The Victorian Age was an interesting age for women. It was not very enlightening as to the concept of equality between men and women but it helped to adapt the woman that is around today. Back in Victorian times women  were not seen as equals by a long shot. In fact, they were dainty and often weak. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, a character by the name of Adele is the perfect Victorian lady. the words to describe her are the ones that "have served so often to picture the bygone heroine of romance and the fair lady of our dreams" (p. 51). Adele is throughout the book a stickler for conformity and for purity. She is friends with Edna however, she serves more as a figure to look up to and that is how Edna sees her. Edna serves more as the feminist in the novel. She represents the side of a woman that is discovering her own wants and needs and not the wants and needs of others around her. The perfect Victorian woman is constantly fulfilling others needs and desires and she does not particularly pay attention to herself. She should be willing to sacrifice herself for the good of her child, husband, or friend. We do not see this as she doesn't answer her husband when he discusses his day and when she does not check her child for a fever. We also discover this as she intends not to take Robert seriously. She regards others as second place to herself. While this may seem selfish, it is actually the main idea of many women today. In this novel, Edna is one of the first feminist figures of her time. She gradually learns what it is to be a woman in her time and to be a person that looks out for herself. She is naturally secluded from her surroundings due to the fact that she is not creole. This could possibly be the crux of the reason that she has become so self reliant. She relies on her husband for money but relies on herself to find happiness. That happiness could come in friends, swimming, or simply with the ability to think on her own. Adele on the other hand, does not stray from the bearings of Victorian life. She constantly stays within the constraints of society. She is described as being "dressed in pure white" (p. 59). This imagery lends to an image of the perfect Victorian woman. Pure and perfect. White alludes to that purity. In general, Edna is a contrast to the perfect woman. She does many things that she overtly does simply to challenge herself. An example is when she is swimming out sea going where "no woman has gone before." However, at this point in the novel, no one truly sees her as a feminist looking to challenge herself. She is simply an outsider looking in and trying to fit in.