her, the girl's soiled feet symbolize naked freedom, unconstrained by the apparel of civilization. Thus, Edna finds her rather beautiful. Mariequita is more like an unrefined version of Edna, that is, her instinctual self. At times, Mariequita ventures to express the thoughts that are secretly buried in Edna's unconscious. For instance, she asks Robert whether Edna is his "sweetheart". This considerably baffles the lovers, because of its straightforwardness. In fact, it takes almost the entire novel for Edna to mimic the girl's courage by telling him that she cares for him. In the end, what Edna chooses for her identity is a combination of Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz and Mariequita. She chooses to be more honest in self-awareness than Adele, more dependent on human relationships than Reisz and remain more subdued than Mariequita. ...
