Saving Herself

Well, just finished The Awakening. I began to actually enjot this book. At first I found Edna whiney but the ending made me respect her. The ending was somewhat predictable but also completely necessary to justify the entire book. Edna drowning herself was the most selfish and selfless thing that she could have done. When she says that “she would give up the unessential, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children,” she exhibits this in the last chapter. If Edna continued on living, she would either selfishly continue only thinking of herself thus disregard her husband and children, or she would give herself up and submit herself to her expected duties in life. So, either way she would not be doing what she promised herself. By drowning herself, some may believe this to be incredibly selfish, and perhaps it is. After all, now she can forget about the stresses and burdens of life. But in many ways, it is selfless. Although her husband and children will be feeling a great deal of pain, one can only imagine the amount of dysfunction and sorrow Edna would cause them had she continued on living her carefree and neglectful lifestyle. She is protecting her family name and her own name by “accidentally” drowning. Also, maybe it was accidental. It seems unplanned- almost as if she is under a spell. The sea is seducing her and she gives in; but she is content with her decision. And what is with all of her lovers? Edna is less than pleasant during her family’s absence, yet Arobin is totally enamored by her. It is as if her essence is mesmerizing. I guess independence is refreshing and attractive to Arobin and Robert. But I wonder why she allows Arobin to caress her. Perhaps she is imagining Robert during those occasions. That scene kind of reminded me of when she describes the sea seducing her.  I’m glad that Chopin included the small parts of Edna with her children. It made me like Edna more and it is reassuring that her children will not grow up thinking that they had a neglectful mother (even if they sort of did). I can see why this book would have been banned from stores during that time period; it’s really quite a powerful book. Chopin lines up everything so that her audience can really understand and feel what Edna feels. So, I can see why society would not have wanted women to get any ideas. For me personally, I found some if it rather annoying and repetitive but when I got near the end, I began to respect Edna more. There is no reason not to respect Edna in the end- she has followed her heart and her values. She has given herself physically up for her children’s sake, but she has saved herself. It ends up being a dark and ironic win-win situation. What can appear to be selfish is quite justifiable and in the end, better for everybody, including Edna.