Reading this novel helped achieve a new level of maturity in understanding and in playing the devil’s advocate. Prior to the reading experience, most of my attention was given to the plot of the book, and I paid less attention to the characters and even less on the effect each character has on one another. By reading the story of Edna, I learnt to be empathetic, and understand how actions lead to other actions, thus increasing my knowledge on the relationship between cause and effect. Chopin creates and establishes this new, profound ability in me by creating such a complex character. One that morally lies in the depths of grey, and forces me to pause and ponder over the ingenuity of Chopin when she (Edna) does something.
Edna is not a good person by my standards. I find that once she ‘awakens’, all her actions are self-centered and selfish. Par example, having multiple affairs in her husband’s absence. She takes into no consideration what Leonce might be feeling when she gets sexually intimate with both Robert and Alcee Arobin, and she justified it by stating she has no love for her husband. “What would he think? She did not mean her husband; she was thinking of Robert Lebrun. Her husband seemed like a person whom she had married without love as an excuse “(Pg91). “When he leaned forward and kissed her, she clasped his head, holding his lips to hers” (Pg 98). Furthermore, in the final scenes of the book, in Edna’s last moments, she begins to contemplate all the variables in her life. She thinks of Robert, her children, her husband too, and she realizes just how complicated life can be. Her only desire being Robert and the thought of being unable to have him creates despair, and so she seeks out a selfish solution, self-inflicted death. Without much thought of the effect and burden that will be placed on the people she leaves, she lets go and allows herself to drown. Edna’s selfishness becomes her demise, once and for all.
However, her actions were justified and from her point of view, logical too. Humans cannot betray their natures. She was sent into a marriage with a nice husband, cute kids, and living a very comfortable, easy life. However, the societal beliefs were formed on the opinion that those factors alone (nice husband and kids), would be very adequate for any woman, or should be. It was not taken into consideration that not all women would be like Mrs. Ratignolle, and would not derive happiness and satisfaction from only serving their family, and so was the case of Edna. There were no other acceptable lives for women, alongside the fact that divorce was also not an option. Edna was not like most women, and she did not accept a life she did not enjoy living, and so, she sought to change that. She is a strong character for having the courage to oppose robust societal expectations. Furthermore, she was unaware of the reality behind marriages. Her naiivite led her to believe that she knew what true love was, even though she was wrong. But after her awakening, she becomes aware of her situation, and changes it. Her appeasement towards her father led to her unhappiness, so it only makes sense that she tried to be happy and go with what she thinks would make her so.
The story of Edna is a tragedy, and one to be retold for generations far from now. When she became aware of her situation, she began to understand what she truly desired, and as the story unfolds, we discover her desire is Robert.
“There was no one thing in the world that she desired. There was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert; and she even realized that the day would come when he, too, and the thought of him would melt out of her existence, leaving her alone. The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul’s slavery for the rest of her days. But she knew how to elude them. She was not thinking of these things when she walked down to the beach” (Pg 136).
The realization of her desires brought forth the realities of a cruel world, one that does not always promise the fruition of a desire, no matter how deep it is. This spelt her demise, her recognition of her sole desire and her inability to obtain it. Knowing the events that led to the end of Edna, was her awakening a good thing?