Comparison between Edna from The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Nora from A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen Kate Chopin's work, The Awakening, and the Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, were written at a time when men dominated women in every aspect of life. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist of The Awakening, and Nora, the protagonist of A Doll's House, are trapped in a world dominated by men. Their husbands' supposed superiority traps them in their families. Edna and Nora share many similarities, but differ from each other in many ways. Two main similarities of Edna and Nora are that they both have an awakening and are like caged birds with no freedom; one of the main differences is that Edna lives in reality and Nora lives in a fantasy world. Other similarities are: each protagonist seems happy in her marriage at first, is controlled by her husband and has a secret. Despite all the similarities, the two protagonists differ in several aspects: Edna does what she wants while Nora dreams what she wants; Edna has a mind of her own while Nora appears to be a mindless wife; and Edna stops caring for her children all together while Nora cares for the children intermittently. An image of a green and yellow parrot in a cage recurs throughout The Awakening; the parrot represents how Edna Pontellier is trapped in her marriage to Leonce Pontellier. During that time women were expected to stay at home and do housework, take care of their husbands and children; women were not supposed to be educated and did not have careers. Edna realizes that she does not want to perform the duties expected of a woman because she is not happy just being a wife and mother. At the beginning of... middle of the paper... in reality. Ibsen and Chopin both wrote stories depicting the oppression of women in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; The Awakening and "A Doll's House" are realistic writings that show society's treatment of women. Works cited and consulted: Chopin, Kate. The awakening. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1985. Durbach, A Doll's House: Ibsen's Myth of Transformation, 1991. Ibsen, Henrik Henderson, Bill Day, and Sandra Waller. New York: Longman, 1997Martin, Wendy, ed. "Introduction." : Criticism, feminism and Ibsen." PMLA (January 1989): 28-40.