Edna’s close friend and temperamental opposite, Madame Ratignolle is the model of Victorian womanhood: she is pretty, fragile, warm-hearted, and completely devoted to her husband and children. She seems to find satisfaction in her motherly and wifely chores, and she urges her friend to do the same. Her tiny, placid world, with its mundane pleasures and tepid artistic efforts, is precisely the world Edna tries to leave behind.
Adèle Ratignolle Quotes in The Awakening
The The Awakening quotes below are all either spoken by Adèle Ratignolle or refer to Adèle Ratignolle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
They were women who idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels.
Related Characters:
Adèle Ratignolle
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18
Quotes
The little glimpse of domestic harmony which had been offered her, gave her no regret, no longing. It was not a condition of life which fitted her, and she could see in it but an appalling and hopeless ennui. She was moved by a kind of commiseration for Madame Ratignolle,—a pity for that colorless existence which never uplifted its possessor beyond the region of blind contentment, in which no moment of anguish ever visited her soul, in which she would never have the taste of life’s delirium.
Related Characters:
Edna Pontellier, Adèle Ratignolle
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37
Quotes
With an inward agony, with a flaming, outspoken revolt against the ways of Nature, she witnessed the scene of torture.
Related Characters:
Edna Pontellier, Adèle Ratignolle
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Adèle Ratignolle Character Timeline in The Awakening
The timeline below shows where the character Adèle Ratignolle appears in The Awakening. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...for comfort. The other mothers at Grand Isle, by contrast, are nervous, protective, and self-sacrificing. Adèle Ratignolle, a friend of Mrs. Pontellier’s, is the epitome of such a woman: beautiful, graceful,...
(full context)
Madame Ratignolle is sewing a child’s garment at Mrs. Pontellier’s cottage when Mr. Pontellier’s package arrives. Mrs....
(full context)
Chapter 5
As Madame Ratignolle sews, Robert and Mrs. Pontellier chat intimately. Robert has been spending a great deal of...
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...she pushes him away. Her two children run in from outside and beg for candies. Madame Ratignolle says she feels ill, as she often does; Mrs. Pontellier suspects that it’s only an...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...outer life: the inner life is free, the outer life is confined by custom. Under Adèle’s influence, she has been growing less reserved.
(full context)
Adèle and Mrs. Pontellier walk to the beach one morning. Mrs. Pontellier is slim, poised, and...
(full context)
...love him, and she loves her children only intermittently. Edna confesses most of this to Madame Ratignolle . Robert and the children approach them; Madame Ratignolle leaves the beach with Robert.
(full context)
Chapter 8
On their way from the beach, Madame Ratignolle asks Robert to keep away from Mrs. Pontellier, who, she says, might take his attentions...
(full context)
Chapter 9
...very small girl in a fancy costume performs a dance as her mother watches avidly. Madame Ratignolle plays the piano—mostly, she says, for the sake of her family.
(full context)
Chapter 14
When she comes home that night with Robert, Edna takes Etienne and Raoul from Madame Ratignolle , who had been watching them, and helps Etienne get to sleep. Pontellier had been...
(full context)
Chapter 15
...brings an invitation from the Lebruns, but Edna declines for now. Outside, she complains to Madame Ratignolle about Robert’s dramatic decision; her friend leaves to say goodbye to Robert soon after.
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Chapter 16
Edna remembers telling Madame Ratignolle in a casual conversation that she would never sacrifice herself for her children—she would sacrifice...
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Chapter 18
Since she is not in the mood to draw, Edna leaves the house to visit Madame Ratignolle . As on most occasions, she thinks a great deal about Robert. When she reaches...
(full context)
Chapter 33
...her, so Edna lets herself in to wait in the living room. Earlier that day, Madame Ratignolle had interrupted Edna’s painting with a social visit. She advised Edna not to spend so...
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Chapter 36
...she does not belong to anyone any more. She is called away suddenly to help Madame Ratignolle , who is having some sort of crisis. Before she leaves, she tells Robert she...
(full context)
Chapter 37
Edna goes to see Madame Ratignolle , who, it turns out, is about to give birth; she is tired and inconsolable....
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