Pg. 145
"Robert," she said, "are you asleep?"
"No," he answered, looking up at her.
She leaned over and kissed him--a soft, cool, delicate kiss, whose voluptuous sting penetrated his whole being-then she moved away from him. He followed, and took her in his arms, just holding her close to him. She put her hand up to his face and pressed his cheek against her own. The action was full of love and tenderness. He sought her lips again. Then he drew her down upon the sofa beside him and held her hand in both of his.
"Now you know," he said, "now you know what I have been fighting against since last summer at Grand Isle; what drove me away and drove me back again."
"Why have you been fighting against it?" she asked. Her face glowed with soft lights.
"Why? Because you were not free; you were Leonce Pontellier's wife. I couldn't help loving you if you were ten times his wife; but so long as I went away from you and kept away I could help telling you so." She put her free hand up to his shoulder, and then against his cheek, rubbing it softly. He kissed her again. His face was warm and flushed.
Pg. 146
"You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose.
This passage that I selected I think displays what kind of guy Robert is. He does feel the same way about Edna, when she kissed him he kissed her back, and told her that she was the reason that he had to stay away from Grand Isle. Robert is a very passive and gentle guy and this scene really displays that. He didn't put himself out there and kiss Edna first, he had many opportunities to do it when Edna and him reconnected after Robert's trip to Mexico but he never did. And later in the next chapter, Robert abandons Edna right after this scene takes place. He does truly love and care about Edna but he just can't picture them ever being together, he gets scared and leaves because he loves her and doesn't want to hurt her. From the beginning of the book to this scene, Edna has grown by leaps and bounds. At the beginning she was controlled by Leonce, everything she did was because Leonce requested or Leonce thought it was in Edna's place to do it. Now, after the awakening, Edna makes decisions on her own, for her own and no one else. It was her decision to kiss Robert and disclose how she feels about him, it was her decision to leave the Pontellier house and buy a house of her own, and it was ultimately her decision to give up swimming in the water which led to her death.
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