The Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna is the rebellious woman so unseen in that time. Women were supposed to be submissive and content in their male dominated world; Edna was not. It is interesting to me how far society has come since then, something so “radical” back then is now mundane. Divorce rates are up and adultery is common, yet the yearning women have for “more” is ever present. Even in today’s time when women have more rights than ever, there is still a push from feminists to do more, be more, and want more. I myself have never thought that there were things that I couldn’t have just because of my sex, and it saddens me to think that women of Edna’s time didn’t have that same kind of freedom, and in the same sense I revere Edna for not letting social constraints stop her from pursuing what she wanted and what she thought would make her content.
It interests me that Edna got married and had children because she felt compelled to by society, it is for this very reason that she ends up ultimately leaving her husband and children. It seem to me that the social constraints placed on her forced her to do things that hurt other people, because she wasn’t doing things for herself, only for other people. This was such a negative impact on her husband and children and disheartening to hear, but I think that it would have been avoided if society had fostered a more supportive atmosphere for women to pursue their own happiness. I am glad that in today’s time women have the freedom to do so, and so possibly some husbands and children were spared the same hurt Edna’s husband and children experienced. I personally blame the social constraints in Edna’s time for her actions and the hurt she put on her family.
Question: Do you think that families themselves have benefited from the independence and freedom women have accrued over the years? More so, do you think that bad family situations have lessened because of the women’s revolution, or that families have actually suffered because their mothers are encouraged to be independent and pursue their own happiness?