he had previously thought to be "the climax of her fate." (1026) The single-tired fantasies of her youth are replaced with a sentiment that matures in nature as her awakening proceeds. Edna realizes that her marriage is not making her happy anymore. She no longer wants to be treated as property. "You are burnt...he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage," (1014). Edna is upset; every thing she's longed for has become nothing but a joke. She soon begins her so-called "feminine protest" by not responding to her husband's questions. "She said nothing, and refused to answer her husband when he questioned her." (1017) She begins to find herself by realizing her position on earth as a human being, rather then a piece of her husband's property. This realization is done by the feelings her had for Robert. Robert it seems made her feel human. "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 about her." (1022)
             In the primary stages of the novel there is not very much description of Maria's marriage to George. The novel starts off with Maria thinking about her child and she is in her chamber in the madhouse. Immediately we are informed of her feelings for her husband, "Was it not to effect her escape, to fly to the succour of her child, and to baffle the selfish schemes of her tyrant – her husband?" (8) Primarily, the reader is uniformed of exactly what type of marriage was possessed by the couple. The only aspect that is clear is that Maria's husband was able to convince society that Maria was mad and she was put into the madhouse and he was left with their children and all her money and possessions. It is clear that Maria's problem with the m...