Friday, March 6, 2015
Edna's Nakedness as Her Downfall?
Edna's decision to commit suicide was the only thing she was ever truly able to do to take control of herself. With that being said I feel as if the text indicates that Edna wanted everyone else to see her suicide as a mere swimming accident gone horribly wrong. In class we discussed the strangeness of her creating dinner plans right before she killed herself, as if she fully intended on coming back from the beach. I believe this is exactly what Edna wanted Victor believe so as not to raise suspicion about what she was about to do. Edna's reasoning for wanting her death to seem like an accident could have been a last standing act to preserve not only her own, but her childrens reputations. She did not want her children to be ridiculed by society because of her inability to be a proper mother, and having a mother that committed suicide would have socially condemned her children just as much as her running off with another man would have. The one thing that Edna did that could have potentially made her death questionable was getting naked before entering the sea. The text narrates Edna's nakedness when it says, "when she was there beside the sea, absolutely alone, she cast the unpleasant, pricking garments from her, and for the first time in her life stood naked in the open air" (115). I understand that symbolic significance behind Edna stripping her clothes away, but that does not negate the fact that it would be seen as a strange action for a normal person to take. The indication that she was standing in the open air, naked first the first time hints that her actions were unusual for it is not something one usually does. We as readers do not know what happens after Edna kills herself. Was her body ever found or was all that was left of her a lone bathing suit, stranded on the beach? Either way I feel that her nakedness can be seen as a connection to recklessness. Edna was already advised not to go into the water because it was too cold. I wonder what the discoverers of her death would have thought when they found out she had stripped herself of what little warmth she had. Would they have gotten the connection that Edna's actions were intentional, or am I reading into this too much?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think the nakedness could be seen as a symbol for maybe how Edna was feeling at the time of her suicide. As a mother and in a public marriage, she felt that all eyes were on her all the time. Maybe she was starting to feel exposed to the world so she literally left herself exposed to the world. It could also be that she stripped herself of all the people she was pretending to be and her naked self was the only time she was ever truly herself. She wanted to be seen as the real Edna. I think there is a ton of symbolism in Edna's choice to strip down. We may never know the real answer.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your comment, Haley. I cannot help but interpret Edna's nakedness as rebellion in her last act of life. I do agree with you in that she seemed to want to not leave any messes behind for her family, considering the Pontellier's reputation and social standing, but I think that her nakedness was her utmost liberation, particularly after re-reading this line: "How strange and awful it seemed to stand naked under the sky! how delicious! She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known."(115) Her discarding her clothes was the final part of her total awakening, I believe.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could speculate her family's reactions. I almost want her husband and lovers to understand the gravity of her actions as a suicide, but cannot help but wish for her children to imagine the scenario as a swimming accident. It is well-thought of Chopin to end the novella where she does, though, leaving us readers to wonder a hundred years later.