Comparison and Contrast of Main Characters Essay

Nora and Tom are the main characters of two performs, the Toy House plus the Glass Menagerie respectively. In comparing and contrasting those two characters, it is vital to analyze the plays and also to gain and understanding of their personalities and relationships with other people. Nora is the partner of Torvald, and their marriage is seen as the dominance, superiority of Tovarld over Nora and her complacent passivity. As a better half during the late 1800s, it was typical of girls to have been treated like children with little to no independence.

However , it is the failure of Nora to be stuck in her male or female role as the premature ornament. Ben is the son of Amanda and the buddy of Laura, and his placement in the family is marked by the absence of his own dad. Tom is definitely expected to completely maintain the friends and family, yet his youth and inexperience, combined by his mother’s strenuous exasperation, will not equip him to be a powerful head from the household. In analyzing those two characters, it is interesting to make note of the ways by which Nora and Tom are very similar and different in regards to gender jobs and passivity.

Gender Functions & Passivity In regard to sexuality roles and passivity, it is clear that Nora and Tom happen to be caught up inside the expectations of other people and playing out stereotypical functions to an serious degree. Nora herself details her scenario as a partner with no plans and blames her partner, saying, I lived by performing techniques for you you and father have done us a great wrong it’s your fault that my life have been wasted (Ibsen, 1890, 117). In this review, one can see the full disappointment of Nora in regard to her plight as being a fully dependent wife.

Nevertheless , one could argument her claims that all of the culpability engraves the shoulders of her husband and not at all upon herself. As far as Tom is concerned, he is trapped taking care of his mother and sister, when he would really rather make more of a existence for himself, stating I tried to leave you behind me personally, but We am even more faithful than I intended to be (Williams, 1999, 97). Tom expresses his irritation with the circumstance of him being likely to perform all the duties because the head with the household, a task which he increasingly rejects.

Similar to Nora, he locates himself playing a part which will he will not want to be playing. However , a vital difference is the fact Tom usually takes responsibility for remaining passively in a part which does not suit him and does not make an effort to place the total blame on other people. Bottom line Nora and Tom are characters who also find themselves doing the bidding of others in response to social expectations, rather than following their intuition in living their lives more for themselves. While Nora finds very little shaming her husband on her life faults, Tom is somewhat more apt to disgrace himself.

Nevertheless , in the end, both characters can easily break free of the gender roles and passivity which have destined them all as well closely and dependently to other people. Nora ends up going out of her spouse, just as Mary ends up giving his partner and mom. While Nora ends the play on some anger and full little finger pointing, Tome ends the play with a feeling of regret that he must leave his relatives. Nora and Tom have the ability to escape the oppressive causes in their lives, yet they may have markedly diverse approaches to determining fault. Functions Cited Ibsen, H. (1890).

A Doll’s House. T. H. Baker. Williams, T. (1999). The Glass Menagerie. New Directions Publishing.