Mr. Pontellier believes that Edna is merely distracted by her art and is not neglecting her "duties" purposefully. However, it seems that the artist is fully conscious of her actions, claiming, "it isn't on account of painting that I let things go" (61). Though she refrains from explaining to her husband, Edna appears to be willfully occupying herself with her hobby so that she has an excuse to "overlook" her chores. Mr. Pontellier dismisses the activity as an irritant and fails to perceive the good it may be doing Edna's demeanor. Perhaps a more attentive husband would recognize the enthusiasm and gratification her art provides, and learn to accept its disadvantages for these much needed benefits. After all, the activity does at times provide for a means to bring the family together: "[having] the whole household enrolled in the service of art" (62). Though Edna's pursuit of art serves her many purposes, the most significant allowance it makes is for the emergence of her artist spirit. When she discloses to Mademoiselle Reisz that she is, "becoming an artist," the wise woman warns Edna of the hardships included in this enterprise (68). The greatest challenge of the artist is the maintenance of a "courageous soul the soul that dares and defies" (68). Edna Pontellier's spirit is that of an artist: one who is called upon to defy the repressive society that she is a prisoner of. Her inability to accept the roles that society would have her play leads to her ultimate freedom and destruction. .
Edna's discovery of her own latent sexuality and fortitude is necessarily accompanied by the first materialization of her true personality. Introduced as an introverted young woman, Pontellier is described as one whose nature is "not given to confidences Even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself" (14). However, being surrounded by Creoles, characterized by an outspoken nature, Edna begins to, "loosen a little the mantle of reserve that had always enveloped her" (14).
