Edna, Edna, Edna....so much to say and so little time. I enjoyed the journey Edna went through and how we could see her gradually breaking away from the life she was given towards a life she desired. But some things along the way I was not too pleased with. Her affair with Arobin just makes me lower the respect I had for my good friend Eddzz. I can completely understand how she fell in love with Robert while being married to Leonce, the she-man, but if she's in love with Robert WHY DOES SHE FOOL AROUND WITH AROBIN??!!! To me, this proves how out of control she is; perhaps she has been closed so tightly into the conforms of society that the second someone rebels against it (adultery) she just grabs at it. In addition, I believe her suicide is not because of Robert at all. I think its more about how she will ALWAYS be connected to her children and as she has said she would never give her "true being" up for her kids, so she will never be able to break free from her previous life. There was no such thing as joint-custody in her days, making her role to her children almost a death sentence to Edna.
Edna also feels like she has no place in society and that no one understands her. When she goes on a rant to Robert about how she has freedom from all men his face goes white and he says "What do you mean?". Then before her suicide Edna explains "He did not know; he did not understand. He would never understand". The fact that no one would ever come to terms with her new way of life makes her want to commit suicide. Edna "had resolved never again to belong to another than herself" (80), which means she would never again be the posession of a man, not even Robert. This reminded me of in To Kill a Mockingbird when that old lady wanted to die beholden to nothing so she slowly and painfully overcomes her morphine addiction. All Edna wanted was to be uncontrolled like a free bird, but society would not let her.
It was reassuring that Edna knew it was better for her to suffer while finding her new self than to live the rest of her life in a sort of daze. Like that famous quote: its better to have loved and lost than to never love at all, Edna might have endured a strenuous journey, but at least she tasted freedom. The time period when Leonce was away really allowed Edna to grow as a person. She became self-sufficient by selling her paintings and I guess the affair let her see what life could be like if she wasn't confined to her husband.
Mad props to K.Chopin for writing The Awakening. I could've done without some of the dinner parties, but if she hadn't written this novel maybe we wouldn't be able to wear jeans or join the army. WOMANS SUFFRAGE HOOOLLLLAAAA.
~~~***~~~ @ndrea xxxxx00000xxxxxx000000xxxxxx
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment