Summary: Chapter XX
During one of her spells of depression, Edna decides to
pay Mademoiselle Reisz a visit in order to listen to her play the
piano. Finding that the woman has moved, Edna visits Madame Lebrun
in search of Mademoiselle Reisz’s new address. Robert’s brother
Victor answers the door and sends the servant to fetch his mother.
He launches into a story about his exploits of the previous evening, which
Edna cannot help finding entertaining. Madame Lebrun appears, complaining
of how few visitors she receives, and Victor tells Edna the contents
of Robert’s two letters from Mexico. Edna is depressed to hear that
Robert enclosed no message for her. She asks about Mademoiselle
Reisz, and Madame Lebrun gives her the pianist’s new address. Victor
then escorts Edna outside. After Edna leaves, the Lebruns comment
to each other on Edna’s ravishing appearance, and Victor notes,
“Some way she doesn’t seem like the same woman.”
Summary: Chapter XXI
Mademoiselle Reisz laughs with happiness and surprise
when Edna arrives at her door. Edna’s frank admission that she is
unsure of whether she likes Mademoiselle pleases her host. Mademoiselle mentions
nonchalantly that Robert has sent her a letter from Mexico, in which
he has written almost entirely about Edna. Edna’s plea to read the
letter is denied, although Mademoiselle mentions that Robert requested
she play for Edna “that Impromptu of Chopin’s.” Edna continues to
beg Mademoiselle to play the piano and to allow her to read Robert’s
letter.
Mademoiselle Reisz asks Edna what she has been doing with
her time and is surprised to hear of Edna’s current desire to become
an artist. She warns her that an artist must be brave, possessing
“a courageous soul . . . that dares and defies.” Edna assures her
that she has persistence if nothing else, and Mademoiselle Reisz
laughs, gives Edna the letter, and begins to play the Chopin Impromptu
that Edna requested. The music deeply affects Edna, and she weeps
as the pianist glides between the Impromptu and another piece, “Isolde’s song.”
When Edna asks if she may visit again, Mademoiselle Reisz replies
that she is welcome at all times.
Summary: Chapter XXII
Léonce expresses his concern about Edna to Doctor Mandelet,
his friend and the family’s physician. Léonce confides that he and
his wife are no longer sleeping together, noting, “She’s got some
sort of notion in her head concerning the eternal rights of women.”
The doctor asks if Edna has been associating with a circle of “pseudo-intellectual
women,” alluding to the contemporary women’s clubs that served to
educate their members and to organize them politically. Léonce replies
that Edna no longer seems to see anyone at all. She mopes around
the house, wanders the streets alone, and has abandoned even her
Tuesday receptions.
Having ruled out Edna’s female companions as the source
of her estrangement, Dr. Mandelet inquires about Edna’s heredity.
Léonce assures the doctor that Edna descends from a respectable
Presbyterian family, but he admits that her younger sister Janet,
who is about to be married, “is something of a vixen.” Doctor Mandelet
suggests that Léonce send Edna to the wedding so that she can be
with her family, but Léonce replies that Edna has already declared
her unwillingness to attend. She told her husband, “a wedding is
one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth.” After a pause,
the doctor assures Léonce that this “passing whim” will run its
course if he lets her alone for awhile, even allowing her to stay
home alone when he leaves on business if that is what she wishes.
Doctor Mandelet promises to attend dinner at the Pontellier home
in order to study Edna inconspicuously. Despite the doctor’s suspicion
that Edna may have another man in her life, the doctor takes his
leave without making any inquiries along that line.
Summary: Chapter XXIII
Edna’s father, a former colonel in the Confederate army,
stays for a few days in New Orleans to select a wedding gift for
Janet and to purchase a suit for the wedding. Edna is not very close
with the Colonel, who retains a certain military air from his war
days. Nevertheless, the two are companionable, and Edna decides
to sketch her father in her studio. The Colonel takes Edna’s painting
very seriously, posing patiently for her sketches. She takes him
to Adèle’s soirée musicale (an evening of musical
entertainment), where Adèle enchants him by being flirtatious and
flattering. As usual, Léonce refuses to attend Adèle’s gathering,
preferring the diversion of the club. Adèle disapproves of Léonce’s
club and remarks to Edna that the couple should spend more time
together at home in the evenings, an idea Edna rebuffs by asserting
that they “wouldn’t have anything to say to each other.”
