The world today is one in which women are considered equals to men, not just because they can vote, but also because they can raise families with their own money without having to depend on a man for complete support. However, there was a time not long ago in which society regarded women as secondary to men. Their only purpose was to procreate and serve men. Women that did not follow these guidelines of society were considered pariahs. The play A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, and the book The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy, contain women characters who take control of their life despite what society tells them to do. These women make their own decisions and just do what they want to do. However, each book has a woman who is independent for the good of her family and a woman who is independent for reasons that are more selfish.
In A Doll's House, the main character Nora first seems meek and dependent, but then the book reveals that Nora is impulsive, selfish, and materialistic. When the reader discovers that Nora has borrowed money from someone without her husband's knowledge it shows independence, which was frowned upon in the era in which the book is based. It shows independence first, because Nora has borrowed money without her husband's knowledge, and secondly because she has directly gone against his wishes, because he forbids borrowing money. The second thing that Nora does that shows her independence is that in the end she leaves her husband because she finally realizes that he does not really love her. Even though her leaving shows a great deal of strength, it is very selfish. Initially because she borrowed money for her own benefit, and then because she leaves without a second thought about her children. This quotation shows how he husband viewed women, "HEL: That is like a woman!" "NORA: It was like being a man." "HEL: Almost everyone who has gone to the bad early in life has had a deceitful mother.
