As Edna began to shape her beliefs around the principles of feminism, she begins to exhibit what we now know are signs of severe depression. Edna’s depression stems from the fact that she experiences the loss of practically all of her support group when she changes her life to incorporate more feminist ideas into her life. According to one scholar, “Edna appears to have the following five symptoms of Major Depression as described in the DSM-IV: (1) a depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, (2) a markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day, (3) insomnia or hyposomnia nearly every day, (4) fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day, (5) recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicidal …show more content…
Edna begins to understand her own thoughts and values, and acknowledges that she is her own human being who should be entitled to her own desires and ambitions, and she is not willing to revert to being a wife and mother only… Thus, Edna is trapped in a world in which she is not accepted for who she wants to be, as she cannot adjust to being who society wants her to be.” (Malinen 19).
Edna’s awakening to feminism makes it impossible for her to conform to what society declares a woman should be; thus, all of the negative changes she experiences are due to her change in ideals. As demonstrated, Edna’s support of feminism could not have survived in the time period in which she lived, because her beliefs created more negative outcomes for her than the confidence she gained from her realizations could support. This idea of reviewing the negative and positive outcomes after a significant change in a person's beliefs is relevant to most lives. If there is a problem