Why Did Edna Kill Herself?

In class, we were discussing Edna's suicide at the end of The Awakening, and the main debate seemed to be whether her suicide represented giving up or freeing herself. I just wanted to elaborate on this because I found it to be a very interesting debate. Regardless of which side you take, I think everyone can agree that we wish she didn't have to kill herself, but I think that her suicide was not really presented as giving up. By drowning herself instead of killing herself in any other way, Chopin draws in the symbolism of the water as a representation of realizing freedom. Since this symbolism holds while she commits suicide, I feel that her suicide was meant to be a demonstration of her finally realizing that she cannot live in society anymore and deal with being controlled by societal roles and expectations, and seeing that society at the time unfortunately will never allow her to live how she wants to. Therefore, she kills herself as a way to take the ultimate control of her life, and feels as free as she felt as a child just before she drowns. This shows that she was only this free of societal expectations when she was a child, and thus would not consciously have any real societal roles. 
I thought this was a really interesting debate in class, and I just want to know what eveyone else thinks about whether her suicide was giving up on life or taking control of it.

Comments

[Jiayi Y]

Edna's suicide is giving up.
She may have the "courageous soul that dares and defies" social expectations but since Robert rejected her, she was not brave enough to leave her children and Leonce and live in the ultimate independence and solitude like how Mademoiselle Reisz lived. Because she was not ready to suffer the criticisms from society and from her own conscience for leaving her children and she definitely could not continue to perform her role as mother and wife after awakening, the only choice was to die. This way she is free both from the domestic enslavement and potential punishments for her deviance.

The most powerful evidence that led me to conclude that she was giving up is the image: "a bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water."

Throughout the novel, Edna is being compared to a bird: first the virant and colorful pirrot, then the caged pigeon, and now a dying bird falling into the ocean. Edna becoming a bird symbolizes her breaking free, but she as a bird has increasinly less vitality. Solitude becomes more and more painful for her as she awakens to independence. The broken wing of the bird signals the failure of her attempt to cope with the solitude and loneliness as she "dares and defies".

[Dan R.]

I believe Edna killed herself mainly due to the fact that Robert left her. She could not continue living a life in which she wasn't happy with and that is what she was living with, with her husband. She could not accept the fact that the only man she loved did not want her. It was either be happy and in love with Robert or commit suicide and continue living a miserable life that was eating her inside each day.

[Mike Bower]

There are a number of reasons why Edna committed suicide. Her strong reliance on men is something that I think causes her to kill herself. But it is interesting how the sea lures Edna to the water. Chopin constantly describes the sea as inviting and liberating. When Chopin describes the sea in the final scene, she continues to describe the freeing qualities of the sea. Because of the way Chopin describes the sea, I cannot argue with the fact that Edna may have committed suicide as an ultimate act of freedom.

[Catie H.]

I agree with you Emma. I do not think that Edna's suicide was her giving up. We saw Edna struggling to live within society throughout the entire novel. She tried numerous things to defy society and to attempt to escape it. At the end of the novel, however, she realized that there is no other way out of society and its expectations. When we see her walk on the beach and into the water, it is clear that this is the only time in the novel that Edna has truly felt free, happy, and fully independent from society.

[Justine M.]

I agree that Edna's suicide was her last action at taking complete control of her life. I don't think her suicide was get giving up. She had gained control of her life and get death was the last action, in which she had complete control.