The paradox of confinement and freedom in A Doll?s House and Like Water

In the texts, A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen and Like Water for coffee tree by Laura Esquivel, Nora Helmer and Tita (Josefita) are subject to the enigma of confinement and freedom. Tita is restricted to the ranch and kitchen, and Nora to the house. Concurrently, in the seclusion of the kitchen, Tita is liberated from Mama Elenas control, has freedom of self-expression through cooking, and can openly express her feelings. Josefita is a good cook with mystical abilities, and also has some freedom and control in the household. Both characters are victims of role-play. Tita has the role of housewife and Nora is a mother, wife, and dependent. Nora finds freedom in her debt, which gives her a sense of authority and control. The importance of role-play to Torvald (Helmer) challenges the strength of his marriage to Nora. Torvalds faade of a relationship with Nora disguises the lack of depth of his love for her and Noras recognition of this liberates her. She leaves him and discovers that it is the kind-hearted of freedom that she really wants. A Dolls House narrates how role-play and the competition for control co-exist. Consequently, one cannot be discussed without the other. This is also true of Like Water for Chocolate. In A Dolls House, Ibsen uses debt as a symbol to expose the superficiality of Nora and Torvalds marriage. Ibsen uses Noras secret debt as a tool for qualification social comment. It is significant for Noras realisation of the shallowness of their marriage and it also gives her a sense of pride and control in her daily life. Ultimately, the debt gives her freedom for self-discovery exactly simultaneously restrains her because she must deprive herself and lie to Helmer in order to repay it. When Helmer discovers Noras secret debt and forgery, he is so caught up in her crime and his appearances that he overlooks her ignorance and good intentions. When confronted with the fact that Torvald will discover her secret debt, she believes that if he is t he man she thinks he is, his finding will only strengthen their relationship.Act Three reveals that Helmer understandably does not intend to sacrifice himself for her and accuses her of having no religion, no morality, no sense of duty (Ibsen p221). Then the faade is unmistakable and at that moment she realised that for eight old age she had been living here with a strange ma... ... what she missed in the confinement of her home. Overall, A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel are narratives about patriarchy and the effects of role-play.Words 1, 396BibliographyIbsen, Henrik, A Dolls House, 1998, Oxford University Press, United stateEsquivel, Laura, Like Water for Chocolate, 1993, Doubleday, United KingdomDr Rose Lucas at the University of Central Queensland www.equ.edu.au/arts/humanities/litstud/natt/nattch22esquival.htmMackenzie, E. Dennard, www.class.uidaoedu/eng295_2/webwork/Mackenzie_dennard (class hand-out) Johnston, Brian, Realism and A Dolls House (class handout) http//ibsenvoyages/e-texts/doll/index.html, online 2/11/04www.history.asud.edu/gen/projects/border/page06.html (class handout) Enchiladas or Tacos? Families, Frontiers & Food in Like Water for Chocolate, University of South Australia Library, Magill, 2001 (class handout)Woods, Dr. Wally, Laura Esquivels Like Water for Chocolate, University of Central Queensland (class handout)Dr Rose Lucas at the University of Central Queensland www.equ.edu.au/arts/humanities/litstud/natt/nattch22esquival.htm