One of the major factors that leads to Edna’s suicide is the fact that she is becoming self aware for this time period. Women in this time period really could not think for themselves, as they were completely dependent on their husbands. Adele is a prime …show more content…
Before she made her way out to sea, she stripped completely naked, expressing her relief, “She felt like some new-born creature, opening her eyes in a familiar world that it had never known (Chopin 152)”. Edna had finally rid herself of the bonds of society, allowing herself to be in the truest form of herself, experiencing life the way she should have the entire time. As she swims out further and further, she does not express any regret in her decision, or the life that she had been living. Her thoughts in her final moments do provide a deeper insight, as her attention drifts to a dog chained to a tree, barking and fighting to break free. Edna, being the dog, society being the chain, and motherhood representing the tree, all pose as significant symbols. With Edna’s death, she is breaking free of the chains that are binding her to society's view of what she should