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Women In The House Of The Spirits

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The constant emphasis on the power and ability of men in both Allende and Ibsen's novels parallel the societal expectation for men to control society during those times. Clara, one of the female protagonists, listens to fellow women from Tres Marias state about men, “Since when has a man not beaten his wife? If he doesn’t beat her, it’s either because he doesn’t love her or because he isn’t a real man. [...] Since when has a woman ever done the same things as a man?” (Allende 294-295). Despite being women themselves, these Tres Marias residents proclaim the horrible societal belief that a man owes some sort of obligation to his wife to beat them and that the superiority of men happens to have ingrained itself extremely within society.
The women …show more content…

Alba, while speaking of her life growing up with Esteban as a grandfather, quotes Esteban when, “He said it was good for men to have a wife, but that women like Alba could only lose by marrying” (Allende 860). Alba throughout The House of the
Spirits proves herself to possess strong ideals, work ethic, and determination. However, marriage in that time would mean her relinquishing all of her own creativity to her husband, something that Esteban recognizes and comments on, representing just how much women back then had to succumb to their husband's control. Marriage would mean a release in her freedom, since during those times a married woman had to obey her husband, and Alba would no longer retain everything she could do before. Nora and Torvald, while discussing Nora's role in their family and in their society, have this conversation:
Nora. What do you consider my most sacred duties?
Helmer. [...] your duties to your husband and your children?
Nora. I have other duties just as sacred [...] Duties to myself (Ibsen

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