Is the Creole life by the sea all that "diff'rent"?

In regards to Diff'rent, it is a play that I have found to be interesting for several reasons as of yet, beginning with the character of Emma(r). As a female living during this time period, she holds an expectation of the need to be "diff'rent", holding herself and the one she loves, Caleb, to a seperate group of expectations than she does anyone else, including her own family members and friends. And this is something seemingly rare and unnatural, as the idea of "men being men" runs throughout the dialogue of the other characters, who cannot understand why Emma is upset over the "joke" played upon Caleb and then his actions on the boat.

Much like Daisy Miller and Edna Pontillier, Emma seems to be out of her time with the ideas she holds or with her beliefs and how she thinks that others should feel, but in a way that is somewhat "different" from what we have seen so far with the other female characters, and yet in a way similar. As I see it, like Edna, Emma holds herself in a sort of dream-world, one separated from the realities of life as it exists around her, that as others believe, has resulted from her reading of the suspiciously cheap novels that rest on her living room table. And although she seems willing and perfectly capable of  acknowledging and grasping that there is an entirely different (I'm beginning to wonder how many times in this post I will use this word in its various forms) world that exists outside of the people she sees herself and Caleb being, she still chooses to believe that diff'rence is a possibility. Therefore, also like Edna, that world is then shattered as Caleb's discretions are revealed, but only in regards to him, as Emma still sees herself apart from all the rest and is then alone in this feeling, resolving to stay that way if there is no man, not even a man as "good as Caleb" that can live up to her standard of difference. It will be interesting to see as the play continues whether or not Emma's own world comes crumbling down and how she will then react to it.

One of my discussion questions then for this text is, why is it easier for Emma to resolve to break free of social conventions or expectations than it was for Edna? It seems to me that although we had discussed in class ways for Edna to have other options, she seemed in the text to not see them or want them, whereas Emma seems free to make another choice.

Another question would be, is Emma justified in wanting Caleb to be in fact "diff'rent"? I think this sort of ties back into the idea of Emma possibly being a woman and having ideas before her time, like the others in a way, but it is an intriguing question that certainly is floating all throughout the first act.

And finally, it is certainly significant that sexuality is the main issue taken with Emma's idea of diff'rent, so would it make any difference then if another transgression had been committed by Caleb as the cursing is seemingly let off the hook, but for how long? Was the sexual discretion the only think that could've broken Emma's fantasy, or was it bound to happen regardless, even after the wedding with something else? And what does that say about the character?