The Awakening Chapter 33 Summary

  • Edna goes to visit Mademoiselle Reisz, but when she arrives at the house, no one is home.
  • Edna knows where the key is kept, however, and lets herself inside to wait.
  • As she waits, she reflects upon Adele’s visit that morning.
  • Adele is very pregnant by this time, near her due date.
  • Edna remembers how Adele talked with Edna about the dinner, asked about the new little house, and made Edna promise to come be with her when her new baby is born.
  • Adele also warned Edna that people have been talking about Arobin’s constant presence at Edna’s house.
  • Adele comments on Arobin’s playboy reputation, and how he could ruin a woman’s good name.
  • Edna sits at Mademoiselle Reisz’s house thinking about this until someone knocks on the door.
  • Edna tells whoever it is to come in.
  • Surprise, surprise! Robert walks in. He’s back from Mexico, and just as surprised to see her as she is to see him.
  • Robert admits that he’s been home since the day before yesterday and Edna wonders, with a pang, why he didn’t come to see her.
  • She had always imagined that he would come to see her the minute he arrived at home.
  • Instead of voicing her feelings, Edna and Robert sit ten feet apart and talk politely with each other.
  • Edna asks why he never wrote to her while he was in Mexico. He replies that he didn’t think his letters would be of any interest.
  • She calls him out on this, saying that it’s a lame excuse. She feels hurt and prepares to leave.
  • Robert offers to walk home with her.
  • When they arrive at her house, she invites him to stay for dinner.
  • At first he makes an excuse, but when he sees her distress, he changes his mind and stays.
  • Robert sees Arobin’s photograph on the table. Edna explains that she has been doing a sketch of him.
  • Robert doesn’t seem too happy about this.
  • They talk briefly about what they’ve been doing since they last saw each other, then sit quietly together until dinner is ready.