Similarities Between Calpurnia And A Doll's House

Malala Yousafzai opens up about the topic of feminism by speaking, "I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back." Feminism represents a movement where people seek to achieve improvement on women’s rights and equality. Two characters, Nora Helmer from A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Calpurnia from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, share the conflict of women’s rights. Nora and Calpurnia have the similar issue of being looked down upon men. With the issue of women’s rights and unequal gender roles in society, Nora demonstrates a courageous act of standing up to men than Calpurnia in Julius Caesar; therefore, if women want to change this problem …show more content…
Helene, their maid, announces to Nora that Dr. Ranke has come to see her and at the same time, an old friend of hers, Mrs. Linde, has come to see her as well. While the two catch up on their lives, Mrs. Linde reveals that her husband had died and Nora explains the relationship between her and Torvald. Further, into the conversation, Nora also reveals that Torvald is sick and she keeps a secret from Torvald about his money and health. She explains how she illegally borrowed money for the trip to Italy and told Torvald that the money came from her father and how now she is slowly repaying the debts. After the conversation with Mrs. Linde, Krogstad, Torvalds boss, makes his first appearance in the play telling Nora that he wants to fire him because of his poor reputation and asks her to utilize her influence to convince Torvald into dropping out of that position, but Nora refuses. In addition to the conversation, Krogstad blackmails Nora, threatens her about the secret that she keeps, and wants to bring disgrace to her and Torvald. Later, Krogstad leaves a letter in the Helmer’s mailbox telling Nora that Torvald has given a higher position at work and that the letter contains Nora’s debt and forgery. While being afraid of Torvald opening the letter, Nora, in panic tells Mrs. Linde about …show more content…
Shakespeare writes his sonnets and plays during the Victorian Era, Queen Victoria’s rule. Victorian men brave and courageous while the women portray themselves as weak and shy. In a marriage, the men are in charge of the women in everything they do. Women in the Victorian Era were known to be delicate and keep the house running. They take care of the children, help with finances, and help with their husband at work. Shakespeare creates Calpurnia with the same characteristics of a Victorian woman. Calpurnia resembles a Victorian woman because the characteristics of helping her husband with work and keeping the house running portray in Julius Caesar. Since Victorian Men are resembled as the head of the household and usually looked up to, Caesar portrays these characteristics in Shakespeare’s play. Also, women in Norway have the same characteristics as the Women in the Victorian era. Henrik Ibsen, the author of A Doll’s House, wrote this play based on a true story on his friend, Laura Kieler. One scene that differs from Laura’s life to the play is the ending. Edge Hill University states, “However unlike Nora, Lauraʼs fraud was discovered; she then had her children taken away from her and was committed to a mental asylum” (page 14). Ibsen writes the ending differently because he wanted Kieler to have a better ending on her situation. Women in Norway experienced the situation that Nora is going through throughout