The Awakening's Ending

Those who have finished the book know that Edna dies by drowning. Her suicide leaves questions like, what happens to her children? What happens to her husband? What happens to the rest of the characters? But the biggest one is possibly, why? Why did she kill herself?

It is shown in the novel that Edna's suicide was not premeditated, but an act of impulse. "She was not thinking of these things when she walked down to the beach." (Chopin 155). As she continues to go farther and farther into the water, she decides that this is what she'll do. Although I don't agree with her final actions, seeing as how I was especially curious as to what she would do with her life, one can understand how she arrived at that point. The author demonstrates that the reason possibly lies within her family and Robert. "There was no one thing in the world that she desired. There was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert; and she even realized that the day when he, too, and the thought of him would melt out of her existence, leaving her alone. The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days." (Chopin 155). It's important to take note that she does not directly state that her children are part of what causes her to make her decision. It's what they represent. It's what they remind her of: that she has been "fitted" for this role and nothing else.

As for Robert, Edna acknowledges that whatever relationship she could've had with him would have been short-lived and potentially kept under wraps. Edna also acknowledges that the one thing she desires, Robert, is one of the things she can't ever possibly have. Edna Pontellier was a lot of things, but she wasn't clueless. In the most basic terms, she was trapped and she knew that's how she would've stayed. She may have made progress by moving out of her house and allowing herself to love Robert, but she was most likely never going to be able to proudly walk down the street, with her head held high. How could she, when she knew she could not have the right to love Robert? To be free? To live as she pleases? And so the end of Edna Pontellier came about, with subtlety and without hesitation.