Beginning of Essay
Edna Pontillier Wants to Swim Edna Pontillier is a woman playing the role of the wealthy New Orleans housewife. She has a generous husband, children, financial stability, and a great deal of friends. What she also has, unfortunately, is a kind of generic happiness ....

Middle of Essay
.... up to this final act of suicide. Edna realizes she is till very young and has grown numb to feelings of vitality, love, and freedom; her spirit has become nonexistent. What she discovers are things she could not ignore. The first changes occurred when she began sleeping when she pleased and spent time doing want she wanted, mostly painting or swimming. She also began to break away from her husband’s oppression. He would attempt to control her by telling her what to do, as he had always done, except that now she just sort of ignored him. The truth was that her marriage had dehumanized her and she was no longer an individual. He believed she was ....