Nora and Helene

One of the critical articles I gave you said that Ibsen himself saw Helene Alving as a successor to Nora, but while Nora leaves, she stays. Do you see any affinity or similarity between the two women? What about between Torvald Helmer and Pastor Manders? What makes the women and the men different from each other? You need to consider things such as social class, of course, and mid-19th century morality. How did each woman, and man, view marriage and duty, and how do they all reconcile those ideas in the light of the actions of the plots of the plays?

If you need a few more questions, I think I can come up with them!!

"But you never loved her!" Who is Emma?

Very early in the novel, Emma Bovary laments her fate of being a woman. She even longs for a boy so she can get her "revenge" through him. Is just her fate of being a woman in an oppressive patriarchal society enough to justify her actions? I didn't sense much sympathy for her in our class discussions, but she is always fighting the limitations of her culture. Are we less sympathetic toward her because while Charles is a boorish, dim, and unsophisticated man, he is basically good, and kind and true to her (and worships her)?

Does she ever suggest, in thought, word or action, that she would live differently if she were free from the constraints and double standards of her sex?

Maggie and Hester

Both Maggie and Hester are "ruined" women. That is a curious term, when you think about it. Ruined for what? for who? Is ruined redeemable?

One thing we discussed briefly was that Maggie's only chance for redemption was death. Do you agree with that, and do you think Hester is redeemed? What brings about her redemption, if you think that is true. What might complicate the question is that since Hester never repents, is she even in need of redemption?

Another thing I want you to think about is while it's clear that Hawthorne and Crane are presenting one view of woman in each of their novels, do you think that narrative is condemning the woman or the treatment of her? This is something you will see on the exam for all the works we have studied. You don't need to address any but Maggie and Hester here, but think about it.