An
analysis of a major character
In Kate Chopin’s literary masterpiece The Awakening, Robert Lebrun is a
handsome and charming man whom seems to have fallen in love with the already
wed Edna Pontellier. Mrs. Pontellier, as Robert must call her, is married to
Leonce Pontellier. Robert is mostly a dynamic character who has a personal secret
relationship with Mrs. Pontellier. However, he is unwilling to further his
relationship with a married woman and leaves the country for Mexico, where he
had planned to become unfathomably wealthy. In his actions, the reader can tell that
Robert is much more materialistic than Edna.
Robert
is a very selfish an immature guy, who courts a different woman each summer
with intentions less than thoughtful. His words are very indicative of his own
personal story. For example, when Robert tells Edna about the “Gulf ghost who
returns to the coast every year waiting for a woman to win his heart”, he is indirectly
talking about himself. He mainly concentrates on married women who are not very
canny and unable to respond to his wistful courting.
I
believe Robert is a dynamic character because his characteristics change
throughout the novel. In the forefront the reader can see how he is an immature
guy who wants relationships with older women because they are more susceptible
to his cravings, but near once he starts to know Edna more and more he truly
falls in love with her and wants to marry her. Unlucky for him that Edna has no
such desires, even though she does in fact love him, and instead she wants her
independence. Although Robert is away during much of Edna’s “awakening” he
plays a huge role in her life because he demonstrates certain characteristics
which she admires, such as, charisma, sensuality, imagination, and chivalry.
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