The Awakening

As the guests make their way from the party down to the beach, Robert does not walk with Edna, but between the two lovers, and this surprises Edna. Robert does not spend nearly as much time with her, and she is wondering what might be the reason for it.

Most people from the crowd walk into the water immediately, without thinking much about it; the sea is quiet and inviting. Edna, despite taking swimming lessons from the other guests, still does not know how to swim. Every time she tries to swim, she feels an uncontrollable fear that only goes away if close by there is someone who can reach her.

That night, however, she suddenly feels strong enough to walk into the sea, and the other beach-goers applaud as they watch her swim. Edna does not stay with the group, and instead swims alone, for the first time feeling an ability “to control the working of her body and her soul” (70). Empowered, Edna wants to swim out “where no woman had swum before” (71), and she regrets that she has discovered the simplicity of this act just now.