In A Doll's House and Woman at Point Zero, the female protagonists are forced to suppress their identities. Henrik Ibsen and Nawal El-Saadawi hide the individualities of Nora and Firdaus in their play and novel respectively from the other characters, however, the audience is able to see the characters fulfilling the expected gender stereotype of the societies they lived in through lies and deception. to keep their identity hidden. Nora and Torvald's relationship was typical of an upper-middle-class Norwegian household in the late 19th century. In Norway in the 19th century, the main role of a married woman was to be submissive to her husband. Influenced by her own experiences in Qanatir Prison as a psychiatrist, El-Saadawi challenges the centuries-old traditions of 1900s Egypt that dehumanize women. The novel depicts Firdaus, subjected to patriarchal oppression, subjected to financial, mental and physical abuse and forced to live conforming to a controlling masculine society. Although Woman at Point Zero and A Doll's House are different genres and take place in two different cultures a hundred years apart, they share the theme of the mistreatment of women in society and women having to hide their authentic selves to survive. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essay Similar to the women of the Victorian era, Nora is not her own person, but the person that Torvald and other members of society expect of her. ; her true self is hidden beneath the facade she constructs to adhere to society's expectations. Correspondingly, in Woman at Point Zero, Firdaus is treated immorally throughout the novel, due to the expectations of 1900s Egyptian society. Ibsen and El-Saadawi present disguises to the characters of Nora and Firdaus. Nora's character is presented as childish, irrational and naive until she reveals her true character. This is indicated when Ibsen uses zoomorphism to show Torvald's manipulation of Nora. Torvald dehumanizes her by using animal names such as "squirrel", "lark" and "songbird". The animals depicted all imply Torvald's disrespect and contempt, as they are small, weak, and helpless. The irony is that although squirrels are weaker, they are notably smarter than most, because they hide their food to survive, just like Nora hides her food. macarons, and ultimately, its individuality. Second, Torvald reinforces his role in their relationship by belittling Nora using condescending language such as "my little Nora", "is that my little squirrel who is busy". Torvald's use of the possessive adjective "my" defines his inferiority in their relationship. Ibsen gives some justification for his "nicknames" and allows the audience to believe that Torvald has an accurate assessment of Nora, the audience thus judges his actions and this makes them complicit. Many commentators, such as Ibsen's biographer, had a similar view of Nora's character: “she is denounced as an irrational and frivolous narcissist; an abnormal woman, a hysterical; a vain, loveless egoist who abandons her family in a paroxysm of selfishness.” In 1879, when the realistic play was first performed, it shocked conventional morality. Women were not allowed to share their own opinions and ideas, demonstrating the societal pressure placed on women to conceal their individual differences. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar supportthat the two stereotypes of women created by men are "the angel in the house", who is the devoted and submissive wife, and "the crazy woman in the attic", who is the unconventional woman, who does not seek love. a man's approval. This concept is used in El-Saadawi's text; “A virtuous woman was not supposed to complain about her husband,” as it was clear that a woman was obligated to keep her thoughts to herself, “supposed” to suggest that women had an obligation to do so. to their husband's opinions. Furthermore, the adjective “virtuous” further insinuates that if women were to fight for their rights, they were neither religious nor pure. The irony however being that Firdaus' own husband raped her but no one questioned whether he was virtuous, once again reinforcing the party's biased approach. late 1900s, which favored men and rejected the existence of women. Additionally, in A Doll's House, society considered women to be unfavorable compared to men, which is why they tried so hard to hide their individuality. Ibsen shows the arrogance and crudeness that women were expected to endure due to their disrespected role in society by exposing the undeniable sexist nature of men at the time through Torvald's notorious "how similar- "she has a woman" towards Nora, considering her a typical domesticated woman with no real opinion. Ibsen shows how sexism is contradictory through A Doll's House. "You know I could never act against your wishes." Nora is expected to follow Torvald's orders, in that she is forbidden from purchasing a macaron for herself, as Torvald felt it was not in her best interest. Firdaus believed that her "duty was perfect obedience" to her husband, like Nora, when she neglected to tell Torvald the truth. Ironically, “Firdaus” means “paradise” in Arabic, meaning heaven on earth, but the reality is that his life was hell. Women were the “slaves” of the men in their lives, and the domestic violence they suffered was ignored. Subsequently, Firdaus' husband hit her "with his heavy stick until the blood flowed." The adjective “heavy” underlines the brutality of the action, carried out by the phallic stick, added to the fact that she herself was a sexual subject of men as a prostitute. Additionally, the verb “run” indicates a large amount of blood and thus emphasizes the destructive act. The inhumane description highlights the brutal living conditions in which Firdaus was confined and enlightens the audience about her fear of being treated as the "crazy girl in the attic." El-Saadawi deliberately presents the brutal behavior of men towards women in the dark patriarchal society, to show that it forced women to suppress their unique personality under a religious and emotional veil. The female protagonists in the two texts did not support each other, Firdaus says. The mother suffered the intense nature of the men's repression and allowed her own daughter to face the same pain instead of supporting her. Not only did her mother beat her, but she also allowed a woman to "cut a piece of flesh between" Firdaus' thighs. The imagery is indicative of an act of consumption and the clear use of the noun “flesh” is implied for the meat. The phrase "a piece of flesh" implies that the act is trivial and easily overlooked; however, the reader is aware that this deleted "piece" is fundamental to preventing the woman from enjoying sexual acts as such, the female subject being only the object of the sexual act and not the participant. El-Saadawi also suggests that the barbaric ritual is a form of removal of a part of a person to which they haveherself been subjected. At that time, genital mutilation was an orthodox ritual for those who followed the Islamic religion in Egypt. El-Saadawi claims in her non-fiction novel The Hidden Face of Eve that the use of religion as "an instrument of fear, oppression and exploitation" is "the reason for the low status of women" in the majority of Islamic and Arab societies. . Throughout Woman at Point Zero, religion is strongly associated with patriarchy and the exploitation of power. Obioma Nnaemeka believes 'abuse of the female body is global', women are not treated as human beings but as pets, this level of abuse can cause lasting hysteria in a woman's life suggested by Freudian theory. A similar theme of women not supporting women is found in A Doll's House between the two characters of Kristine and Nora. Typically, married women were expected to be only housewives and mothers who devoted themselves charitably to the service of their husbands and families. Kristine abandoned her romance with Krogstad to marry a man with a stable income to support her own family, their relationship failing "simply for the money". It was as if money ruled relationships and society itself. Love is a modern construct, economic gain was the main goal of marriage. At the end of the 19th century, Norway was just experiencing a great economic boom and a chance for prosperity for the upper middle class. Ibsen describes his first-hand observations in A Doll's House through Torvald's obsession with money and increased stress to maintain his "bourgeois respectability". It could be said that Kristine also followed a Marxist perspective in life, as her limited choices resulted from her economic situation. Nora's father financed her needs when she was a child, and then Torvald took over the responsibility. Nora was still in debt to the men in her life. Kristine automatically assumes that because Nora has always been financially supported, she understands "few of life's worries and difficulties." Further suggesting that financial problems are the only ones that disrupt a person's life. To survive, Firdaus was pushed into the prostitution industry by her supposed friend Sharifa. She knew how men exploited women, but instead of supporting her friend, she extorted her. “A woman is a woman's greatest enemy”, this common expression is proven through the relationships between women in Woman at Point Zero, although not only the relationship between Firdaus and his mother, but also Firdaus and Sharifa. Firdaus had never done an independent relationship before. choice, even a small choice like choosing between preferring “oranges or tangerines”, much to his surprise. When Bayoumi asks Firdaus what she prefers, she realizes that it's the first time anyone has asked her opinion. This is the starting point from which Firdaus learns that she has self-esteem and is entitled to her own opinion and conscious choices. This feels like the time when Nora felt like working and making money “was like being a man,” when she realized that men have the power she dreams of. El-Saadawi, a female icon and activist, said that “all women are prostitutes of one kind or another.” Women either sold themselves to their husbands for living conveniences or became prostitutes and earned money to survive independently. At the time they had to find a place in society to live, Firdaus was forced to find whatever means necessary to survive, so when she got an opportunity from Sharifa,..