Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, the voice of women in the civilized world has steadily grown. The twentieth century showed further gender equality by the granting of women's suffrage, whereas previously voting rights were limited to the male population. The inspirational women who led this and similar movements were critical to the development of our modern societies. In Ibsen's A Doll House and Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, the respective authors indirectly characterize the females as stable and independent by contrasting them against the compulsive and solitary males.
To understand the female role in the developing societies presented by Ibsen and Marquez, one must be familiar with the most prevalent stereotype provided by history: Males have more influence over females due to the physical, economic, and governmental power that they hold. In these books we see a broad range of male characters that have power. Colonel Aureliano Buendia and Don Apolinar Moscote are prime examples of physical and governmental dominance in One Hundred Years of Solitude, while Torvald Helmer is the character chosen by Ibsen to display the economic aspect of power associated with masculinity. As for the women, their role in military, economics, and government is almost absent at first glance.
Although Ibsen and Marquez have associated males with power, they have also linked them to obsessions and compulsions. Ibsen's character Torvald Helmer for example constantly thinks about money. He works at a bank and is scheduled for a raise. A clear example of his compulsion can be seen at the beginning of the play on page 44 when Torvald says to his wife Nora, "Has the little spend thrift been out throwing money around again?- A page later he states, "Good Lord, I know how costs go up in a house at Christmastime." His obvious love and possessive nature towards money can be seen during the denouement of the play when he scolds his wife for borrowing money by exclaiming, "Now you've wrecked all my happiness-ruined my whole future.
