The comparison that I want to make between The
Metamorphosis and A Doll's House is modernism. In both of these
works the protagonist of the story's have found ways to go against
the traditional values in family and in the work life. Starting with
Nora in the play, A Doll's House she is seen as a house wife with
a secret. Nora and her husband Trovald are made to resemble a
model family in society. In the play Nora had no issue with being
Trovald's wife, and she accepted his demeaning animal nicknames
towards her. Nora was even fine with the fact that Trovald had
control of the money as long as she was given some to spend. The
modernism was shown really throughout the entire play but
through the women. Within the play Nora and Mrs. Linde go
completely out of the social norms for women. In the play Mrs.
Linde only came to see Nora in search of a job in the bank from
Nora's husband. This was out of the norm because women really
did not work at the time and definitely not in a bank. The next
major thing that showed women going against society, was Nora
taking out the loan behind her husbands back. This was an issue
because in order to get a loan women needed the consent of a man.
Modernism is also shown when Nora had planned on asking Dr.
Rank for money. As a women it was out of place to ask for money
from a man that was not your husband. The most important part
of the play that showed Ibsen's incorporation of modernism came
at the end of the play in Act 3. At the end of the play after all
of Nora's secrets where out, and then resolved is when
Nora had grown to become her own person. Nora's last action in
the play that displayed Ibsen's use of modernism was her decision
to leave her husband and kids. Nora's leaving at the end of the play
was basically Nora challenging societies view of women as a
mother and wife.
Then comes up the short story The Metamorphosis by Kafka,
and like Ibsen's A Doll House Kafka incorporates modernism into
his work. Like Nora, Gregor has only done things to make his
family better off in life and free of debt. In modernism it was
common for there to be absurd situations within the story. In The
Metamorphosis the absurd situation was that Gregor has
transformed into a giant insect. The next way modernism
influenced The metamorphosis is the theme of alienation. Within
society during the time period of this short story it was common
for people to alienate one another. Alienation was shown with
Gregor in his line of work when he talks about how he has made
no friends. Gregor being a sales agent caused him to be isolated
every time he would travel. When Gregor leaves for work he is
lonely because he has no friends, and spends weeks away from his
family. What is also seen in Kafka's short story is how the
families connection is based on selfishness and monetary gain in
order to advance in society. It is shown through the parents need
for Gregor to work for them in order to pay off their debt. Then
later on when Gregor could not provide anymore the parents put
the responsibility on Grete. The parents do this when they decide
to look for a husband for Grete so that she can start caring for
them financially. This connection of modernism between these two
authors works had much to do with the influence of the society and
traditional values they saw in everyday life. Both of these authors
where able to incorporate real life situations in their works and
share their views with the world.
Work Cited
“A Common Theme.” Study.com, Study.com,
study.com/academy/lesson/modernism-in-the-
metamorphosis-theme-quotes.html.
study.com/academy/lesson/modernism-in-the-
metamorphosis-theme-quotes.html.
“Bugs and Dolls: ‘Metamorphosis’ and ‘Doll's House.’”
Com3w09's Blog, 26 Feb. 2009,
com3w09.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/bugs-and-dolls-
metamorphosis-and-dolls-house/.
Com3w09's Blog, 26 Feb. 2009,
com3w09.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/bugs-and-dolls-
metamorphosis-and-dolls-house/.
Smith, Kira. “Modernist Elements in Henrik Ibsen's ‘A Dolls
House.’” Prezi.com, 1 Feb. 2016,
prezi.com/e7fhxm93fmnc/modernist-elements-in-henrik-
ibsens-a-dolls-house/.
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