Although it’s not uncommon to hear today but the divorce rate is fairly high in the United States. According to a 2005 US census 3.7/10 married couples are divorced. Round that to 4 and nearly half of all married couples divorce. These divorces have negatives effect emotional and financially. The most common reasons for divorce are communication breakdowns, emotional abuse, and financial issues. So who’s to blame? In my opinion, both parties.
In class we’ve read several stories where wives were unhappy in their marriages. Most recent is “The Awakening” the story of Edna’s “awakening”. Edna sought a sort of freedom that wasn’t there to begin with. Her intentions are highly controversial; however there might be a logical explanation for her behavior. Studies of human behavior show that spouses will lose interest in each other from “boredom” after seven years. For Edna this would make sense. Edna seemed to love Robert because to her he was a “new experience”. She became unsatisfied with her current husband.
Whether you believe that Edna was just some victim of circumstance, of her husband, or society I feel that Enda still carries some blame for her interloping. She is not completely justified in leaving her family by either affair or suicide. I think that everyone has choice, whether they felt that they where forced into marriage or were young and foolish. No one but yourself said “I do”. I myself am familiar with divorce and separation for my parents where divorced. I know that people who become unsatisfied in a relationship are just living their life, but the after effects to those people close are very devastating. And to just say that Edna was completely justified to kill herself or that she was glorified in doing so is just wrong.
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Robert, First of all I love the name of your blog "next generation thinking"- is that new or did I miss it before?
ReplyDeleteI am also familiar with the effects of divorce- (although I think we both turned out ok ;-)!) so I can appreciate the connection here. What I want to say though is that I think comparing Edna's situation to women today is where we are getting off track with the book. This is not a story of a failed marriage, a bad husband or wife, etc. For some reason when it comes to analyzing female charcters we refuse to consider anything but her positions as wife and mother- This is the story of the search for basic human rights, and a failure to find them. I urge you to try for a second to stop considering Edna as a wife and mother, and consider her as a character who is denied basic human rights in a country that proclaims them for all. Does your analysis of her not change if you consider her this way?
Nice monthly connection :-)