In other words, Mrs. Pontellier wants more than to be a mother. .
Journal Entry 4 December 3.
Chapter 6 page 25.
"The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clearing, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in the abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace."" .
This quote can be considered Edna's awakening. It occurs by the ocean, which is personified as having a seductive voice and an enveloping embrace. Water often has a symbolic meaning in literature. Edna undergoes a spiritual rebirth in the ocean; she emerges with a new wisdom and an enhanced perspective that will leave her changed forever. However, since the ocean is also described in such sensuous terms, we can expect that Edna's awakening will not be purely intellectual, but also sexual. The ocean is seducing her into new knowledge that she will later associate with the summer heat, the lapping waves, and Robert's company. .
Journal Entry 5 December 3.
Chapter 9 page 44.
"The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reisz struck upon the piano sent a keen tremor down Mrs. Pontellier's spinal column. It was not the first time she had heard an artist at the piano. Perhaps it was the first time she was ready, perhaps the first time her being was tempered to take an impress of the abiding truth.She saw no pictures of solitude, of hope, of longing, or of despair. But the very passions themselves were aroused within her soul, swaying it, lashing it, as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body. She trembled, she was choking, and the tears blinded her."" .
This passage shows us that Edna is changing. Up until this scene, she had not been aware of the extent of her deep-seated emotions. Edna cries for a number of reasons: because she is a bundle of new, confusing, and intense emotions that she does not yet know what to do with, because she feels the first stirrings of her own artistic temperament, and because she is ready for the first time to completely open herself to the sensations of the outside world.
