Secret Lovers...how can something so wrong, seem so right?

Francis Espiritu

3.1.2011

ENGL-48B
Journal For Chopin

Author Quote: "No multitude of words could have been more significant than those moments of silence, or more pregnant with the first-felt throbbings of desire." (Chopin 558)

Internet Source: The novel's protagonist. The wife of Leonce and the mother of two boys, she is presented as a complex and emotionally dynamic character (a rarity for female characters of the period).^[1] Her "awakening" forms the core of the plot. (Wikipedia.com, "The Awakening)

Summary: It is up to this point in the story where it seems that the climax of Robert and Edna's relationship has come. However, rather than engaging in some kind of beastly love making ritual, and confessing their feelings for each other; something else is shown. The mood is engulfed in Edna's Southern Conservatism and Robert's portrayal of what a true Southern Gentleman is supposed to be like, respectful.

Personal Opinion: I'll be blunt, I personally think that the two should just confess their feelings for one another and just do what they think is right. But overall, I think that the tension between the two is what makes the story in itself dynamic. You have the classic story of the young man who falls in love with the married woman and vice-versa, and even to this day as taboo as the subject may be, it is still a central theme for many love stories and movies that we may see. Yet is it really wrong to fall in love with someone else while you apparently "love" another? Overall, it isn't since feelings do tend to change, but ethically it is wrong since Rachel is married. What is even more ironic is the fact that being from the South, where Christianity is a big part of life, they seem to disregard two of the ten commandments, "Thou shall not commit adultery" and "Though shall not covet thy neighbor's wife".