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Edna\'s phase of sleeping in the story is a relatively short one. It is nevertheless of importance, for, if there is no sleeping, there can be neither dreaming nor awakening.
The state of sleeping, of course, is not meant literally. It is a metaphor for a condition of repression. Edna, in her phase of sleeping, quietly accepts her position in society. She does not question her role as a mother and wife. The first lines of the novel describe a parrot in a cage, and this parrot is a symbol for Edna herself. In her sleeping phase, she is a bird in a cage, merely there to be looked at and not taken seriously. Her husband, Léonce, sees her as his possession, as he is \'looking at [her] as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage\' (Awakening, 44). Edna, on the surface, seems to be devoted to her husband and cares for him. She asks him to \'take the umbrella\' (Awakening, 45), and wonders if he is \'coming back to dinner\' (Awakening, 45), thus expressing an interest in his well-being and in his presence. In her sleeping phase Edna does not openly show her disapproval of her position as a woman within society, even though the reader gets hints that she \'is not comfortable with the traditional role of wife and mother but has difficulty imagining alternatives\' (Martin, 19). When Léonce \'reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children\' (Awakening, 48), the reader realizes that Edna is not content with her role. Edna then \'could not have told why she was crying\' because \'such experiences as the foregoing were not uncommon in her married life\' (Awakening, 49). Edna feels her own dissatisfaction with life, but in her sleeping phase she does not understand why. She does not yet question social conventions and believes that she, as a woman, might not have the right to disapprove of them.
As stated earlier, Edna\'s phase of sleeping is not of long duration, but there are characters and symbols within the novel that reflect this phase throughout the story.
Léonce is the male character in the story who represents the sleeping phase of Edna. Their marriage is a symbol for social conventions and restrictions, especially as Léonce\'s behavior is mainly motivated by what is expected of their marriage by society as well as business. His reaction to Edna\'s absence on a Tuesday, her official reception day, expresses his obedience to social conventions very well:
Why, my dear, I should think you\'d understand by this time that people don\'t do such things; we\'ve got to observe les convenances if we ever expect to get on and keep up with the procession. If you felt that you had to leave home this afternoon, you should have left some suitable explanation for your absence. (Awakening, 101)
Léonce is even more outraged when he learns that Mrs. Belthrop wanted to visit Edna, because they \'can\'t afford to snub Mrs. Belthrop [because] Belthrop could buy and sell [them] ten times over\' (Awakening, 101). In this sequence it becomes obvious that Edna is merely a representative, and \'her social duties [....] are an important extension of his business world\' (Carey, 42).
Léonce obviously stands for the world of restrictions and social conventions, and in his marriage to Edna he is definitely a part of her sleeping phase. The female pendant to Léonce, also a character reflecting social conventions, can be found in Mme. Adèle Ratignolle.
The role of Mme. Ratignolle is typical of a woman of that time. She is devoted to her husband and children and lives for them solely. There are few moments in the book, in which Mme. Ratignolle is not in some way, attached to her children or her husband. They live in an apartment just above the drug store her husband runs, thus Adèle and her husband are always close to each other. While Mr. Pontellier goes on business trips, Mr. Ratignolle remains near Adèle throughout the story. When Edna thinks about inviting Adèle to join her and Alcée one afternoon, she realizes that \"her fair friend did not leave the house, except to take a languid walk around the block with her husband after nightfall\" (Awakening, 130). Adèle never gives the impression of discontent as she accepts her role in society. She adores her husband and never questions her subordinate position. When Edna visits the Ratignolles, the reader can picture Adéle\'s devotion, as she \'was keenly interested in everything [her husband] said, laying down her fork the better to listen, chiming in, taking the words out of his mouth\' (Awakening, 107). Here we can again draw a connection to the parrot. Adèle is not talking herself, instead she parrots her husband, accepting everything he says without questioning. Even though Adèle reflects Edna\'s sleeping phase, she somewhat triggers the protagonist\'s transformation, as Edna, \'in responding to Adéle\'s interest [...] begins to think about her own past and to analyze her own personality\' (Showalter, 46). Through her relationship with Adèle \"she becomes \'Edna\' in the narrative rather than \'Mrs. Pontellier\' \" (Showalter, 46).
Another important symbol of Edna\'s sleeping phase is her inability to swim:
Edna had attempted all summer to learn to swim. She had received instructions from both the men and women; in some instances from the children. Robert had pursued a system of lessons almost daily; and he was nearly at the point of discouragement in realizing the futility of his efforts. (Awakening, 73)
Here Edna is still passively receiving instructions. The swimming is a symbol for freedom, and the floating expresses independence. Edna, in her sleeping phase, is neither free nor independent. Her inability to swim gives her no opportunity to escape this world of restrictions and social conventions.
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