Option #2

1) There’s got be more to life- Stacie Orrico

I've got it all, but I feel so deprived

I go up, I come down and I'm emptier inside

Tell me what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing

And why can't I let it go

There's gotta be more to life...

I almost feel as though this song could be the theme song to Edna’s life. The whole story is based on her finding herself and questioning everything around her, from her marriage to her desire to be an artist.  She struggles with feelings of being dissatisfied and knowing that in order to gain independence as the woman she wants to be she must give up the comforts and stability in her life. The life of being a “motherly- woman” fails to satisfy her desire to be free “ It was not a life which fitter her, and she could see in it but an appalling and hopeless ennui” (Chopin, 45)

2) Going Through the Motions- Buffy

Going through the motions

Losing all my drive

I can’t even see if this is really me

And I just want to be

Alive

If these songs were a playlist for Edna’s story line, this would be the first song on the list. At the beginning of the novel it seems as though she lives her life lacking purpose and kind of in auto pilot. I would consider her to be trapped by societal boundaries and expectations. Edna seems complacent in her marriage as well as out of touch with her feelings and emotions, almost as though she has disregard for them. Much of her time spent on Grand Isle she participates and acts in way that is considered proper and expected of her- as though she is just “going through the motions” of everyday life.

3) Shine Your Way- Owl City and Yuna

There's a feeling deep inside


You can let it be your guide


To find, find your way


And there's no time for us to waste


Got to take a leap of faith


And fly, fly away

It is not till closer to the end of her trip that Edna starts to get in touch with her emotions when she starts to experience a form of passion for Robert Lebrun as well as the first major event in her awakening- her swim into the ocean.  This made her feel “but intoxicated with her newly conquered power” (Chopin, 27) as she reached “out for the unlimited in which to loser herself” (Chopin, 28) This is when she starts to realize a much deeper form of self-awareness as well as the start to shedding her identity as a women who always does what is expected of her. Edna’s awakening starts to occur very quickly and leads to some very hasty decisions.

4) Miss Independent-Kelly Clarkson

Miss independent

Miss self-sufficient

Miss keep your distance

Miss unafraid

Miss out of my way

Miss don't let a man interfere, no

As Edna starts to really find herself she starts to act out in ways that are considered to be more associated with an independent lifestyle- “A radiant peace settled upon her when she at last found herself alone” (Chopin, 76). She starts fulfilling sexual desires, not really participating in her children’s lives, as well as moving out into a house for herself. Edna starts to explore the more “masculine side of life”- pertaining to gambling at the racetrack and selling her paintings to generate income for her rent.

5) Edge of the Ocean- Ivy

Ohhh, we can begin again.

Shed our skin, let the sun shine in.

At the edge of the ocean

We can start over again.

There's a world I've always known

Somewhere far away from home.

When I close my eyes I see

All the space and mystery.

By the end of the novel, Edna has realized that her attempt to escape the natural position of a woman as well as the societal norms that were expected of her were not as easy to leave behind. She has struggled for a very long time and this is what drives her to her suicide. While this final scene on the beach can be viewed as her giving up it can also be a sign of rebirth for her- “She felt like some newborn creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it has never known” (Chopin 127). Edna is letting herself forget the demands of her and immersing herself in death, which she views as her ultimate freedom