Part a: what is the significance of the sea to edna?
a. it represents a danger to her – an oppressive future, if she does not make a change in her life.
b. it represents the freedoms that she craves yet is denied in her current situation.
c. it represents edna’s love for her family, despite her occasional frustrations with them.
d. it represents edna’s fear of her husband, whom she no longer trusts nor loves.

The sea represents the freedoms that Edna craves yet is denied in her current situation.

Option B

Explanation:

Kate Chopin’s story, ‘The role of the sea in the Awakening’ deserves a lot of appreciation because of the theme she has used in the story. The sea is a symbol of liberty, escape, and liveliness. Edna loves to spend her solitary time by sitting peacefully around the sea.

It makes her realize how small her problems are in the face of this vast universe. And this thought keeps Edna full of hopes during her hard times though the story.  

i think she wanted to protect her children from the extreme racism of the american south.