Honestly I was pretty surprised with the whole plot of the
awakening, not to mention the ending. During the 19th century, like
the book shows, the typical role of a woman was to give birth and take care of
the kids; not to mention adultery was a huge scandal. So for a woman writer of
that time to explore that aspect of a women’s self seems very scandalous and
brave to do. I think it’s good of Edna to want to develop herself more and,
especially in this day and age, it is stressed to figure out who you are as a
person. Having said that, I do believe she acted very selfishly in respect to
her children. I personally believe that since she was the one who brought them
into this world, she should want to take better care of them. I understand that
she did love them but the fact that she, so easily, was able to leave them to
explore herself is pretty selfish. It no doubt would affect the kids in one way
or another, even if they were wealthy enough to have caregivers for them. Then, the fact that she committed suicide
seems the most selfish act of all. Maybe it’s just a personal opinion, and I
know how tragic and tricky the subject of suicides are; the fact that a person
feels so hopeless and depressed that they see suicide as their only way out is
beyond tragic. However, to abandon her children at such young ages and in such
a dramatic way is pretty unfair to them. It sort of reminds me of the classic situation
of those rich mothers who are so concerned with material wealth, men’s
affection, and appearance that they forget about their children. I mean, I get
it, that in that time period it was a lot more complicated for a women to
explore her own identity then it is now, but I just don’t get why should couldn’t
have attempted to stick it out, at least a little while longer, for the
children’s sake.
You raise some good questions, Kara. In some ways, the part about abandoning her children is more shocking to us today than the adultery part, since 19th-century wealthy women would have had less to do with their children than we do today.
ReplyDeleteKara I agree with you. I believe that Edna should have the right to develop herself and figure out who she is. I think that she has this right because she needed something to get away from her problems and by searching for a way to relieve her from the stresses of life is a valid reason for being selfish. Most people search for opportunities that are in their best interests and Edna did the correct thing by being selfish. On the topic of abandoning her children, I believe that she should not feel guilty for abandoning them because she was put in a situation where she had to do that to find who she is. I disagree with you about your opinion of Edna’s suicide. I believe that everyone has the freedom to do what they want with themselves. In this case, Edna was the one that gave birth to her children but just because she gave birth to them doesn’t necessarily mean that she has to take care of them. In my biomedical ethics class, we were talking about abortion and the fact that women who decide to abort have that right because it is their body and they have the right to do what they want with them. In my view, Edna gave life to her children and they should thank their mother for doing that. Edna’s children should look for other sources of support. To sum up, Edna was a rebel in the novel and she wanted to break the mold of the role of women in this time frame which makes her actions very understandable.
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