The book raises issues about the role of women in society, not only in the time period in which it is set, but also in the modern world. Edna was truly brave in the way that she slowly began to defy society's conventions. She was never unfaithful to her husband because he had betrayed her by seeing her as an object. This contributed to her yearning for truth and freedom. Her husband was a well-meaning man, but Edna had no real trust in him. She felt empty with him and their children. Once Leonce was gone and Edna had been with Robert, she felt like she had found true and passionate love, but she had not. Robert was like Leonce. Robert speaks of her being "set fre

Edna sacrifices all in the end of the story and kills herself. Her suicide was not an escape from her children, but the ultimate sign of her responsibility to them. She could not have lived her life, having left her husband to be with Robert, allowing her sons to grow up with such an unseen background. She kills herself in place of leaving with

Robert because of her realization that he would not have allowed for the individuality that she craved. Staying with him would have been a total falsification of her existence. I mean by this that if she would have left with Robert, she would have been leaving from one empty relationship into another. The reason that she was leaving Leonce in the first place was to explore herself. She did not want to go back to what she had been.

In the time period which Edna was in, women had few choices in the case of divorce, and men took the sole custody of their children. Edna could not stay with her husband and felt there were no options which would bring her happiness. People called her selfish and whiny, but that was not what she was at all. She was being forced by society and her family to stay in a situation that was against her nature. While she had a deep love for her

Some common words found in the essay are:
Leonce Robert, Adele Ratignole, Edna Pontellier's, , Edna Robert,
Approximate Word count = 828
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)