Compare Contrast in a Dolls House and Othello

“Outcomes of Sublimation” In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Othello by William Shakespeare women were treated as victims of their era due to male dominance. Women in the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries were considered inferior to man. They would tackle tasks such as taking care of the household and the children while men were out making the family income. Men did not believe that women were capable of thinking on the same level as them. However, the two plays mentioned give us examples of two characters that disobey the superiority of men, but have rather different outcomes because of the time period in which the plays have been written. In A doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, the main character Nora is part of a very successful marriage. Her husband, Torvald, has a very economically stable job therefore making it unnecessary for Nora to work. However, Nora is not treated as a Woman. On the contrary, she is being portrayed as a doll. “Is my little squirrel bustling about?”(1282). He often speaks to her in a superior voice making his dominance known in their relationship. She decides to take matters into her own hands by leaving her husband after she is blackmailed by Krogstad for borrowing money from him. During the time period in which this play has taken place, it is frowned upon to disobey a man. However she goes the extra mile and leaves her responsibilities as a mother.

Nora depicts a perfect example of sublimation through her actions and goes about living her life of independence. Othello by William Shakespeare depicts a contrasting ideology to A Doll’s House. In Othello, women are all victims of male dominance. They had to do everything they were told or risk being punished and sometimes even killed. In the play, Desdemona disobeys her father and marries Othello. In that time period, women were not able to choose their partners. Therefore she redefines her role as a woman. Although Desdemona was independent in her actions, her outcome was much