The Feminist Protagonists in The Awakening and A Doll's House
The idea of women's liberation is a common theme in both Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. In her analysis of Feminism in Europe Katharine M. Rogers writes, " Thinking of Nora's painful disillusionment, her parting from her children, and the uncertainties of her future independent career, Ibsen called his play 'the tragedy of modern times'" (82). The main characters in each work, Nora Helmer, in A Doll House, and Edna Pontellier, in The Awakening, portray feminist ideas.
Neither Ibsen nor Chopin intended to write for the women's right's movement, but both works are classics of a woman's liberation. Ibsen is quoted as saying "that he never 'consciously worked for the women's right movement'" (82). It has also been shown that "Chopin did not intend to write a feminist tract" (Martin 252). Even though neither work was meant to be used as a feminist advocacy document, the works are excellent examples of the fact that many people were attuned to the plight of women.
Nora and Edna both intend to pursue their own careers. At the time these works were written, women did not normally have their own careers. Nora enjoys the copying work she secretly does at night to earn back money for her loan. Working makes her feel less like the shallow, twittering female people think she is and more like an independent man. After Nora leaves Torvald, she wants to live on her own and support herself. Edna wants to become an artist. She tries to paint seriously every day after her return from Grand Isle. Even though Mr. Pontellier thinks her paintings are a silly hobby, Edna sells several paintings and hopes to sell more.
Nora and Edna are both i...
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...the works portray feminist ideas such as pursuit of careers, independence from families, and close male friends. Ibsen and Chopin were ahead of their time by writing works focusing on a topic that is still controversial a century later.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1985.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House (1879). Trans. Rolf Fjelde. Rpt. in Michael Meyer, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th edition.
Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1999.
Martin, Wendy, ed. "Introduction." New Essays on The (Awakening. New York, NY: Cambridge UP, 1988.
Rogers, Katharine M. Feminism in Europe. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1982.
Templeton, Joan. "Is A Doll House a Feminist Text?" (1989). Rpt. In Meyer.
Sullivan, Barbara. "Introduction to The Awakening." In The Awakening, ed. Barbara Sullivan. New York: Signet, 1976.
Female companions are very important to the development of the main characters in Kate Chopin's The Awakening and in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House. Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle, in The Awakening, and Kristine Linde, in A Doll House, help Edna Pontellier and Nora Helmer discover their inner selves.
Ramos, Peter. "Unbearable Realism: Freedom, Ethics and Identity in 'The Awakening.'" College Literature 37.4 (2010): 145-65. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 28 May 2014. .
Abortion is very cruel to the baby and even harms the mother. It is murder!There are many different procedures for abortions, all gruesome and pain inflicting on the baby. Suction Aspiration (vacuum curettage) makes up for 98% of first trimester abortions. The cervix is first dilated. Then a suction tube with a sharp cutting edge is inserted which rips the baby to pieces. It then sucks out all the remains.
Nora is portrayed to be representative of women of this time. The social distinction between men and women were very well-marked in the home. As W. E. Simonds said in his review of Henrik Ibsen’s work, “She is happy in her “doll-house,” and apparently knows nothing outside her home, her husband, and her children.” Women were expected to handle the household affairs and staff. Men were expected to work outside the home as the primary breadwinner, but the home was his castle run by his wife. Nora's responsibilities include the management of the household staff, and household expenses but as expected of the time, Nora’s husband gives her a household expense budget as well as in...
Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening." The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. C. New York: Norton, 2012. 561-652. Print.
Another issue that arises is the potential personhood of the fetus. Many would argue that its poten...
In our society, there are many ethical dilemmas that we are faced with that are virtually impossible to solve. One of the most difficult and controversial issues that we are faced with is abortion. There are many strong arguments both for and against the right to have an abortion which are so complicated that it becomes impossible to resolve. The complexity of this issue lies in the different aspects of the argument. The essence of a person, rights, and who is entitled to these rights, are a few of the many aspects which are very difficult to define. There are also issues of what circumstances would justify abortion. Because the issue of abortion is virtually impossible to solve, all one can hope to do is understand the different aspects of the argument so that if he or she is faced with that issue in their own lives, they would be able to make educated and thoughtful decisions in dealing with it.
According to Don Marquis, the fetus is a person and has the right to live because it is a biological human being and a human being in a moral sense (Lewis,2013, pp. 320). A fetus is a person some may say because it possesses some of the personhood characteristics. In the woman’s womb, a fertilized sperm turns into a blastocyst after 5 days and later turns into an embryo (human fetus), which eight weeks later the fetus develops a brain, heart, and all the other body cells and tissue (Lewis, 2013, pp. 293). At that moment, the fetus is conscious and alive, because the brain is slowly functioning and is pumping blood throughout the whole body. Soon, the fetus would form into a human figure and kick the mother’s tummy, and when the mother places her hand on her tummy, the fetus stops kicking shows a communication or connection. So, it is a wrongful act to abort the fetus because it has the potential to develop into a person.
Around 3500 B.C.E to 3000 B.C.E., civilizations emerged in many places. Egypt and Mesoamerica are distinctive two of them. Considering the different aspects of civilization, historians can find some same characteristics and differences which are valuable for historians to understand civilization in-depth.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 535-625. Print.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House" The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Kelly J. Mays. Eleventh ed. New York: Norton & Company, 2013. 1447-96. Print.
The issue of abortion is a very controversial one. There are many opinions about it that are largely discussed. People have many ideas about abortion that are possible based on their faith and morals. Most women who are pregnant and go in for abortions do not receive all the facts. Their doctors should inform them about the extremely serious side effects that can come from abortion. Abortions cause women physical and mental side effects that can cause them great pain, complications, and even death. What is abortion, though? Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion procedures change according to the stage of the pregnancy. There are four main procedures that women go through when having an abortion. One being, the early medical abortion, which is usually from 0 to 9 weeks; this method is also known as the abortion pill but this is not a very accurate description, as it does not involve simply taking a pill. The next step is, vacuum aspiration abortion, which takes place 5 to 15 weeks. Vacuum aspiration simply means suction. The next method is called early surgical dilatation and evacuation, which is between 15 to 19 weeks. After the woman has been given a light general anesthetic, the doctor gently stretches the passage through the cervix until it is wide enough for narrow forceps to be used to remove most of the contents of the uterus. Then a tube attached to a vacuum pump is used to remove any remaining tissue. The final step is, surgical two-stage abortion or medical induction, which happens between 20 to 24 weeks. During a medical induction, the fetal heart is stopped and then the doctor uses drugs to induce premature labor. A surgical two...
The argument can be made that the fetus deserves the same level of personhood that children and adults do. This can be countered with the fact that children and adults are able to live without occupying the body of another person. The point at which personhood occurs may never be established because of the contrasting views for and against personhood and it would be very difficult to establish any kind of middle ground on personhood.
The majority view of “A Doll’s House” is that Nora is viewed as a heroic character, who stands for a movement, but, in actuality, reality, Nora should not be viewed as anything, but a bystander of the feminist movement. The feminist movement in this story is defined by the negative action of men in “A Doll’s House.” Through the actions of men, Nora is view as the good person in the story and moral character. This should not be the case, Nora is a horrible person and should not be viewed as a good moral character; Nora is more like a false prophet of the feminist movement characterized by her interactions with Torvald, and interactions with other characters from the play.