Question: Study Questions on Elizabeth LeBlanc, "The Metaphorical Lesbian: Edna Pontellier in The Awakening"
1. What, according to LeBlanc, defines a "metaphorical lesbian"? In general (rather than in terms of her specific argument about The Awakening) what does she think is useful about such a concept?
2. Why, specifically, does LeBlanc argue that Edna should be seen as a "metaphorical lesbian"?
3. What ways of understanding Edna is LeBlanc's argument meant to challenge?
Study Questions on Cynthia Griffin Wolff, "Un-utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in Kate Chopin's The Awakening"
1. According to Wolff, what are some of the obstacles that make Edna's "quest for a viable and acceptable mode of owning and expressing her sexuality"(384)?
2. What does Wolff mean when she says that Edna is "habitually drawn" to "narrative conventions [that are] formulaic"(388)?
3. At the conclusion of the essay, Wolff says "Edna has failed"(393). At what, according to Wolff, has Edna "failed"? Why?