The Bravery of Edna Pontellier Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, is about a young woman, Edna Pontellier, who is full of dreams and emotions. She is married to Leonce Pontellier, who is a successful businessman. Their marriage is an amicable but loveless one. The story opens at Grand Isle...

What can we learn from Enide, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Joan of Arc about the ability of medieval women to exercise power? Be sure to consider several forms of power and to consider at least some of the following: the relationship between husband and wife; the role of love and marriage for men and...