How far do you agree that the characters in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘A Doll’s House’ are affected by their social circumstances?
In 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and 'A Doll’s House' we are presented with characters that are trapped by their social circumstances. For instance Blanche DuBois is deeply affected by her social circumstances, as she believes that she needs to suit the expectations set for women of that time. Similarly, Nora's freedom is limited by her high social standing, as Torvald Helmer places restrictions on her freedom to protect his own social image. However, it is not only the characters’ social circumstances that are shown to affect them; the writers also show how their own decisions, both past and present, lead to their entrapment.
One may argue that the characters in ‘A Doll’s House’ are affected by their social circumstances, this is because for instance Nora Helmer believes that she has to suit the expectations that are placed on her by the male dominated society of the time. An example of this is how she exclaims that working into the night to earn money to pay back the debt she owes to Krogstad was “great fun, though, sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man”. Here she is clearly affected by the society of the time. This is because firstly the only reason she has to save up this money to pay back Krogstad is because she has to keep the fact that she borrowed money from him a secret from Torvald. This is because if her found out he would feel emasculated, because he is meant to be the stereotypical saviour and be the strong saviour to his “skylark”, and not the other way around. When he finds out about the fact that Nora owes Krogstad money, he is furious “You have destroyed all my happiness. You have ruined my whole future.” But he does not take into account the fact that if Nora did not take out this loan then he would most probably have died from his illness. Furthermore if society accepted women to be an equal breadwinner in that time then Nora would have had a means of earning the money to pay Krogstad back as she would have
One may argue that the characters in ‘A Doll’s House’ are affected by their social circumstances, this is because for instance Nora Helmer believes that she has to suit the expectations that are placed on her by the male dominated society of the time. An example of this is how she exclaims that working into the night to earn money to pay back the debt she owes to Krogstad was “great fun, though, sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man”. Here she is clearly affected by the society of the time. This is because firstly the only reason she has to save up this money to pay back Krogstad is because she has to keep the fact that she borrowed money from him a secret from Torvald. This is because if her found out he would feel emasculated, because he is meant to be the stereotypical saviour and be the strong saviour to his “skylark”, and not the other way around. When he finds out about the fact that Nora owes Krogstad money, he is furious “You have destroyed all my happiness. You have ruined my whole future.” But he does not take into account the fact that if Nora did not take out this loan then he would most probably have died from his illness. Furthermore if society accepted women to be an equal breadwinner in that time then Nora would have had a means of earning the money to pay Krogstad back as she would have