Comment: Today in class someone mentioned that they thought Edna was courageous and liberating at the end of The Awakening because she left everything behind and just went into the water. I disagree with this statement because I believe that if she were truly liberating, she would find a way to live on her own by becoming an artist or attending a college for women and finding a way. Though the society was critical and judgmental, she could have found a way to make it work. It seemed like she did not attempt very hard to do any one thing, except when she was having an affair, and when she was in love with Robert, though the awakening after the birth of her friend's baby made her realize that even that was fleeting. It seems to me that she is immature for her age, like a sixteen or eighteen year old trapped in a twenty-eight yearbody. She does not have the motherly instincts that come with age, and she has a summer fling that most teenagers dream about. She also tends to move from one interest to another old's her rather quickly like a child losing interest in a toy.

Question: How do the men in this time period accept the fact that their wives have friendly relationships with other men and not feel threatened by it?