Nora has been living is her entire marriage with Torvald and who she really is deep inside. Nora is bursting with independency and tward the end of the play this becomes evident. The knowledge of this could corrupt the home and kids and destroy everything she ever had. This unique aspect of this situation is that this environment that she is living in the present is the exact same as the life she lived as a child with her father. In the second play Hedda Gabler portrays a character that is different from that of Nora. Hedda speaks clearly and tells it how it really is. She has absolutely no respect for her husband and this is clear to everyone except him. Hedda has no joy in life and condemns anything that puts happiness in everyone else. There is a clear example of this characteristic from the very moment Hedda is introduced to us. The first comment is directed to the person that had left the door open and allowed all of the sunlight to enter into the room. Other examples are her lack of joy for her pregnancy, the fact she has no real meaningful relationships with anyone and finally her lack of respect and love for her own husband. In these two play the role of the husbands is also are highly contrasted. Torvald is the “man” of the house and whatever he says is what goes. He tells Nora her place in the house and as long as she respects that he has no problem with her. Nora, symbolizing women in general to Torvald, is called a number of names throughout the play. Names include “little songbird”, “squirrel” and “little skylark.” Torvalds constant use of the modifier “little” before the names for Nora suggests his superiority to Nora. He has chosen the names to reinforce his ideas of not seeing her as an equal. In a since she is only a doll and at times a pet that were created for Torvald. Tesman on the other hand is somewhat of a wimp with Hedda. In the play...
