Motherhood According to Edna

What does Edna mean when she says  "I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself" (Ch. XVI)?

When Edna makes this statement I believe that she is taking claim of her life.  She knows that society expects certain things from women who are mothers, but she does not want to be defined by these norms.  In the first part of the statement Edna is simply saying that she will care for her children in all of the physical ways that she can such as, food, clothing, and shelter.  However, she is not willing to give up the things that make her the person that she is and was before she was a mother.  She wants to maintain her own idea of what it means to be a woman.  When she says that she, "wouldn't give up herself," she is making it clear that just because she is a mother, does not mean that she no longer has wants or needs as a woman.  She was not willing to give up personality or the things that make her happiest just because society tells her that she should.