The Awakening Essay Research Paper The suicide — страница 2

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forever behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams. (1661) When Madame Ratignole held and caressed Edna s hand, she was not accustomed to an outward and spoken expression of affection, either in herself or in others. (1660) Edna did in fact experience some degree of intimacy in her life. Her and Robert Lebrun came increasingly closer as the story goes on. When Robert left for Mexico, for the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation which she had felt incipiently as a child (1681) This is the point where Edna begins to awaken. She begins to see that she can feel passion and love and that the doors to them really haven t been closed forever. When Robert left her whole existence was dulled (1682) In the absence of Robert, Edna kept her senses awake when she

developed an intimate relationship with Alcee Arobin. When he brought her home after their first day together, Edna felt extremely restless and excited. (1703) When he kissed her it was the first kiss of her life to which her nature had really responded. (1709) Yet, throughout her relationship with Arobin her heart still belonged with Robert and it was he who she truly longed for. Alcee Arobin was absolutely nothing to her. Her thoughts were concerned with what Robert would think of her act of infidelity (1705) Edna made progress on gaining her independency. She earned money through her paintings. With her own money she moved into a small house of her own. She even informed her husband of her move. When Robert came back she told him I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier s

possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. (1727) When Edna and Robert finally confessed their love for each other she learned that what Mademoiselle Reisz said was true. Robert really did love her. This is the kind of love she dreamed of. We shall love each other, my Robert. We shall be everything to each other. Nothing else in the world is of any consequence. (1728) Edna let Robert be everything she needed. When Robert slipped away, it was like everything Edna had slipped away. He left her a note saying I love you. Good-by because I love you. (1730) Without Robert Edna felt that she had nothing to live for. He was a dream come true for her. At this point Edna entered a state of emotional shock. Edna grew faint when she read the words. (1730) After her

sleepless night, she didn t have a clear mind. The next day she went to the Lebrun s house. She was tired but otherwise acted normal. She said she would stay for dinner. She asked for a couple of towels so she could take a good wash and even a little swim, before dinner. (1731) It does not seem like she had planned her suicide at this point. She would not need any towels if did not plan on coming out of the water. She walks down to the beach. The metaphor of a bird comes back into play. A bird with a broken wing circling disabled down, down to the water. (1732) It is no longer a caged bird. It is an injured bird who falls into the sea. She put her bathing suit on. Then took it off to be naked. The foamy wavelets coiled like serpents about her ankles. (1732) Are these serpents

pulling her into hell? A lot of questions can be brought up when considering the suicide of Edna. Did she plan to swim out so far that she wouldn t have the strength to swim back. Without sleeping the night before how much energy could she have had? She told Victor she was hungry. Could hunger play a part? The water was cold and that probably fatigued her. Edna began to have auditory hallucinations. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. (1733) She must have lost some awareness as to what was going on at that point. Without being fully aware of the situation she may not have known enough to turn around and swim back. When she first learned of her ability to swim, she wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before. (1668) Maybe she still

had that urge deep down inside her to swim far out. She would be far away from her problems on land. Whether planned or not, Edna s suicide is a tragedy. I argue that she did not make this choice or did not have a clear enough mind to competently make the choice of suicide. After the emotional shock of Robert leaving her she went down hill. If she just had more time to think about it she probably would have done things differently. The bird with the broken wing had no choice when it fell into the cold water. It could only fly in circles with one wing. The bird in the cage didn t have a choice either. These birds symbolize Edna. Edna didn t have a choice in the situation that she was faced with.