... traits. The Duke uses the curtain as a method of controlling his wife, even after her death. Other men admiring her beauty was unacceptable, so by hiding the painting behind a curtain, he controls who is allowed to gaze upon her. "Sir, twas not her husband's presence only, called that spot of joy into the Duchess ... as he wanted so his arrogance and his shallowness got the better of him until he could no longer do anything except kill her. The painting represents a wife that he can control until the day he died. His repeated manipulative habits continued as he influences the envoy to v...

• Word Count: 2454
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... of her husband. As she became more and more enthralled in finding her identity, she neglects her duties of a mother and a wife. Edna expresses her own sensuality in her painting. For Edna, painting represents a fulfillment of her own desires. The images and emotions she feels flow naturally from heart to hand and brush. Edna steps outside her role as a wife within this ... her children and husband. Edna fails in attempting to paint a likeness of Madame Ratignolle, the epitome of the role of a perfect wife. She becomes frustrated with herself and smudges the painting. Edna finds herself ...

• Word Count: 2488
• Approx Pages: 10

... she didn't have. Falling in love with several men, none of whom were her husband, sending her children away, moving out of her house, not continuing with her passion for painting, suicide; in all of these circumstances, and more, an example of indecisiveness and the desire to renounce something is present. My main reasoning for her sudden independence was that she ... , when she wanted. Edna's paintings represented her freedom. She had supposedly freed herself to express herself in new and interesting ways, and the expressiveness of painting literally illustrated this. Her failure and gi...

• Word Count: 1285
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of rebel when they arrive back home: She does not care about her social duties, leaves home when she had "reception day- on Tuesday, she decides to continue and take painting more seriously, she rejects to go to her sister's wedding, etc. Although Mr. Pontellier tries to make her clear in a rather rude way, that "people don't do such things-, Edna ... about that anymore. After the quarrel with her husband she bursts out and throws away even her wedding ring. Her husband also cannot understand her new idea of taking up painting again. He cannot understand how "a woman at the head of the ...

• Word Count: 1715
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... circle of New Orleans and keep her abreast of all the news and gossip about the upper class. When Mr. Pontellier leaves for the city Edna begins to take up painting again. She wants to be a real artist when Mademoiselle Reisz tells her that in order to, "be an artist one must possess many gifts- absolute gifts- which have not been ... acquired by one's own effort. And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul" (Chopin 86). Painting allows Edna to feel all of the same liberating emotions of being free to do as she pleases that she experienced while swimming. Edna...

• Word Count: 1629
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... eyes, thus making an appropriative visual assessment of herself as a propriety being. Her hand and eyes will serve her in her ˜venture' into her ˜work' of sketching and painting. Thus her hands, by remaining attached (and not cut off like those of the woman who is denied the rights of property), serve her visual appropriation of the world and ... ...

• Word Count: 1838
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... do not want to see women develop an influential power over society. By understanding her true self, Edna develops a passion for art spending her time walking around New Orleans and painting. Under the observance of her friend Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna learns that to be an artist, one must be an individual who is brave, daring, and defiant. For women in society ... ...

• Word Count: 2270
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... worked as a teacher at the parish that John worked at. She enjoyed working there, but not as much as she enjoyed working at Adele, because she loved teaching French and painting. Jane's relationship with St. John was strictly a working one. She helped him learn hindostanee (Hindi) in order to prepare him for his new job as a missionary. He would later use ... ...

• Word Count: 1889
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School