In chapter twenty-six of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna, the protagonist, decides to “never again belong to another than herself (p80),” and asserts her new independence by moving out of her husband’s home and into one of her own. She does not seek her husband’s approval because she does not want or need his financial support for this transaction. Edna makes this decision on impulse, and is able to explain to neither Mademoiselle Reisz, her confidante, nor herself the reasoning behind it.