This chapter's opening description of the party lamps also indicates ideal party parameters: "every lamp turned as high as it could be without smoking the chimney or threatening explosion." This description could apply as well to the romantic relations considered ideal by Edna's culture. While the flame of passion may be burning brightly, it should not become so hot as to cause behavior that threatens the monogamous, Catholic values of their culture or besmirch anyone's good reputation with scandal — the social equivalents of smoking the chimney or causing explosions.
The emphasis on good behavior continues as the Farival twins yet again play the musical pieces they've been playing all summer. The parrot seems to object to hearing these pieces repeated, loudly uttering his stock phrase in French "Go away, for God's sake!" The twins' grandfather is angry at this apparent candor and lobbies to have the bird removed. Such punishment for honesty foreshadows the negative reaction Edna will invoke when she starts telling the truth about her dissatisfaction with her life.
Chapter 9 contrasts Madame Ratignolle with Mademoiselle Reisz. Both play piano, but Madame Ratignolle plays as "a means of brightening the home and making it attractive." Playing competently and with spirit, her performances serve only to make her even more attractive than she already is. In stark contrast, Mademoiselle Reisz is disliked by and dislikes almost everyone, lacking interpersonal skills, fashion sense, and physical attractiveness. Yet her performance is that of a master, stirring everyone within earshot with the power of music. Edna is particularly affected by the music, which "sent a keen tremor" down her spine. Note the connection between music and the sea: "the very passions themselves were aroused within her soul, swaying it, lashing it, as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body." Like the warm Gulf waters, music appeals to Edna's inclination to indulge in the drama of high feeling. Her visceral reaction is an indication of her awakening desire to experience some great passion in her life; "her being was tempered to take an impress of the abiding truth" for the first time.
