The Awakening, A Dolls House and the Quest for Freedom

Both The Awakening by Kate Chopin and A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen involve a quest for freedom. Both lead characters, Edna and Nora are trapped by societal rules and regulations. The women are also controlled by their husbands. In The Awakening Edna obtains freedom through committing suicide, and in A Dolls House, Nora leaves behind her husband and children.

At the beginning of The Awakening, Edna is trapped, living in a cage, where her role in society is to be a mother and a wife. Her husband, Leonce believes that Edna’s role is to look after the children:

He approached his wife with her inattention, her

habitual neglect of the children. If it wasn’t a mother’s

place to look after children, whose on earth was it? He

himself had his hands full with his brokerage business…

However, Edna does not suit the role as a mother:

In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman.

The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at

Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about

with their extended, protecting wings when any harm, real

or imaginary, threatened their precious blood. They were women who idolized their children, wor

. . .
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Approximate Word count = 1769
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)