of society and the roles that society give humans. Note how the sea is introduced in Chapter Six, which comes just after Edna has changed her mind and given in to Robert's entreaties to go bathing with him:

The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamouring, murmering, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation.

The sea is associated very strongly with both sensuality but also introspection which causes Edna to question the role she has been given in society. It is therefore significant that it is Robert who goes bathing with Edna because it is Robert who becomes the focus of Edna's rejection of her married life and the way that society expects her to act. Robert through the symbolic act of swimming gives Edna a taste of the liberation that she so eagerly craves in life when they go swimming together. In addition, this act of swimming together also foreshadows the tragic ending, when Edna realises she "had gone out too far." Literally and metaphorically, Edna has sought too much freedom, and is unable to get back safely, and has only one option left to her: suicide.

 When Edna learns finally to swim she gains great confidence in herself, her own 'powers' and 'strength':

A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before. (chapter 10)

The sea is an important symbol in this story. It represents individual liberation. When Edna learns to swim she learns to rely on herself. This is the 'awakening' of the title: her growing awareness of her own independent identity, where she does not need other relationships, even those of her family. This is symbolized in the way that she shuns the company of other swimmers.

Thereafter, Edna grows ever increasingly independent in her ways. This is seen almost immediately, when she returns home and lies languorously out in the hammock, refusing to listen to her husband's entreaties to come in, even although it is very late at night. She begins to alter her lifestyle completely, rejecting her former acquaintances, and going out on a Tuesday, the day of the week when she is expected to stay at home to receive visitors. Such behaviour on her part utterly perplexes her husband, who begins to wonder if she is suffering from a mental breakdown. She also begins a dalliance with Robert, although, in the end, even he does not satisfy her completely. What she really desires to be alone.

In short, Edna begins to shun society, to become entirely her own person. The story focuses not just on her own individual liberation, though, but her awakening as a woman, her repudiation of the domestic role that a woman was traditionally expected to occupy, looking after husband and children, entertaining the neighbours and being the perfect hostess, and so on. The feminist significance of her rebellion is symbolised in the quote above: 'She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before'. In other words, she wants to break the rules for women, to defy society's expectations of her as a wife and mother.

The quote above also hints at the danger of what she is doing; it is said she 'overestimates' her own strength. In the end, she is not really able to cope, and drowns herself - although this could also be figured as her ultimate escape from the demands of society.