Edna’s husband, a pragmatic, sociable businessman who takes great care to keep up appearances. He expects his wife to perform her social and motherly obligations in the conventional ways, and he is quick to chastise her for any perceived oversights. He loves Edna, in his way, but he is deaf and blind to her turbulent inner life. He can’t understand her personal transformation, or the unconventional lifestyle that results from it.
Léonce Pontellier Quotes in The Awakening
The The Awakening quotes below are all either spoken by Léonce Pontellier or refer to Léonce Pontellier. 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:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
“You are burnt beyond recognition,” he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage.
Related Characters:
Léonce Pontellier (speaker), Edna Pontellier
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19
Quotes
He could see plainly that she was not herself. That is, he could not see that she was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.
Related Characters:
Edna Pontellier, Léonce Pontellier
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22
Quotes
She won’t go to the marriage. She says a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth.
Related Characters:
Léonce Pontellier (speaker), Edna Pontellier
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 35
Quotes
She answered her husband with friendly evasiveness, - not with any fixed design to mislead him, only because all sense of reality had gone out of her life; she had abandoned herself to Fate, and awaited the consequences with indifference.
Related Characters:
Edna Pontellier, Léonce Pontellier
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36
Quotes
You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,’ I should laugh at you both.
Related Characters:
Edna Pontellier (speaker), Robert Lebrun, Léonce Pontellier
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Léonce Pontellier Character Timeline in The Awakening
The timeline below shows where the character Léonce Pontellier appears in The Awakening. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
As the book begins, Mr. Pontellier is reading a day-old newspaper next to a group of summer cottages at Grand Isle,...
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As he smokes a cigar, Pontellier watches his wife and Robert Lebrun walking towards him from the beach. When they reach...
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Pontellier decides to go to Klein’s, a nearby hotel, to play billiards and perhaps to eat...
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Chapter 3
Pontellier comes home late at night and wakes Mrs. Pontellier to tell her about his night....
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By now, Mrs. Pontellier is awake. She cries a little and goes out onto the porch. Suddenly she begins...
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Pontellier eagerly sets out for a week of work in the city the next morning. He...
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Chapter 4
Pontellier considers his reasons for criticizing his wife’s choices as a mother. The children are independent...
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Madame Ratignolle is sewing a child’s garment at Mrs. Pontellier’s cottage when Mr. Pontellier’s package arrives. Mrs. Pontellier takes up some sewing as well, though...
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Chapter 11
When he returns from the beach, Pontellier comes to ask his wife to come inside. Edna insists on staying in the hammock,...
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Chapter 14
...Raoul from Madame Ratignolle, who had been watching them, and helps Etienne get to sleep. Pontellier had been a little worried about Edna’s absence, but eventually he went to the Klein...
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Chapter 17
Back home in New Orleans, the Pontelliers live in a very expensive and refined home, where Mrs. Pontellier usually receives callers on...
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Chapter 18
The next morning, Pontellier asks Edna to help him pick out some new fixtures for the house, but she...
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Chapter 22
One day, Pontellier goes to visit Doctor Mandelet, an old friend who is known for his wisdom. He...
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Chapter 24
...Edna refuses to attend her sister’s wedding, and she is glad to see him leave. Pontellier decides to make up for his wife’s rudeness with expensive gifts; the Colonel advises him...
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As Pontellier prepares to leave for his prolonged business trip, Edna becomes affectionate and solicitous. But his...
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Chapter 29
...old house in two days’ time: it will be very glamorous, and Edna will use Pontellier’s accounts to pay for it. After the party, she will move to the new house...
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Chapter 32
Pontellier writes Edna to say that he does not approve of her relocation—he is worried about...
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...the move, Edna goes to visit the children, who are staying in the countryside with Pontellier’s mother. She has a lovely time, and is sad to leave them—but when she returns...
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