Although most people are focusing on Edna's death, I want to focus on a real important theme that basically creates the novel, and that theme was Edna's search for her identity. Edna Pontellier was the protagonist of the story, but it was evident that Kate Chopin had the intentions of creating Edna’s character in the image of herself. This is evident because Kate Chopin struggled with the similar problems that Edna faced in the novel. Edna’s main struggle was with her identity in regards to society, and how society saw her as an individual. During this time period, the Feminist Movement was beginning to take place, and many women felt similar to the way she felt. The theme of identity was shown as Edna not being able to discover her own, and this lead to her demise by the end of the story. In Chapter 16, Edna’s identity issue surfaced as a whole; “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself” (Chopin 64). This quote was stating that she was not satisfied with her title as ‘mother’ or ‘wife.’ She felt that a particular portion, namely the ‘essential’ which she argued only belonged to her, and that she would have never given up this portion of her, not even to her children. Another example of Edna’s search for an identity occurred in Chapter 19, when Edna finished conversing with her husband, the author discussed Enda’s feelings, “There were days when she was very happy without knowing why. She was happy to be alive and breathing, when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day. She liked then to wander alone into strange and unfamiliar places. She discovered many a sunny, sleepy corner, fashioned to dream in. And she found it good to dream and to be alone and unmolested” (Chopin 78). This quote explained Enda’s deep personal feelings toward the outside world, and demonstrated her experience towards both extreme joy and extreme sadness when dealing with her newly, ‘awakened’ person. Although it is sad to see her go, we can finally say (ironically) that Edna found her personality.