Beginning of Essay
It would be easy to say that Edna Pontellier emulates both Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, however, throughout the novel, it is evident that Edna steps out beyond this assumption and asserts herself as another person altogether. This is obvious in the d ....

Middle of Essay
.... independently of outside interference. When she “was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her” she does just that—she realizes the world within her, not without her. That is to say, she does this entire “awakening” on her own. She does not directly receive any outside influence. Edna Pontellier, as a whole, is a woman completely different from any other in the novel. She stands alone and thinks alone and speaks alone. Her ideas and thoughts are completely hers. It would be wrong to say that Madame Ratignol ....