Character Battle

I am really so excited that I cam up with a new blog format to explore my literary interests. For each subsequent novel that we read, I hope to compare and contrast characters within the same text or across texts and decide which trumps the other based on some criteria. This week I am comparing Age of Innocence to A Doll's House  in preparation for the AP Lit final exam essays. This week in the battle dome are Nora form A Doll House and Ellen Olenska from Age of Innocence. Which character is the more noble and free woman? There is no doubt in my mind that Nora is the more noble and courageous of the two women. Both Nora and Ellen are victims of the high standards and strict traditions of society. Nora is trapped in the "doll house" construct just as Ellen is victimized by the American New York society. Both women in some manner escape form the influence of these societal structures. Nora leaves her husband and kids and venture to discover herself aside form her duties as a mother and a wife. Ellen moves back to Paris to escape from the temptations that Archer is and the hardship of trying to find a place in New York Society. However, I believe Nora's escape to be more noble.Unlike Nora, Ellen came to America from the "outside". In many ways, the small group of people who are a part of the new York society are the "doll house", constricted by social customs. Ellen is not a part of this society, coming from Europe and she does not fit in, she is very much an outsider from everyone. Even from other women, Archer recognizes how she is not naive or ignorant like all of the other women of society who concede to the desires of males. However, Nora is a part of the society she is trapped in. She is a wife and mother confined in the walls of this doll house. She comes to realize at the end of the novel that she has blinded herself in her marriage. She does not love her husband nor enjoy her role in motherhood and wifehood.  Nora is almost physically constrained by the walls of the house. This can be seen in the contrast between the outside and inside of the house. The outside is viewed as harsh and cold while inside the doll house is warmth and family. Thus, when Nora decides to leave the house for the unknown she not only sacrifices herself but also she demonstrates that she is not subjugated by the will of society for her to be a domestic figure. Just as a point of comparison between the women, although not as prominently as Ellen, Nora demonstrates a forbidden interest in another off limits man herself. Ellen is interested in ineligible Archer Welland and Nora has very strong flirtatious encounters with Krogstad hmmmm... these women are becoming more and more alike than I first thought.