The Role Of Edna's Sexuality In The Awakening

In addition to conforming to rigid gender roles, women were also expected to be pure and loyal to their husbands. Edna is a woman ahead of her time and explores and discovers her sexuality throughout the novel. The reader can tell from the beginning of the novel that Edna is unhappy in her marriage with Léonce. She did not love Léonce and felt as though the marriage was a mistake. At first she is confused and not sure how to feel. As time goes on, she discovers her sexuality. The first time the reader sees Edna begin to explore her sexuality is when she is with Madame Ratignolle. Both women go to the beach and for the first time, Edna sees her friend in a different light, “She had long wished to try herself on Madame Ratignolle. Never had that lady …show more content…
The most crucial part of Edna’s exploration comes when she is learning how to swim in the ocean. At first she is scared, but then she grasps the concept and enjoys her newfound freedom, “She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (Chopin 47). This is a turning point for Edna. With her newfound freedom comes a life changing epiphany, “it shows that her body needed to be free at sea, to be alone with the waves for her to realise [sec] that everything in her life, from her body to her sexuality belongs to her and her awakening was the first step of this realisation [sec]” (LiteratureReverie 1). In this moment, Edna realizes her identity is her own; no one else owns her or can control what she does with her body. Going forward, Edna decides to take her exploration of sexuality a little further. She decides that she no longer belongs to her husband and experiments with a few men. Although she still has a husband, Edna grows fond of a young man named Robert LeBrun. He moves out of the country for a little while, but Edna still thinks of him despite having a husband. While Robert is gone, Edna entertains herself with a young man named Alcée