The Awakening Extra Credit Essay
1. What is Edna trying to achieve throughout the novel? Does she fulfill her mission?
Well to me I feel as is if Edna is trying to achieve finding her independence, happiness, sexual desires and freedom in her life. No, Edna doesn’t fulfill her mission, She commits suicide. Edna’s perspective of life is different from others. She didn’t communicate enough with her husband so their minds were in different places. Edna didn’t have a good relationship with her kids.
In the beginning of the novel Edna is comfortable with her marriage. She later thought of her marriage to Leonce as the end of her life. Leonce and Edna took their family on a vacation to Grand Isle. Edna was influenced by her friend Adele Ratignolle on freedom of expression. With Edna being around Adele so much she starts the process of her awakening and self-discovery. Edna meets other guys throughout the book but the first one is Robert Lebrun, while she is still married to Leonce. Edna and Robert took long walks on the beach at Grand Isle.
Robert and Edna’s relationship began to grow and Edna feels more alive than she did before. Edna becomes aware of her sexuality and independence with Robert. Edna becomes depressed when she is with her actual husband. Robert…show more content… Robert once again leaves Edna while she was at Adele’s house to comfort her during a tough time. Devastated by the move Edna thinks of her children and she is heartbroken because even Robert wasn’t able to fulfill her dreams and desires. She feels alone in the world. Edna returns to Grand Isle to escape everyone and everything. As she swims in the water Edna thinks about her freedom from her children and her husband and Roberts failure to understand her. She also thinks of Dr. Mandelet’s words of wisdom, and Mademoiselle Reisz’s courage. She later commits suicide by drowning
