She stated, "Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to '"feed upon opinion"' when her own soul had invited her" (Chopin 94). During this point in Edna's life, she is finding out what it really means to live a happy life. Before, she had thought that being happy meant the image of a perfect life acceptable to society. However, her behaviors later show that she is slowly taking steps in a different direction that will help her be a better version of herself. One that is not shaped by expectations given to her but by her own free will and choices. Happiness can be very deceiving because a person can always give a false image of it, without truly having it. That false happiness represented Edna for most of her life, until she discovered there was much more to it than a pretty image. .
Edna's independence also changes through the novel while experiences many perceptions based on her psychological attitudes. At first Edna's views seem mainly one sided and regarding what is considered the standard of society. Though we see what she actually thinks about a women's place as a mother in the social order. She reflects, "The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels" (Chopin 8). Art is shown to be a great element in the novel, it represents the way Edna grows as an individual and seeks her own choice. "Mrs. Pontellier had brought her sketching materials, which she sometimes dabbled with in an unprofessional way.