Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Pollock’s Blood Relations Similarities and Differences in the Female Leads Cassidy Pirlot College

A Doll’s House written by Henry Ibsen, a play set in the 1870’s in Norway and Blood Relations written by Sharon Pollock, a play set in the 1890’s in America both have a strong female lead who are faced with situations uncommon today. The conditions which they face, although extremely different, are products of a society where women are not valued as equals. Although written with different intentions the two works each play an important role in the understanding, sympathizing, and critiquing of women in a man-dominated society. The two protagonists, Nora in A Doll’s House and Lizzie in Blood Relations, are faced with a test of their aptitude, and resilience of their own beliefs in order to succumb to or defeat the gender roles put in place for them. Nora and Lizzie an unlikely pair share a victim’s testimony to barrier-filled life due to patriarchal society. They both, through their dissimilarities and comparisons, reveal some of the different ways one of these victims could reclaim their lives. Nora plays into her role as a domestic woman while Lizzie refuses to surrender to her pressures, yet they both are independent and strong willed; Nora’s actions push forth her rights and reputation as a woman, while Lizzie’s actions...