The proposed research will compare the women in Kate Chopin's The Awakening and A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. Specifically, the research will explore the subject of feminism. Feminism is defined as the avocation for the rights of women. Both novels present prime examples of feminism in their display of the breaking away from tradition roles and the consequences of gravitating away from these conventions.
In order to effectively assess the conventions of the women in both works, the research will necessitate examining the symbols and characteristics associated with the characters. Ibsen's main character, Nora, is on a quest to discover herself and what she can become outside of her husband and the lack of modernity that has been exhibited from being married to him. On the other hand, Edna in Chopin's The Awakening, is beginning to struggle with the views and perspectives connected to the American South. She feels constrained by the societal concepts of women and their respective roles.
Chopin seeks to illustrate the confinement and restrictions of women through the character of Edna. The setting is Victorian and she longs to see what awaits her in the world around her outside of what she has come to know. The driving force behind Chopin's narrative is Edna coming to find herself and understand who she is regardless of the status quo attitudes and notions. Chopin writes "she was becoming herself and daily casting aside the fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world" (75). Using quotes such as these from the novel, the research will extensively document how and why Edna feels the way she feels and Chopin’s contrasting of the Victorian principles with that of the independent natured female protagonist. Like The Awakening, Ibsen wants to reveal the restrictive nature of Nora, and her desire to exhibit less of the qualities of the dreary housewife. The play is constructed in a way where evening the opening scene and time frame, being Christmas Eve, plays a unique role in Nora dropping the 'packages' that she become accustomed to being married to Torvald. Nora is desperately hoping to break free of the limitations that are connected with the life she is leading. Ibsen writes, “he played with me the way that I played with my dolls" (26-27), which is suggestive of Nora feeling as if she is living a doll life rather than something truly remarkable and memorable.
In order to effectively compare the two works, the research will also illustrate the differences between the two women and their approaches to removing the constraints. Since the main argument is that of feminism, the research will utilize additional sources that have discussed the role of femininity in both works to highlight the uniqueness of what Chopin and Ibsen wrote, and why each piece is particularly important to the subject of feminism within the literary world.
Introduction
Do these works reveal more about the concept of feminism than other works that have been discussed in class?
What is feminism and why is it important?
Descriptions of the two female protagonists in the two works
Constriction and restriction of the character of Edna in The Awakening
Considerable attention will be paid to the Victorian setting that Chopin places Edna in
Why is it restrictive, what about it has Edna feeling that she must break free? This particular area of the paragraph will be dense in terms of exploring the descriptions that Chopin uses to make the argument of Edna wanting more for herself than the conventional roles that women in Victorian society play. One quotation that will be discussed in this paragraph is “a certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her, —the light which, showing the way, forbids it” (Chopin 34). What is the significance of the light within her and why is it necessary for Chopin to tell us this?
Who is Nora and why should the reader immerse themselves in her character?
How are women depicted in Ibsen’s play?
Quotations such as “I must make up my mind which is right – society or I," (Ibsen 70) and “you have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me" (Ibsen 22-23) will be explained in detail. Why are they significant to the play, the theme of feminism and Nora's need to remove the limits that have been placed on her?
How are Nora and Edna similar?
How are they different?
What do both Chopin and Ibsen reveal about feminism, society’s thoughts about it at the time in which both works were written, and has there been a substantial shift in the ideas about roles of women since then?
Conclusion
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Dover Thrift. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1899. Print.
Ibsen, Henrik. "From ‘A Doll’s House’ By Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)." Bartleby, 2015. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. <http://www.bartleby.com/library/prose/2774.html>.
