CHAPTER 11
Summary
L'once urges Edna to go to bed, but she is still exhilarated and decides to
stay outside in the hammock. L'once stays up with her and smokes his cigars.
Edna feels defiant towards her husband and resents his control over her life. Eventually tiredness overcomes Edna and she goes to bed.
Interpretation
We note that Edna is now rebelling against her station in life.
Society regards wives as having few rights, and enjoying the same freedom as their own children. The man of the house holds sway over his children and his wife.
Edna resents this because L'once’s power has been over the major as well as the minor aspects of her life.
This
is also another significant episode in Edna’s awakening. Her
refusal to go to bed is the first time in six years of marriage
that she has defied her husband. However, she has to succumb
to tiredness, and she briefly reverts to her role as wife of L'once,
but she has clearly made her point – that she will decide her bedtime
and not her husband.
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