Awakening journals
... ” This quote can be considered Ednas awakening. ... However, since the ocean is also described in such sensuous terms, we can expect that Ednas awakening will not be purely intellectual, but also sexual. ... ” This quote is taken from Edna’s first real swim and it signifies an important stage in her awakening. ... Ednas learning how to swim can be seen as a metaphor for her awakening, her sudden terror in the middle of the ocean represents how difficult her journey to personal self-fulfillment will be. ... He has not had the same kind of awakening as she has, and as a man, he does not have to struggle against the social limitations that Edna finds so unbearable.