Chapter 22
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While in New Orleans one morning, Mr. Pontellier visits Dr. Mandelet, his friend and family physician. Pontellier expresses his concerns about Edna to the doctor: "She's odd; she's not like herself . . . . Her whole attitude-toward me and everybody and everything-has changed." We learn that Edna is refusing to go to her sister Janet's wedding (see Chapter III), since she now believes that "a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth." Mandelet advises Pontellier to leave Edna alone for the time being. He attributes Edna's odd behavior to "some passing whim . . . which you and I needn't try to fathom." He promises to stop and see Edna on the following Thursday. After Pontellier leaves, Mandelet reflects that he would have liked to have asked, "Is there any man in the case?", but refrained, deferring to les convenances of Creole society.
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