Essay Comparing Louise of Story of an Hour and Nora of A Dolls House

Comparing Louise of The Story of an Hour and Nora of A Doll's House    In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," the main character is a woman who has been controlled and conformed to the norms of society. Louise Mallard has apparently given her entire life to assuring her husband's happiness while forfeiting her own. This truth is also apparent in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. In this story, Nora Helmer has also given her life to a man who has very little concern for her feelings or beliefs. Both of these characters live very lonely lives, and both have a desire to find out who they really are and also what they are capable of becoming. Although the characters of Nora and Louise are very much alike in many ways, their personalities differ greatly when it comes to making decisions regarding the direction of their lives.    Both Nora and Louise's lives have been shaped and molded to conform to their husbands' wishes. At the time these stories took place, it was basically unheard of for women to assert their beliefs or to act upon their ideas. As a result, Louise was forced to succumb to the role of an obedient wife, in order to abide by the norms of society. This is apparent because of the way she reacts when she learns of a false rumor regarding her husband's sudden death. While in deep thought, and staring out the window by herself, she has a sudden realization of complete happiness and total freedom. As she tries hard to repress these fresh, new feelings, she speaks the words, "free, free, free" (23)! These words help the audience to understand the repression she has been forced to withstand for many years. She feels sudden exhilaration as she reflects on what her new life will bring her. She speaks of the treatmen... ...ay.   â€Å"Freedom and Desire:   The Theme of Awakening in the Works of Kate Chopin.†Ã‚   Critical Interpretations:   Kate Chopin.   Ed. Harold Blooming.   New York:   Chelsea House, 1989.   14-32.   Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Introduction to Literature: Reading, Analyzing, and Writing.2nd ed. Ed. Dorothy U. Seyler and Richard A. Wilan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1990. Durbach, Errol. A Doll's House: Ibsen's Myth of Transformation. Boston: Twayne, 1991. Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Introduction to Literature: Reading, Analyzing, and Writing.2nd ed. Ed. Dorothy   U. Seyler and Richard A. Wilan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1990. Salomà ©, Lou. Ibsen's Heroines. Ed. and trans. Siegfried Mandel. Redding Ridge: Black Swan, 1985. Templeton, Joan. "The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism,and Ibsen." PMLA (January 1989): 28-40.