The Culture of the Creoles

During Edna Pontellier’s stay at the Grand Isle, the reader becomes better acquainted with the Creole culture in the late nineteenth century through the community that inhabits the resort throughout the summer. Unlike the majority of people that stay at the Grand Isle, Edna was not raised as a Creole, therefore she does not fully understand their culture, and sometimes feels very uncomfortable when she is faced with some of it’s more eccentric aspects. However, Edna’s perspective is very helpful for the reader to see the differences between normal Southern culture, which was Edna’s upbringing, and the Creole culture that is apparent at the Grand Isle. For Edna and the reader, it becomes blatantly obvious that the Creole culture is much more open in discussion than typical American culture during the conversation in which Adèle Ratignolle discusses, in great detail, the birth of one of her children. This topic would generally be avoided in quotidian conversation, especially with people who are not family members, however, in Creole culture, it was spoken about in full disclosure, without anyone – pardon Edna – thinking twice about the privacy that generally surrounds it. Another rather strange aspect of Creole culture that was rather atypical during the time period in which The Awakening takes place is the close relationship that takes place between a married woman and an unmarried man, such as Edna Pontellier and Robert Lebrun, and specifically how her husband was in complete support of their friendship and did not think twice about the possibility of there being anything immoral occurring. These rather peculiar incidents that take place in the novel during the Pontellier’s stay at the Grand Isle portray the differences of the Creole culture in stark contrast to the culture of the United States during the same era, and introduces the reader to a culture that is often forgotten in society today – except for on Shrove Tuesday of course!