be with Robert drove her to such despair she came to the conclusion it was better off not living. As sad as this seems, she was at peace with herself when she died, which ultimately was all that she was striving for. I think that Edna made the decision to end her life at the end of the novel because she felt completely hopeless in her life. She had reached a point where she didnt think anything would be changed for the better and thought if she continued living she would be stuck in this dreary, depressing life forever. She had seen how good life could be, without the social confines that engulfed her. Her infatuation with Robert had grown to become an obsession and in her mind she had come to a point where life without his love and companionship was not possible. In some ways this might seem like the cowards way out, just Edna escaping her problems. In reality it was more than that, it was Edna finally coming to terms with what she wanted in life, and what she wanted, she couldnt possibly have. Throughout her awakening she had times of happiness, but mainly was unhappy in her life. When she entered the ocean that day, she was perfectly content and peaceful, not scared or miserable. It brought back memories of her happy childhood and places she loved. If she couldnt be happy in life, at least she could be happy in death....
