A Doll 's House And The Awakening

Throughout the play, Nora experiences a metamorphosis that will change her perceptions of a fulfilled life. At first, Nora seems to be the perfect wife and mother of the Victorian society. She is eager to please her oppressive husband in every way that he wants and dutifully cares for her children. However, Rahman points out that “It’s a pretention of happiness and fulfillment, whereas her identity her true self

First let us start with Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin’s great novel, The Awakening. As the novel begins we meet the Pontellier’s family and most importantly Edna. We see through the exposition that Edna is a twenty-eight-year-old wife of a New Orleans businessman who see’s her as a mere possession that is the most fragile and important possession to have, but still just as a possession. Based on the culture around her we see her servility to her husband and her everlasting devotion that her life is to be controlled by whoever she marries(1878–1899: Lifestyles). This becomes very clear when reading on page two. In this situation we see Mr.

In the essay, Chopin's The Awakening, Platizky writes that “while one could argue she was just shy or introverted, Edna's sweeping passions later in the novel suggest the introversion may have been imposed.” (Platizky, Roger). While this is true that Edna has sweeping passions later in the novel, it is not correlated to Edna wanting to block something from her memory, such as sexual violence. While someone could insist that Edna’s mood swings are suggesting the protagonist “is trying to block something more than just her realization that she is unhappy in her present marriage” (Platizky), that information is extremely faulty. Instead, Edna’s mood swings deal with the oppression of the patriarchal society that women were thrown into during this time period. Each woman was supposed to lack individuality and obey the men, especially in the Creole Catholic society. Edna’s lack of cooperation towards this norm shows up often in The Awakening.

    In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin tells of Edna Pontellier's struggle with fate. Edna Pontellier awakens from a slumber only to find that her life is displeasing, but these displeasing thoughts are not new to Edna. The actions taken by Edna Pontellier in the novel The Awakening clearly determine that she is not stable. The neglect of her duties as a wife and mother and as a woman of society are all affected by her mental state. Her choices to have affairs and disregard her vow of marriage represent her impaired judgment. The change in her attitude and interests becomes quite irresponsible, and that change along with her final decision to commit suicide tell the reader that Edna

The central theme of A Doll’s House is Nora’s rebellion against society and everything that was expected of her. Nora shows this by breaking away from all the standards and expectations her husband and society had set up for her. In her time women weren’t supposed to be independent. They were to support their husbands, take care of the children, cook, clean, and make everything perfect around the house.

Due to the mindset of men during that time period, Edna is unable to have a husband, or lover,that allows her to live in an awakened state, and she realizes this. This is revealed through textual evidence: “…you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free… If he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her and be happy, she is yours,’ I should laugh at you both.” (Chopin, pg. 117) Through her awakening, Edna discovers that a man prevents her from being free; only she can set herself free, so she

Feminist ideas are portrayed in both “A Doll’s House” and Tartuffe. Both works portray women with the inability to do simple tasks such as obtain a loan, or simply decide who they wish to marry because they are women. The way women are treated in both works today, would be demeaning, but in the time they were written, was a way of life. “A Doll’s House,” and Tartuffe are both clear examples of feminism.

In Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, Nora starts out as sympathetic person, making decisions based upon the welfare of only others, and never herself. She is a caring, naïve and loving person, making it easy to forgive her for her faults. As the story proceeds her motives are questioned, and so is the idea of whether or not she is still a sympathetic character.

Nora's second, and strongest, break from society's rules was shown by her decision to leave Torvald and her children.  Society demanded that she take a place under her husband.  This is shown in the way Torvald spoke down to her saying things like "worries that you couldn't possibly help me with" (Ibsen Page #), and "Nora, Nora, just like a woman" (Ibsen page #).  She is almost considered to be property of his: "Mayn't I look at my dearest treasure?  At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me - that's all my very own" (Ibsen page #)?  By walking out she takes a position equal to her husband and destroys the very foundation of society's expectations of a wife and mother.  Nora also breaks society's expectations of staying in a marriage since divorce was frowned upon during that era.  Her decision represented a break from all expectations placed upon a woman by society. Throughout the play Nora is looked down upon and treated as a possession by her husband. She is

With a closer look at the conversations between Nora and Christine it can be seen that Nora is well aware of the problems present in her marriage, yet she is uncertain. Throughout the play we see Nora begging for more respect, until she boldly demands it at the end of the play. Had it not been for Christine’s sharp contrast, this development in Nora’s character would not have made sense. In the first act of A Doll’s House we see Nora easily spill her secrets to Christine. It can be said that in doing so she tries to convince Christine that she is able and should be taken seriously; she spills her secrets in order to make Christine see her in a more respectable light. This is seen when Nora retaliates to Christine’s comment regarding how little Nora knows about the “burdens and troubles of life”

Throughout history, society often places women inferior to men, causing women to be predisposed to obeying their husband without a second thought. However, when a woman begins to question the idea of loyalty and obedience, her eyes are often opened to the mold that she is encased in and becomes determined to break through and develop her self-potential. In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the main female character is put through a revelation that changes her life forever.

This can be seen when she calls her youngest child her "sweet little baby-doll," and later when she reassures her children that "the doggies wouldn't bite [her] pretty little dollies" (22).2  Nora seems to be overlooking the fact that these little, doll-like figures are real people that she is responsible for.  In this same scene, Nora plays hide-and-seek, "laughing and shrieking," with her kids (23).  As the argument-that Nora is being selfish-states, she is her children's playmate.  Yet, shouldn't a mother be more than just a fellow playmate?  A mother has a responsibility to teach and train her children, not just play with them.  This scene is the only time we see direct interaction between Nora and her kids; it suggests that being a playmate or else using them as her play toys, are two of the only ways Nora knows how to be a mother.  Nora herself admits to Torvald, in their final confrontation, that the children "have been my dolls" who "thought it was fun when I went and played with them" (81).

Her father lived in a time where the woman stood by their husbands no matter what and she is the result if that generation. There is more freedom when in comparison to the past generation but the same concepts still apply. In the past women were not allowed to voice their opinions or question their husbands whether publicly or privately. Nora ended up with a husband that was not selfish and actually cared about her well-being so in that sense Nora was

Nora gets blackmailed for forging a signature, and for this she gets disowned by her husband. But, when her husband finds that the blackmail will be dropped, and will no longer affect their lives, he tells Nora that everything is okay and they both can presume living like normal. This opens Nora’s eyes fully for the first time, before she had only glimpses of the wrongness in her identity, but now she knew. Nora had been living a false identity, she had been a ‘toy doll’, and at the end of the play she decides to want so much more than to be what others thought she should be. In the end of Act three, Nora states ”I must think things out for myself and try to get clear about them” (Ibsen 199). Nora is now going to decided who she is and what she really believes, she is going to discover her own identity. In an article on women working in World War II, it states, “While patriotism did influence women, ultimately it was the economic incentives that convinced them to work. Once at work, they discovered the nonmaterial benefits of working like... contributing to the public good, and proving themselves in jobs once thought of as only men’s work” (“Rosie Riveter: Women”). Women before World War II were thought of as simply housewifes for the most part, similar to Nora. The circumstances of World War II brought about need for women in the workplace, this started a domino effect of women taking up an identity similar to males the sense that they could now

Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.