Like the rest of Edna’s character, her identity as a painter is not clear cut. She is neither a recreational artist like Madame Ratignolle, whose musicianship is another element of consummate domesticity, nor a serious artiste like Mademoiselle Reisz, who has a piano rather than a personal life. The progress Edna makes in her paintings and illustrations is more of an indication of her growth than a catalyst for it. Instead, it is music that engenders change in Edna, inciting her to experience great passions otherwise lacking in her daily life. In that sense, art does play a pivotal role in her emotional and personal awakening but Edna hardly represents the archetypal artist.
