Comparing Edna of Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Nora of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House
Kate Chopin's work, The Awakening, and Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, were written at a time when men dominated women in every aspect of life. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in The Awakening, and Nora, the protagonist in A Doll's House, are trapped in a world dominated by men. The assumed superiority of their husbands traps them in their households. Edna and Nora share many similarities, yet differ from each other in many ways.
Two main similarities of Edna and Nora are that they both have an awakening and are like caged birds without freedom; one main difference is that Edna lives in reality and Nora lives in a fantasy
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When the saying is translated into English it means, Get out! Get out! Damn in!; the caged bird sends the message that Edna needs to get out of her marriage to make everything right in her life. Like Edna, Nora is reflected as a trapped bird. Nora, in "A Doll's House," is constantly referred to as a bird by her husband, Helmer. As in the quote, "And I couldn't wish you anything but just what you are, my sweet little lark" (Ibsen 972). Helmer show his ownership of Nora and how she is his little bird. Unlike the image of a caged parrot, Nora is a bird trapped by the dominance of her husband.
A second similarity is that Edna and Nora each had an awakening about her own marriage. Edna's awakening took place early in the novel, while Nora's awakening occurred at the end of the play. The realization that she was not happy taking care of her husband, house or children began Edna's awakening. Represented by the quote, "An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish" (Chopin 14). Edna feels the entrapment of her marriage that has been present subconsciously, and it fills her mind and soul with pain and hurt. At the end of "A Doll's House," Nora announces to her husband the need to leave the marriage due to the oppression caused by his power over her. Nora feels as though their marriage has never been a true marriage, and that Helmer and herself never truly knew
In first paragraph of the novel, Kate Chopin describes an image of a bird that is restrained from its freedom just as Edna feels held back from hers. “A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door...” (Chopin, pg#) There is symbolism behind the caged bird, which refers to Edna’s feelings of imprisonment. The bird symbolize Edna at home, a place she can’t escape from and has to live with under her husband’s “ruling”. There is a saying in Spanish that states
In Henrik Ibsen's, A Doll's House, the character of Nora Helmer goes through the dramatic transformation of a kind and loving housewife, to a desperate and bewildered woman, whom will ultimately leave her husband and everything she has known. Ibsen uses both the characters of Torvald and Nora to represent the tones and beliefs of 19th century society. By doing this, Ibsen effectively creates a dramatic argument that continues to this day; that of feminism.
Henrik Ibsen one of his most famous literature works “A doll’s house” and Kate Chopin’s short story “The story of an hour” portrays to the Victorian era, when women didn’t have rights at all. Both authors were born in an era where they saw or lived a women’s life, and many women faced many aspects in life, such as being submissive to their husband’s, they were viewed as possessions than as people, and they lived a life that they weren’t satisfied with during the Victorian age. Even though Ibsen did not live the life of a woman, he still saw how woman were being mistreated, in spite of being a male he knew that woman’s were taken for granted. Ibsen’s play corresponds to his point of view of how women were seen as manipulated as “dolls”, and Chopin’s story “The story of an hour” was based on how women values were not tolerated. Both literature works consist of two women that were easily maneuvered by their husband’s that have little concern for their beliefs or feelings. Both characters, Nora and Louise lived a life where their words are meaningless to men, their reputations were not important in a society where men were seen as superior than women. Both works of literature, “ A Doll’s house” and “ The story of an hour” uses similarities and differences aspects to portray to the Victorian era that resemble in their writings.
In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, two people who have the ultimate influence on Edna are Mademoiselle Reisz, and Robert Lebrun.
In Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, Christine Linde surprises Nora Helmer with a visit to her house. The two women were childhood friends and have not seen each other in many years. As both characters' qualities unfold during the play, it is easy to see how Mrs. Linde's character traits underscore those of Nora's. Mrs. Linde's serious, responsible nature amplifies Nora's playful, childlike personality; Mrs. Linde's taking care of her sick mother and two young brothers emphasizes Nora's abandonment of her dying father; and finally Mrs. Linde deciding to marry Krogstad heightens the ending of Nora's marriage.
In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," the main character is a woman who has been controlled and conformed to the norms of society. Louise Mallard has apparently given her entire life to assuring her husband's happiness while forfeiting her own. This truth is also apparent in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. In this story, Nora Helmer has also given her life to a man who has very little concern for her feelings or beliefs. Both of these characters live very lonely lives, and both have a desire to find out who they really are and also what they are capable of becoming. Although the characters of Nora and Louise are very much alike in many ways, their personalities
Instantly, upon reading further into the book, I felt that this bird was the perfect representation of Edna herself. Throughout the novel she is inadvertently limited and oppressed as a woman just like the bird is caged and held captive. Furthermore, she constantly acts according to how society wants her to act as a woman, similarly to how the bird incessantly imitates what it hears without much thought.
Chopin uses social standards and the theme of awakening, to represent how Edna has become more self-aware about her relationship with her husband, which serves as a bigger step to Edna’s inward contemplation on who she is.
A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, creates a peephole into the lives of a family in the Victorian Era. The play portrays a female viewpoint in a male-dominated society. The values of the society are described using the actions of a woman, Nora, who rebels against the injustices inflicted upon her gender. Women’s equality with men was not recognized by society in the late 1800’s. Rather, a woman was considered a doll, a child, and a servant. Nora’s alienation reveals society’s assumptions and values about gender.
In his play, A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen depicts a female protagonist, Nora Helmer, who dares to defy her husband and forsake her "duty" as a wife and mother to seek out her individuality. A Doll's House challenges the patriarchal view held by most people at the time that a woman's place was in the home. Many women could relate to Nora's situation. Like Nora, they felt trapped by their husbands and their fathers; however, they believed that the rules of society prevented them from stepping out of the shadows of men. Through this play, Ibsen stresses the importance of women's individuality. A Doll's House combines realistic characters, fascinating imagery, explicit stage directions, and
One similarity between the two is how their attempts to resolve their inner conflicts are set off by people very close to them. In "A Doll's House", Nora begins her journey to find out who she truly is occurs after her last encounter with her husband Helmer. Helmer had discovered the crimes she had committed when she was
Through their quest to find their own freedom and individuality, Nora Helmer, from A Doll’s House, and Edna Pontellier, from The Awakening, each uniquely discovers themselves. Since the beginning of the play, Nora was very loyal to her
In the play “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen the story focuses on the gender differences between a man and woman. One way Ibsen display feminism in A Doll House is through the relationship of the two main characters Torvald and his wife Nora. Nora and Torvald to have the perfect life, however behind closed doors it isn’t as it seems. The play begins with a happily married couple and ends with a woman wanting to be her own human being. Nora has been treated like child throughout the play by Torvald, she finally decides she has other duties such as herself that are just as important as everyone else. Through the play Ibsen provides the readers with insight how society views women. During this particular generation men were much higher ranking in society than women, women were not viewed as individuals but as shadows of their men. Ibsen provides many examples throughout the play how women were treated less than men.
Phylogeny versus misogyny, arguable one of the greatest binary oppositions in a work of literature, is present in Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 Norwegian play A Doll’s House. The title itself suggests a misogynist view, while the work mainly consists of feminist ideology, as Ibsen was a supporter of the female as an independent, rather than a dependent on a male. Nora knew herself that her husband did not fully respect her, and this became a major conflict in the play as Nora progressively became more self-reliant in the play. Ibsen created Nora to give an example for all women, showing that they are more than what their husbands make of them. The misogynistic views in the play can be seen through Nora’s husband Torvald, due to the fact that he
The literary works A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and The Awakening by Kate Chopin, are centered around two women who experience personal growth that affects the relationship they have with their husbands. Edna Pontellier struggles with finding a relationship that makes her happy, while living in a society that limits her ability to make decisions for herself. Also a woman living in the nineteenth century, Nora Helmer struggles with the normalities of the time period. Nora makes financial decisions about her family which cause her to face trouble as she is blackmailed for making these decisions, that were forbidden to women. During these times of internal struggles, the women turns to their husbands to take care of them and offer some type of resolution. Edna and Nora want the men they love to show interest in their lives, but once the women finally receive a reaction out of them they are disappointed with the results, making Edna and Nora want to be independent rather than be someone’s wife any longer.