This was her first step in openly making a statement of her discontent. She made this decision with the intuition of what was right for her. And conforming to society's restrictions peeked her intuition and forced a drive within her. In Frank Magill's Survey of American Literature, it states, "Edna has awakened. . .to the excitement of personal liberty, and she discovers within herself a growing desire to control her own life" (pg. 389). If the choices she made would drastically change her life, she would do so with a clear mind.
Though Edna had experienced this awakening, her options to pursue true happiness were still limited. In "The Nullification of Edna Pontellier", Katherine Kearns wrote, "As she is aroused, rounded out by the infusion of physical desire that is an emblem of her swelling sense of self, she is awakened to the damning imperatives of a sensuality which repudiates her intellectual, spiritual, and artistic worth as they are defined within the system to which she subscribes" (63). She could either return to live with her husband and children, or she could live alone. Edna found neither of these options to be satisfying, or reasonably sufficient. There was a higher price to pay for Edna, even if she didn't view it in that regard. Whether it be good for her or not, she had to make yet another decision, because where she could somewhat distantly fit in previously, she could no longer find a viable place for herself.
As the main character, Edna wanted to convey her desire to leave behind the limits which marriage and motherhood placed upon her. The Awakening "represented a bid for women's freedom outside marriage and motherhood" (Wagner-Martin, 545). To accomplish this, Edna learned to swim. Both metaphorically and literally, learning to swim gave Edna the freedom to choose. Swimming into the lake or ocean freed Edna from the land where society expected her to obey the traditional responsibilities of social standards and act the part of dutiful wife and mother.
