How do both The Stranger by Albert Camus and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen explore free will?

A home is often seen as a place to call your own, a place of comfort and shelter—but in this case, it was not. In the beginning, they were a happy family in a happy home, but that perfect picture seemed to vanish as Nora came to realize that Torvald was just “playing” with her. The idea of their “home” was an act to disguise it as a doll’s house. And finally, respect seemed to affect the whole community, not just Nora. It was due to the fact that it had to maintain the community’s authorized gender roles. Men having to work, and women taking care of the cooking and the cleaning. This made Nora see that she was more than just that. She is a woman, but not of one a man can stomp on and play with anymore.

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer is a traditional “angel in the house” she is a human being, but first and foremost a wife and a mother who is devoted to the care of her children, and the happiness of her husband. The play is influenced by the Victorian time period when the division of men and women was evident, and each gender had their own role to conform to. Ibsen’s views on these entrenched values is what lead to the A Doll’s House becoming so controversial as the main overarching theme of A Doll’s House is the fight for independence in an otherwise patriarchal society. This theme draws attention to how women are capable in their own rights, yet do not govern their own lives due to the lack of legal entitlement and

In the play, Nora never leaves her house or the living room like someone controlling a doll. Nora is a doll living in her own doll house under the watch and command of Torvald. This shows how he is in control over her and it also represents her lack of freedom. The readers and audience can see this form of control when Torvald says “As for you and me, we must make no outward change in our way of life…But the

During this period, women were subjected in their gender roles and were restricted over what the patriarchal system enforced on them. Everyone was brought up believing that women had neither self-control nor self-government but that they must capitulate to the control of dominate gender. The ideology that “God created men and women different - … [and they should] remain each in their own position.” (eHow, Ibsen's Influences on Women's Rights) is present in A Doll’s House with Nora’s character, as she is seen as the ideal women during the Victorian Era, who is first dutiful as wife and mother before to her own self. Whenever Torvald gives Nora money, she spends it on her children so that they are not “shabbily dressed” (Act 1). Though she loves her children it is all the more shocking when she leaves them.

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Lesson Before Dying, Nora exhibits courage in her resistance against her husband’s controlling ways. Women in the 19th century were subject to many forms of misogyny as it was, Nora’s decision to leave Torvald dug a deeper hole into the oppression. Woman did not have the jobs that men had and often Nora left in a vulnerable state, not having a reliable source of income or somewhere to go. In face of these conditions she still left Torvald because she was able to recognize the underlying problem that was her being a doll trapped in the dollhouse. “He called me his doll child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. And when I came to live with you…I was simply transferred from Papa’s hands to yours” (3.608-12). Following her recognition of the problem, she acted upon the solution, declaring to Torvald that she would leave him; “I must try and educate myself—you are not the man to help me in that. I must do that for myself. And that is why I am going to leave you now” (3.647-50). In conclusion, Nora proves courage in her recognition of the oppressive household she lived in and leaving it amidst the hindrance of her life as a single woman.

In A Doll House, Nora finds herself subordinate to her husband as well as the rules of society. Torvald forbids her from the consumption of macarons, bestows on her an allowance as if she were a child, persuades her to do as he wishes, dance like this, not like that, and she like a “good little lark” obeys his most every will. Her act of courage and independence, illegally taking out a loan to save his life, is seen as wrong in the eyes of society, while she sees it as necessary and forgivable; it is what a good wife should do for her husband.

At the end of the play Torvald finds out that Nora has deceived him about borrowing money without his permission and this triggers an epiphany for Nora, who realizes she needs to finally realize the truth of her situation and recognize her desire to escape this doll house. During yet another argument, Torvalds loses it and says, “From now on, forget happiness. Now it is just about saving the remains, the wreckage, and the appearance” (1013-1014). Finally, in this moment, Nora realizes that Torvald is just a self-centered, petty man who is concerned only about keeping up the lie of marriage. It is this realization that allows Nora to appreciate the reality of her situation. “I've been performing tricks for you, Torvald, that’s how I survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. It’s because of you I’ve made nothing of my life” (1015). By the end of the play, Nora has emerged as a stronger, tougher and more independent individual who is determined to make her own life free from the gender roles that have been placed on her by

In the play “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, Nora goes through a transformation of self-realization. Nora lives a doll-like existence. she responds lovingly to her husband’s pet names such as “my little lark” or “my little squirrel” (Ibsen, 793). She does not mind playing a role for her husband. As the play progresses, Nora show that she is not a little girl. She understands how business work by taking out a loan behind her husband’s back to save his life. When she is blackmail by Krogstad, her eyes open to her unfulfilled and underappreciated life. she realizes that she been putting on a show for her husband. Nora has pretended to be someone else in order to fulfilled a role for not only her husband but also her father

Nora is married to Torvald for over 6 years and they have a comfortable routine that they follow. One day Torvald takes ill and Nora takes action. In the 1870’s the man was the provider for the household. Though, with Torvald sick, Nora needs to find a way to help her husband no matter the cost. They take off to Italy and “Torvald couldn't have lived if he hadn't managed to get down there.” (180) Nora feels a sense of pride knowing that she is the one that saves her husband. Nora wishes she could tell her husband what she had done but she understands the repercussions it would have on their relationship. Torvald would feel the humiliating effect of having his wife being his protector. To Torvald, Nora is just an object that is to serve his every need. She is his entertainer, his squanderbird. Torvald believes that Nora is just his “....poor, helpless, bewildered little creature.” (226) Their marriage is only real on paper, there is no equality in their household. This is something that Nora comes to terms with. She understands that “I must stand on my own feet if I am to find out the truth about myself and about life.” (228) Nora is a person of strong will. She knows how to put on a mask when the time comes, and she plays her cards just right. Because Torvald treats her as more of a trophy wife, she does not tell him about how she was able to take him to Italy.

Ibsen’s character Nora in A Doll’s House, shows gradual development throughout the play to support his theme that above all else, you are human; even in marriage both parties should be given the equal opportunities, rights and respect. While Nora may at first seem happy with her life inside her “doll house”, she begins to recognize that she must find herself, and stop being a toy in the lives of men.

Nora slowly built up resentment for her way of life, and how much is expected of her. Her husband Torvald is very traditional, and demanded her to act a certain way. Nora played along with the role of the perfect housewife even though she had no desire to so. Her own dreams and desires very rarely, if ever, considered and she was always expected to place her family’s needs above her own. Nora’s resentment of Torvald, and the way society viewed women in general, is very clearly stated after she decides to leave him.

After Torvald’s cruel reaction, she understands that “personal and human freedom are not measured in economic terms” (Witham 1786). She comes to the realization that it does not matter how well off they are financially or the perfect appearance they have, but that individual freedom and identity are the key to happiness. In order to reach this, Nora must leave her family and home life. Nora’s decision to leave her comfortable life is not an easy choice because not only was she is leaving behind her family, but she is also stepping into society’s line of fire. Women faced condemnation from society for not choosing “socially prescribed roles of marriage” (Atner 1794). She, like other brave people, chose to “abandon these roles in order to realize their value as individuals” (Atner 1794). Nora sacrifices the appearance of a “dollhouse” to better understand herself and this cost the destruction of her family (Witham 1786). It is at this point she goes from the “Angel in the House” to the “Fallen

Nora has been the one who has given up all her personal beliefs in order to please both her father and Torvald, yet Torvald cannot seem to comprehend the idea that men could possibly do the same. Nora’s desired independence can finally break free, and is finally sticking up for herself in a way that she knows not many other women have. Although this may be the case, Nora knows that she has every right to speak her mind, and is done locking her thoughts away. By leaving her family behind, Nora has triumphantly given herself a brand new start in life, with nothing holding her

Her first instinct is to feel pity for Mrs. Linde’s lack of children or husband, classifying her “utterly alone” state as “terribly sad” and inferior to the life she has with Torvald (Ibsen 8). This all changes, however, once Nora agrees to help Mrs. Linde. By binding herself to a woman instead of a man for the first time, she reaches a further state of awareness. When Mrs. Linde mentions Nora’s “lack of trouble and hardship” and calls her a child, Nora becomes defensive, alluding to her displeasure with her position in society (Ibsen 12). “You’re just like the rest of them,” she claims, “you all think I’m useless when it comes to anything really serious...” (Ibsen 12). The “them” and “you all” in Nora’s pivotal statement refers to the men who have bound Nora to the state of a useless doll in a dollhouse: dependent, incapable, and unenlightened—merely nice to play with and pretty to look at.

Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.