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The novel opens on the Grand Isle, a summer retreat for the wealthy French Creoles of New Orleans. Leonce Pontellier, a wealthy New Orleans business man of forty years of age, reads his newspaper. Meanwhile, Mrs. Lebrun's parrot repeats phrases in English and French and her mockingbird sings in "fluty notes." Leonce retreats to his own cottage to escape the birds' noisy chatter. The cottages are a scene of bustling Sunday activity. A lady in …

…caged bird. When Edna goes to the beach, she removes all of her clothing and stands naked on the beach. She throws off the final layer of restricting clothing. A bird with a broken wing sinks into the surf. The bird symbolizes Edna's failure to achieve the very goal that has driven her actions throughout the novel. In the end, Edna's freedom takes place in death. This is the choice that social convention allows her.