1. What is the function of the bird at the opening of the story?

2. Consider the description of Edna at the beginning of Section II. What physical or emotional qualities are important?

3. How Does Edna's husband treat her?  Her children?  Her friends?  Do you feel that they treat her as a child or an adult?  Cite one scene where you feel that Edna and another character have a significant exchange and explain why this is typical of their relationship.

4. In Section VI, read over the paragraph beginning "In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and around her."  Why does the narrator distinguish between "the world within and around her"?  What is the narrator's tone in the rest of the paragraph?

5. Why are the chapters so short?