Sunday, February 21, 2016
Independence wasn’t very common for women in this time. Women belonged to their husband and basically had no value except to bear children. Mr. Pontellier believed in this system although Edna didn’t. “ when Mr. Pontellier learned of his wife's intention to abandon her home and take up her residence elsewhere, he immediately wrote her a letter of unqualified disapproval and remonstrance.” (Chopin 126). Mr. Pontellier wasn’t too happy about Edna gaining independence and her own mind. “She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman has swum before” (Chopin 37). This is foreshadowing to Edna’s death at the end of the story. It is also irony because she swam out farther than any woman and died. Edna gained independence in a harsh society but gave it up because she became out of place and became an outcast.
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Hey Amanda, I wrote about Edna's independence in my post, too! I also said how her death was utterly ironic. She starts to portray this independent lifestyle and doesn't live to fulfill it. Kind of like Chopin's other piece of work we went over in class, but not as vague.
ReplyDeleteI saw this also! Its extremely ironic that Edna had finally gained the confidence she needed and seemed to being headed in the right direction, and then she lost it all. It took her whole life to get where she wanted to be and then she ended it. It's hard to put yourself in her place and try and think about how she felt the moment she started descending into the ocean.
ReplyDeleteHey !! I completely agree. She always wanted to be independent but then commited suicide. I do think her life was the one thing she had control over though. Maybe she decided she needed to be free
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