What does Edna’s suicide/awakening mean in the
text? How can one be awoken or enlightened by death, the most final stage of
life? I feel that Edna realized that there was nothing for her in the world,
which no one could truly be her companion and she would always be the caged
bird if she did not set herself free. Robert’s rejection of her showed that the
man she had fallen in love with and idolized was too afraid of the
consequences, something Edna had left behind. Edna’s suicide could be read as a
hasty decision made by a foolish character, but I feel it is an empowering
moment for her, “The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering,
clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude. All
along the white beach, up and down, there was no living thing in sight.” (115).
I feel that the sea is the only thing Edna can give herself up to because there
is a freeing sense of the weightlessness of the ocean.
I would like to see to see someone make the argument that Edna's suicide was, as you said, a "hasty decision made by a foolish character." I think they would have to do a lot to convince me to agree with that point of view merely because I think it would be too simple to refer to Edna as a foolish woman who did not think her actions through. Edna was constantly trying to assert herself and, as you also made mention of. committing suicide was her way of taking full control of her life. It was the one decision she was not pressured into making and I feel as if assuming otherwise would be doing her character an injustice.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe the people who could/would make that argument ("a hasty decision made by a foolish character") were absent or silent in class yesterday. Let's hope someone is willing to take that stand--even in a devil's advocate way--on Monday. I don't fall in that camp, but I think the argument is interesting and worth having.
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