Dolls House Comparing and contrasting the womens roles
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
In the nineteenth century, a proper woman's place in society was limited almost exclusively to marriage and caring for her family and household. Although there is nothing necessarily demeaning in this role, some women felt stifled and restricted by the confines of their situations. Two plays, Trifles by Susan Glaspell and A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, expose the lives of two such women. Minnie Foster Wright in "Trifles" and Nora Helmer in "A Doll's House" are two very unique people with completely different experiences, but they are also alike.
Minnie does not have an active part in the play; she does not appear or speak, but plenty of information can be gleaned about her by the comments of her neighbors. Nora, on the other hand, is the main character of the play, so more is known about her life. Minnie appears to be friendless, and has perhaps not spoken to any neighbors in months or years. Mrs. Hale, a neighbor, says, "I've not been in this house it's more than a year".(Glaspell 1327)The Wright home is rather unkempt, a desolate and lonely place...