Comparing The Protagonists In Torvald And A Doll's House

Chopin and Ibsen’s work both criticize a women’s place and role in society by using an antagonist to challenge the reader to question morality and a women’s responsibility in marriage. The conflict within their writings is the traditional expectations society had placed on women in the 19th century along with the search for self-identity under such circumstances. In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House the underlying antagonist is Torvald, husband of protagonist Nora. Although not a direct conflict, it is revealed later in the play that Torvald is ultimately in the way of Nora’s happiness, independence and equality. He constantly refers to her with demeaning pet names and condescending tones that reveal his believed superiority and intellect over his wife.
Similarly, Chopin’s character Mrs. Mallard from The Story of an Hour, was in the possession of a husband whom she had dutifully done her wifely position. Unlike Nora’s circumstances and examples within the play of being treated like a child, Chopin’s stories shows none. Instead, Mrs. Mallard is simply secretly ecstatic of her husband’s death which results in her becoming free women, away from society’s disdain and disapproval. Chopin’s other short story, The Storm, involves Calixta, a housewife who has an affair with a married man called Alce, who she once was involved with years prior. Unlike Ibsen, Chopin’s stories critique society’s bias against women and their freedoms without the use of a solid antagonist. Challenging the readers view on situations like Calixta’s, where determining who’s at fault is not so black and white. Ibsen’s A Doll’s House had a more concrete character to point fingers at, taking us on a journey of this household where things are not as pleasant as they appear. However, Chopin’s stories show us women who believe what they will with no explanations or