final thoughts on Edna

After listening to all the discussions in class and taking a day to think about how I felt towards the novel and the characters, I've come to the conclusion that Edna really isn't that bad of a person. I know a lot of people are Edna haters and to an extent, I'm not a hundred percent happy with her either, but I don't dislike her character and I don't blame her for some of her actions. I do think she took the easy way out at the end with her death but I don't think the novel would have the same effect if it were any different. Edna was suppressed and unable to freely express herself for so long that when she came to realize herself and had her "awakening," I don't blame her for actions that followed.

As far as her affair, I don't think she truly cheated on her husband. Yes, she did have relations with someone other than her husband but it was purely physical and she had no emotional attachment to him. She didn't even want to keep his picture to sketch. I could see other's points if she was more involved with him emotionally by sharing intimate thoughts and such but because it was purely physical and nothing more, I don't understand the fuss about it. I am not condoning cheating by any means but I can't say that she is in the wrong when it is her choice to do with her body as she pleases. I think it would be a lot worse than it was had she had a more emotional connection to him like she did with Robert.

In regards to Edna's motherly instincts and skills, I don't think she was a bad mother. She stated she would die for her children, what more of a sacrifice could a mother do than to die for her kids? Just because she wouldn't give up herself doesn't make her a bad parent, it's the same as some parents now who have jobs and social lives and leave their kids with a babysitter. I think ultimately she was protecting them but not letting them see what was actually going on. Their innocence allows them to be naive to their mothers behavior and shelters them from a harsh reality. Edna kept them from knowing the truth so they wouldn't get hurt in the long run.