THE AWAKENING, A DOLLS HOUSE AND THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM Both The Awakening by Kate Chopin and A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen involve a quest for freedom. Both lead characters, Edna and Nora are trapped by societal rules and regulations. The women are also controlled by their husbands. In The Awakening Edna obtains freedom through committing suicide, and in A Dolls House, Nora leaves behind her husband and children. At the beginning of The …showed first 75 words of 1783 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1783 total…home a "playroom", and her children have been her dolls. Nora cannot continue to live with a man who she does not love, and does not know her. She believes it is Torvald’s fault that she has made nothing of her life. She cannot live with Torvald, unless they would both change. She feels she has to search within herself to discover her identity, and to do so, she leaves her husband and children.