I would like to discuss question 21 in The Awakening Socratic Seminar questions. I am supposed to either support or refute the statement "Edna has never loved her husband." I believe that Edna felt a form of love toward her husband, if only because he was the father of her children. She also felt a bit of love for him when they were first married and first knew each other. But, it never progressed past "puppy love," if you will. She never felt true love for the man she called her husband. She also never would be able to become her own person if she still believed that she loved him.

This can be related to today's world with young marriages. Many young adults straight out of college get married because they think that they are with "the one" and that this person is the thing that will complete their lives. Most of these marriages end in divorce or are just unhappy. It is the fact that some people believe that they have to be with another person to be complete that strengthens Edna's actions.

Edna knew that to be her true self she needed to be apart from the man she never truly loved. It was the only way that she could be free. The people that marry without much thought obviously do not realize this and cannot be their own person. Now, I'm not negating love, but it is a shame (and shames the idea of self actualization that Edna represents) that people would degrade themselves so far as to believe that a person they don't truly love will complete them.