On page 15, the author compares the clothing of Edna and Madame Ratignolle. In the description, Madame Ratignolle is said to be dressed in pure white and ruffles. This is used to be a metaphor for what the ideal woman of the time was considered to be- pure and delicate. Women that dressed this way were great mothers and loving and doting wives. However, Edna's white clothing is tainted by a brown stripe. The author uses this to show that Edna is beginning to divert from what is considered to be the ideal woman. The author explains that she is not particularly motherly and shows how she becomes defiant of her husband later in the book. The comparison of clothing contrasts one woman that is considered to be ideal and another woman who is becoming a New Woman.
-Kim Gallinger
Kim,
ReplyDeleteYou make a great connection in your post. I read right over the description and didn't even think anything of it until now. I went back and read that particular passage and I agree with you. The difference in the clothing that the woman are seen wearing in this part of the story is symbolic. I really like how you associated the brown stripe as Edna diverting from the ideal woman.