Marriage in A Doll House and A Streetcar Named Desire Essay -- compare

A couple’s marriage along with their struggles and problems can tell us a lot about their individual morals and what type of people they are. How someone handles themselves when they are in a battle or argument with their spouse can show the reader the person they are, their strengths, weaknesses and even their outlook on life. In these plays we are shown Torvald Helmer and Stanley Kowalksi’s ways of controlling their wives, their strengths, weaknesses and outlooks on life, or morals just by their actions. In A Doll House written in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen and in A Streetcar Named Desire written in 1947 by Tennessee Williams we are shown two different husbands, Torvald Helmer and Stanley Kowalksi that have an issue with having to be in control of their wives and their lives. In A Doll House we see a marriage between Torvald and Nora Helmer. Torvald is a major character in the play because he is the person that helps make the conflict of his wife Nora not wanting to tell him about the loan she took out and that she forged her father’s name in order to do it. Ibsen brings the issue of power in this marriage by always having Torvald in charge or the marriage. Torvald is a man that looks at his wife as an object and something that benefits him. He doesn’t really have a deep love for her, but instead is married to her because she is young and beautiful and society accepts and likes married men better than single men. He is very protective of his image and he always wants to look perfect and be perceived as perfect from other people, and Nora helps him achieve this. Torvald takes the role of the ruler, the spouse in charge by treating Nora like a child or a play toy, calling her names like â€Å"pet†, â€Å"squirrel†, or â€Å"Ca pri girl†. He also t... ...y made himself look out of hand himself and he also showed his lack of respect for Stella. In A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen and in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams we are shown two different husbands, Torvald Helmer and Stanley Kowalksi that have an issue with having to be in control of their wives and their lives. Torvald has to be in charge of everything in his life including his wife and in his job so that society will look at him as a â€Å"well off† man and he will always be looked at as stable and in control of every situation. Stanley is somewhat the same, needing to be in charge of his wife and how she acts so that his friends will look at him as â€Å"the tough guy that keeps his wife in line†. In both of these plays we are shown the husband’s strengths and the wives weaknesses and how their conflicts and the husband’s actions affect their marriages.