Just before committing suicide it seems as though Edna finally understands society when she thinks to herself: “I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her hand and be happy; she is yours,’ I should laugh at you both” (Chopin 106-107). It is as though Edna realizes that she should not need a man or anyone else in her life to be happy. She also should not need their help in discovering who she is or need them in order to exist. But this realization is too much for Edna to handle and ending her life is the better option. The way in which Edna commits suicide, by allowing herself to drown in the sea, seems more to be one of “going to sleep” not “awakening.” However, it is through her death that Edna can finally awaken to happiness, because she could never seem to attain it in her life—it’s as if all of her life she had been
Just before committing suicide it seems as though Edna finally understands society when she thinks to herself: “I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her hand and be happy; she is yours,’ I should laugh at you both” (Chopin 106-107). It is as though Edna realizes that she should not need a man or anyone else in her life to be happy. She also should not need their help in discovering who she is or need them in order to exist. But this realization is too much for Edna to handle and ending her life is the better option. The way in which Edna commits suicide, by allowing herself to drown in the sea, seems more to be one of “going to sleep” not “awakening.” However, it is through her death that Edna can finally awaken to happiness, because she could never seem to attain it in her life—it’s as if all of her life she had been