A particular character in this section, and the last, that I find notable is Mr. Pontellier. My Pontellier has many patriarchal ideals that he has internalized, holding strong opinions of what his wife should do and how she should act while ignoring the ways he is supposed to look and act according to those ideals that he holds so closely. Instead, he weaponizes societal ideals for men and women to his advantage, trying to control all aspects of his wife’s life. In Chapter XVII he judges his wife for going out, stating ” ‘Well, I hope you left some suitable excuse” and that if she “felt that [she] had to leave home this afternoon, [she] should have left some suitable explanation for [her] absence” (130). He judges her constantly, telling her that everything she is doing is wrong and that even something as simple as going out should be done with precise actions because she is a woman of a certain social class and that is what is expected of her.
Mr. Pontellier is also obsessed with money and wealth. He wants to remain in a higher social class so he repeatedly internalizes what society expects of the wealthy. Throughout this section Mr. Pontellier exposes the ways in which physical, outward appearance is of vital importance to him in order to maintain social standing and reputation, stating that needs to buy and use commodities simply because they are made for the wealthy and that ” ‘The way to become rich is to make money…not to save it’ ” (137). His obsession with crafting and maintaining his reputation is deeply connected to societal stereotypes of the wealthy and the expectations of how men and women are ‘supposed’ to act in that class. This desire to main such a reputation fuels his want to control his wife.
Mr. Pontellier is also so intertwined with this desire to have such a great outward appearance and has so internalized patriarchal standards of women that he is unable to grasp why his wife is feeling depressed and angry. Instead, he wonders “if his wife were not growing a little unbalanced mentally. He could see plainly that she was not herself” (147-148). He notices what is occurring to his wife but is unable to grasp why, or possibly he does not want to. Because, admitting that he is the reason for the strain in their marriage, that he is the reason for why his wife is acting in such a way, would completely destruct the patriarchal system he uses to understand his life as a man and his role as a husband. To admit that such systems are damaging to the well being of his marriage would be to admit that such systems are damaging to himself. And if he were to realize that, it would lead to an identity crisis where he would not know who he is as a man. Rather, he ignores the effects of those systems and instead continuously blames his wife so that he can rationalize the situation without having to tear down the systems that benefit him and govern his life.
Current Media in this Section
” ‘One of these days’…’I’m going to pull myself together for a while and think–try to determine what character of a woman I am’ ” (215)
” ‘Why should you bother thinking about it when I can tell you what manner of woman you are’ ” (216)
This section goes into detail about expectations of women and men in marriage. The two quotes above from this section made me think of news I have seen about The Heritage Foundation proposing and pushing for a marriage bootcamp as a way to ‘combat the decrease in marriages among young people’. This is rooted in the idea that the patriarchy should tell women who they are meant to be. As more and more women become educated and work to find out who they are as a woman, like how Edna wants to, less women are choosing to marry young. The Heritage Foundation pushing for these marriage camps so that women can get married and have babies as ‘God wants them to’ connects to this quote from Arobin about how as a man, Edna doesn’t need to think for herself because he can tell her who she is.
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