Why Is Robert Lebrun In The Awakening

Kate Chopin’s novella The Awakening is about the young Edna Pontellier and her struggle with fitting into her role as a wife and a mother. During a vacation at La Grand Isle she meets Robert Lebrun, who is the man she later throws her love upon. Her newfound love and her growing desire to be independent from all aspects of society drives her further and further away from her husband and children, and the lengths she is willing to go to for her freedom expands dramatically. Robert Lebrun and Edna both have secret growing feelings for each other that they are unable to fulfill when they start developing, but when Edna has finally separated herself enough from her family to attempt a life with Robert, he is unwilling to follow her dream. All through

His charm is expressed through his flirty comments especially directed to women. These comments appear all through the novella and one case is how Robert charms Edna after returning from his travels. He finds her by surprise waiting on one of their shared friends and this is the first time he sees her after returning. When Edna decides to end the wait, Robert states, “ ‘and I should miss the pleasure of walking with you.’ ” (107). Robert has been gone for a long time and him leaving Edna without any real explanation has created tension between the two. However, Robert can not help himself from using his charm to try to ease the situation, they both find uncomfortable. Another time Robert shows some of his charm and flirtation is his comments while Edna is painting in the beginning of the novella. During the process of painting he gives forth encouraging comments in french, “ ‘Mais ce’nest pas mal! Elle s’y connait, elle a de la force, oui.’ ” ( 13) (“but it is not bad! She knows she has strength, yes.”). This is in the beginning of Robert and Edna’s relationship and their feelings are new and still growing stronger. He compliments her even though she herself thought the painting was