Solitude

There is a passage in chapter nine which recalls a passage from chapter six. In chapter nine, Mademoiselle Reisz plays for the families at the dinner party. She plays a piece which Mrs. Pontellier entitles Solitude, "the name of the piece was something else, but she called it Solitude"(55). This song "was a short, plaintive, minor strain" that filled Mrs. Pontellier with feelings and images and "passions themselves were aroused within her soul" (56). Mrs. Pontellier is so affected by this piece that she cannot even talk when its over.
I wrote a blog on chapter six and its meaning here, the author describes the "voice of the sea" as "inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude"(35). The word solitude stands out to me, both in this instance and in the title that Edna gives to the piece of music.
I believe this means that Mrs. Pontellier craves solitude. She describes the sea as"seductive" and "sensuous" as it is inviting her towards solitude (35).  Similarly, the "passions" that came upon Edna as she listened to the song of Solitude were described as effecting her soul by "swaying it, lashing it, as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body" (56).
At first I wasn't sure why Mrs. Pontellier would crave solitude because it seems as if she is alone all the time, she and her husband are not extremely bound together by love and she feels very little extreme desire to be always watching over her children. I then realized, however, that though she was physically alone for most of her time she was still followed by the acute knowledge that she was someone's wife and a mother, and she would never be able to escape those facts. The sea and the music wash away these feelings of responsibility from Edna's mind and they leave here just thinking about herself, her own body and soul and what it means. For Edna, solitude means freedom from the obligation and responsibility to love, care for and spend time with the family that she has built.
Mrs. Pontellier felt extremely moved by the feelings in the music, the way she was moved by the ocean and the thoughts it gave her. The "certain light [which] was beginning to dawn dimly within her" continued to grow as she listened to this music (34).