Women's Desire for Freedom and Power

The action of all four plays is to a significant degree defined and motivated by a woman's desire for freedom from traditional, male-defined roles and power. Nora in "A Doll's House," Mrs. Alving in "Ghosts," Hedda in "Hedda Gabler," and Hilde in "The Master Builder" each, in varying ways, to varying degrees, for varying reasons, and at varying points in their respective plays, act out of a desire to essentially be the human being she wants to be instead of what the men and society want. The struggles of each woman end differently - Nora ends her struggle with freedom but an uncertain future, while Mrs. Alving, as she watches her son lose his mind, ends more painfully trapped than ever by her husband's will and ways. Hedda, for all her selfishness and idealism, struggles to live a self-defined life, but when she...