Edna's behavior has been foreshadowed through a conversation about her past with Mrs. Ratignolle in which Edna tells Adele of her childhood and the actions she took and the choices she made. Edna tells Adele, "I was a little unthinking child in those days, just following a misleading impulse without question" (61). Edna has not come far from her childhood days of defying what society thought should be done with one's life. Though this statement is in reference to Edna running away from prayers in the Presbyterian Church, it applies to many other aspects of her life. During her stay at Grand Isle, Edna overcomes her fear and learns how to swim. By learning how to swim, Edna gained power that eventually made her grow "daring and reckless, overestimating her strength" (73). She lacked the opportunity to develop a strong sense of self before she married Leonce because she had...
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