The Awakening characters

Appears from the start

A young wife and mother spending the summer at Grand Isle with her family. Edna has generally followed the expectations of her marriage and social circle, but she feels separate from the other vacationers and is beginning to examine desires she has seldom admitted even to herself.

Appears from the start

Edna's husband, a prosperous New Orleans businessman. He regards himself as attentive and generous, while also assuming that his wife will observe the domestic and social duties expected in their community.

Appears from the start

The unmarried son of the woman who runs the Grand Isle resort. Each summer he devotes himself to one of the married women in the colony; this year he spends much of his time with Edna, whose reserve makes their companionship unusually absorbing for them both.

First appears in chapter 4

Edna's close friend at Grand Isle, pregnant with her fourth child and deeply committed to her husband, children, and home. Warm, candid, and physically affectionate, she represents the domestic ideal that Edna does not naturally share.

First appears in chapter 9

An independent, unmarried pianist whose blunt manner keeps her at the edge of polite society. Her playing affects Edna with an intensity that surprises her, awakening emotions that ordinary conversation cannot reach.

Appears from the start

Robert and Victor's widowed mother and the proprietor of the cottages at Grand Isle. She presides over the summer colony and treats Robert's annual romantic attentions as familiar behavior.

First appears in chapter 9

The lively younger son of Madame Lebrun. More impulsive than Robert, he enjoys music, flirtation, and the sociability of the Grand Isle gatherings.

First appears in chapter 13

The hospitable resident of Cheniere Caminada who cares for Edna after she becomes faint during Sunday mass, offering her a quiet place to sleep and recover.

First appears in chapter 22

The Pontelliers' family physician and an old friend of Leonce. Experienced and perceptive, he is asked to consider why Edna has abandoned familiar household routines and resists her husband's wishes.

First appears in chapter 23

Edna's father, a former Confederate colonel from Kentucky who comes to New Orleans while preparing for another daughter's wedding. Forceful and traditional, he assumes that a husband should govern his household firmly.

First appears in chapter 25

A fashionable, practiced bachelor whom Edna meets more often after an afternoon at the races. His manner is attentive and openly flirtatious, and he pursues her without Robert's hesitation.

First appears in chapter 25

A socially connected woman who accompanies Edna to the races and helps draw her into the company of Alcee Arobin.