Journal #25 Kate Chopin

Shirly Ong
English 48B
28 February, 2008
Journal #25 Sarah Orne Jewett

Quote:
“Her own like experiences seemed far away, unreal, and only half remembered. She recalled faintly an ecstasy of pain, the heavy odor of chloroform…She began to wish she had not come…With an inward agony, with a flaming, outspoken revolt against the ways of Nature, she witnessed the scene of torture.”

Summary:
This quote illustrates the scene in which Edna witnessed her friend, Madame Adèle Ratignolle’s labor.

Response:
When Edna was accompanying Madame Ratignolle and seeing her sufferings during her labor, Edna thinks about her own experiences of giving birth to child. Yet, she found her experiences “far away, unreal, and only half remembered”. As revealed by the second sentence of this quote, this is because of the use of chloroform, which helped eliminate the vigorous pain. Chloroform even brought her an ecstasy of pain. As a result, Edna felt uneasy to witness Madame Ratignolle’s pain of giving birth to her child. She regretted going. Kate Chopin sensitively depicts Edna’s uneasiness by the use of phrases “inward agony” and “a flaming, outspoken revolt”. This plot is critical to the whole story. First, it happens on the night when Edna met Robert again. She was going to tell Robert how she “set herself free” from Mr. Pontellier while she was called to accompany Madame Ratignolle. Secondly, Madame Ratignolle’s labor and her words reminded Edna of her children. Her children would be so badly hurt if she goes away from Mr. Pontellier for Robert. Meanwhile, she found out that Robert has left, without waiting for her explanation. If Edna has not gone with Madame Ratignolle’s servant, the story could be very different. Moreover, Kate Chopin might be intentionally revealing that Edna did not experience the pain of labor. This can be linked with her incompetence as a mother. Her acts were obviously against the moral standards of a mother as expected by the society at the time. It is interesting that painless labor is common nowadays. It seems there’s no evidence showing the correlation between pain endured during labor and the competence of mothers. I believe this “clue” used by Kate Chopin may not apply to real life situations.