American Literature / Unit 11 AML 1028 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Edna Pontellier and the Ending
Captions available
The idea
The last pages return Edna to the water, where she swims out past her strength remembering childhood. Readers have argued for a century over whether the ending is a suicide, a defeat, a release or a refusal, and the novel gives no narrator's verdict. The course reports the disagreement.
In practice
A swim out, and no verdict given.
Where people slip
The meaning is contested, not settled.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it