Both plays, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen, focus on the modern American family and the relationship between husband and wife. In A Doll House, Nora Helmer lived the perfect life with her husband, Torvald, until he found out that she had borrowed money which caused him to be in debt. This sent Torvald into a rage, forcing Nora to decide if she would want to stay or leave him and her children behind. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella lived a fantastic life with her husband, Stanley. Then Blanche,
Stella’s sister came to visit and Stanley started accusing Blanche of lying. This caused Stella to have to decide if she wanted to believe her husband or her sister. Nora and Stella are similar because they believe they are in love, get physically and verbally abused, don’t see how their
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The most significant way that Nora and Stella differ is that in the end, Nora decides to leave her husband and children but Stella chooses to stay. Both Nora and Stella believe that they are truly and deeply in love with their husbands. For example, in A Doll House, Nora borrows a large amount of money in order to take her husband to Italy so he can get better. This seems like a very loving thing to do and she tried to make other believe she did this for her husband. However, before she tells Mrs. Linde about the loan she took out to save her husband, she says, ‘I’ve also got something to be proud and happy for,” (1197). The way she said this made it seem as if she took at the loan so she could save her husband’s life so she could feel some sense of accomplishment in her life. So even though