Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is a play where Nora Helmer forged bank money to save Torvald Helmer. She could sacrifice her marriage if she did. Nora fears that she might corrupt her own children. She asks Annie Marie what she thought when she gave her child up for adoption. Nora Linde’s friend married a rich man to help support her family. In Wilhelm Grimm’s Snow White the mother of the protagonist Snow White convinces her son to marry another woman to look after Snow White if she dies. Snow White is threatened by her stepmother because she is beautiful. Snow White decides to leave and stay with seven dwarfs. In both the play as well as the fairytale. Authors show that women characters make tough decisions and sacrifice themselves to others.
The comparison between Snow White and Mrs. Linde shows how women often make decisions that compromise their happiness. First, Mrs. Linde sacrifices her happiness when she marries a man that she doesn’t love. In Mrs. Linde’s words, “My mother, though still alive, was bedridden and helpless. I also had my two brothers to care for.” In my heart, I knew I couldn’t refuse him. In the play, we learn that Mrs. Linde is really in love with Krogstad. She decides, however, to marry another man to provide for her family, due to her financial situation, in order to do so, to get money. She sacrifices both her own happiness and desires for her family’s well-being. Snow White sacrifices home in order to protect her. This is demonstrated by the dwarfs who say “Cook, Make Beds, Wash, Sew, Knit, and Keep Everything Clean and Orderly. Then you can Stay with Us”. Snow White chooses to be a housemaid to the dwarfs in order to keep her stepmom from killing her because she is beautiful. She sacrifices both her desires and her luxurious lifestyle as a princess at home. In conclusion, it is women who sacrifice their happiness when making decisions.
Second, through Annie Marie’s character and Snow White mother, the writer shows that women take decisions, and sacrifice their loved ones. Annie Marie understands the pain that comes with sacrificing her child to be adopted. Annie Marie says: “When would I be so happy if I had a place like this? This is enough to make a girl happy who has been in trouble and is poor. He didn’t even do anything for me …”. because that fish was slippery. Annie Marie’s child was placed for adoption in order to improve her finances and give it a better quality of life. Annie Marie, as a female, was left stranded in a situation where she had to place her child for adoption to help support both of them. Annie Marie’s husband left her with a helpless child. Snow White’s mum convinces Snow Whites husband to marry a second time to look after Snow Whites needs when she is dead. Snow White’s mother, for example, says “take care my daughter and marry again”. Snow White’s wife sacrifices love to her husband to convince him to get married to another woman because, as a monarch, he cannot take care of the baby. In conclusion, women often make decisions that lead them to sacrifice love.
This is shown through Nora, Snow White and other characters. Nora borrows money from the bank so that she can save her husband. Nora might say, “…how embarrassing it would be for her husband to discover that she was indebted to him. It would ruin our marriage …”. Nora was aware that taking a credit from a bank would damage her relationship with her spouse, but because she had not considered her husband’s attitude towards debt, Nora took the loan. This may have caused her to ruin her marriage. Snow White eats a piece of apple that the old lady gave her. Snow White says, “she had given the bread to the lady in exchange for the poisonous apples”. In this instance, the seven dwarfs forbade her from opening the door to anyone. She refuses to obey their orders, giving the old person a loaf in exchange for the poisonous Apple. Women’s decisions can be the cause of their own downfall. This play shows the power and determination of women in making life-changing choices.
