The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Study Questions
1. What kind of bird is hung in the cage?

2. Why does Leonce return to his own cottage?

3. What are the Farival twins doing at the main house?

4. Who is Edna bathing with?

5. How does Leonce look at Edna when she returns?

6. What does Leonce give to Edna upon her return?

7. What are Edna and Robert laughing about?

8. Where is Leonce going to spend the evening?

9. Why doesn’t Robert go with him?

10. Does Leonce keep his promise to the children?

Answers
1. A green and yellow parrot is hung in the cage.

2. Leonce returns to his own cottage because the bird’s talking was making it difficult for him to read his newspaper.

3. They are playing a duet from Zampa on the piano.

4. Edna is bathing with Robert Lebrun.

5. Leonce looks at Edna as if she were a valuable piece of personal property that had suffered some damage.

6. He gives Edna back her wedding rings, which she had taken off prior to bathing.

7. They are laughing about an adventure they had in the water.

8. He is going to spend the evening at the Klein’s Hotel.

9. Robert prefers to stay with Edna.

10. No. He forgets the bonbons and peanuts.

Study Questions
1. How does Edna look at objects?

2. How does Edna’s appearance differ from other women?

3. What about Robert’s appearance makes him seem immature?

4. Why does Robert smoke cigarettes?

5. How do we see the intimacy between Robert and Edna at this point?

6. Why does Robert want to go to Mexico?

7. Why does Madame Lebrun take in guests?

8. How is Edna’s background different from the other guests at Grand Isle?

9. What is Edna’s sister doing in the East?

10. Why does Robert assume Leonce wouldn’t be coming home for dinner?

Answers
1. She looks at them as if she were lost in contemplation or thought.

2. Edna is handsome rather than pretty.

3. He is clean shaven and has no shadow of care.

4. He smokes cigarettes because he can’t afford cigars.

5. They both chat incessantly and each is interested in what the other has to say.

6. He wants to make his fortune there.

7. She needs to so she can keep up her easy, comfortable lifestyle.

8. She is truly American, and any French has been lost in dilution. The other guests are all French Creole.

9. She is engaged to be married.

10. He assumes that because there were a good many New Orleans clubmen over at Klein’s.

Study Questions
1. Why does Edna have trouble talking to Leonce when he comes home from Klein’s?

2. What does Leonce do after he tells Edna that Raoul has a fever?

3. What is Leonce’s opinion of raising children?

4. Why is Edna so upset after she checks on Raoul?

5. What does the sea sound like when Edna goes outside?

6. What is different about this particular argument with Leonce that causes Edna to cry?

7. What does Edna feel while she cries?

8. Is Edna upset about the fact that she is crying?

9. What does Leonce send to Edna while he is away?

10. Is Leonce considered a good husband?

Answers
1. Edna had been asleep when Leonce came in; he wakes her up.

2. He sits down to smoke a cigar.

3. He believes that it is solely...