Infidelity And Gender Roles In A Doll's House

Mark Twain called the late 19th century the "Gilded Age." The years between 1878 and 1899 were a soul-searching time for many Americans especially women, as they examined the basic values they lived by. This period was seen by many as “Glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath”. The late 19th century was a period of greed and guile: of corruption, dishonest speculators, shady business practices, and scandal-plagued politics. Kate chopin and Henrik Ibsen were two controversial authors who showcased all the hidden aspects of society that no one wanted to discuss infidelity, and gender roles. In A Doll's House Nora ,the protagonist, struggles with finding herself and acceptance within the gender roles put on her by society. In The Awakening

But the biggest disattachment that both Chopin and Ibsen displayed in their plays was their wives disconnect from their children. It was both shown, and verbally stated how both women weren’t willing to give up the wellbeing of themselves for their children. Throughout The Awakening Edna Pontellier is constantly distancing herself away from her kids to the point where she ends up shipping her boys off to their grandmothers house for months on end. In a conversation with Madame Lebrun’s Edna discusses her dynamic with her children. "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself. I can't make it more clear; it's only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me." Throughout A doll's house Nora has a hard time being the perfect mother for her children which explains why they spent most of their time with her childhood nanny. At the end of the play Nora explains how she is going away alone without her children to find who and what she wants in life. “To desert your home, your husband and your children! And you don‘t consider what people will say! I cannot consider that at all. I only know that it is necessary for me.” This shows the unwillingness of Edna and Nora has to give up their self for their kids because both women has worked to hard on finding themselves that their unwilling to lose themselves