignoll who is a reflection of Edna's own prudish
upbringing. Robert, her love interest, is young, free, and passionate, while Arobin is a
skirt-chasing free spirit.
All these characters are
reflections of Edna's own needs for freedom, and her internal battles against the
imposed conventions of the time. When she "awakens", she finds herself becoming a
totally different woman than what she thought she was. She eventually died in isolation,
but it is obvious that Chopin was clever to connect Edna to characters who represent her
multifaceted personality.
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