In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, Edna is portrayed as the main symbol of the desires that every man or woman has. She feels the need to be different and to be free. Her lust for freedom from the societal views and expectations has drawn her to a point of drastic decisions. Each man and woman has a point that will bring them to do nearly anything to get what they ‘need’.
Edna is introduced to the reader well within social norms. She is a wife and mother. We can suppose that she entered this role happily and with an intent to fulfill her part in society. She appears to lack for nothing in her lifestyle. However, at some point she becomes dissatisfied with what society has placed on her. She looks outside her family for the fulfillment of her personal needs. Perhaps her marriage became empty and passions faded with the increasing duties of motherhood. Maybe Edna was not a nurturer and motherhood left her feeling lonely and unfulfilled. Her husband compares her to the women he sees, particularly Madame Adele, who dotes on her children and worships her husband. This leaves her feeling even more lonely. (Chapter 4) The life she chose was
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She will make her own decisions and she will finally be free. As she swims out valiantly defying the forces against her, it isn’t her intent to die. This is an action symbolic of strength and power to fight against the social current. Edna was brave. She was ready to take on responsibility for her own life. However, this was a fatal choice. If she had lived, the social tide would have taken her in time. Had she not been literally carried away by the ocean, society’s norms would have drowned and suffocated her, leaving her desires unsatisfied and her life empty. As the waves proved to be too much for her, giving herself to the sea in a show of strength and independence was her final defiance of social