Power

Power in 'A Doll's House'

In Ibsen's 'A Doll's House', the subject of power is displayed throughout. At the start of the play, Nora is childish and immature, and associates power with money. She is obsessed with money, and therefore obsessed with her husband who has a good job and is wealthy. Because of her immaturity and naivety, Nora is easily taken advantage of, by both Krogstad and her own husband, who imposes rules upon Nora so that she makes him look good, for example, he doesn't allow her to eat sweets and unhealthy food, as it will rot her teeth and make her gain weight. Nora allows this, as she doesn't know any better, but after years of oppression she realises that she doesn't have to go through this hardship. 

There is clear patriarchy in the household; Torvald is the lord and master of his home. Nora accepts this as men are all powerful during this time. She knows that she is to stay at home whilst her husband works, as she is the woman and must be home maker for her family. This is at the beginning of the play, when Nora has absolutely no power whatsoever. She doesn't realise how important power is, as she's never had it. Nora thinks that this is how all women live, until her childhood friend Christine makes a visit.

Christine Linde has lived independently for years, but it has been tough. She originally gained respect by marrying a wealthy man. She used marriage as a way of gaining power, but when her husband died and left her in debt she lost all of her respectability. She has had to scrape by to survive, and while it sounds like a difficult life to live, it appeals to Nora. Nora is at the mercy of two powerful men: Torvald and Krogstad. She wants to feel free and independent, the way Christine was, despite how hard it may be. She likes the idea of having no debts or lies to keep up with, that she only must care for herself and no one else.

Nora decides to act on her feelings and takes power into her own hands. By the end if the play, Nora is the most powerful person in the play, and becomes independent and strong. Everyone is shocked by her act but she does what is best for herself and her state of mind, which is the most empowering moment if the play. By gaining her independence, Nora takes power away from her husband and her blackmailer, as she doesn't care for what they think of her anymore. She leaves, and goes from the least influential and most powerless character, to the most influential powerful character. Ibsen used Nora as a way to give women all over the world during this time the confidence and inspiration they needed to take control of their own lives, to not be oppressed by men, and to be powerful in their own homes.

Power in 'King Lear' 

At the beginning of 'King Lear', Edmund has no power. He was born out of wedlock to his father's mistress, and is therefore illegitimate. He has been sent away by his father for years, whilst his younger half-brother Edgar stayed with Gloucester. Edmund knows that when their father dies, Edgar will inherit Gloucester's money, land and title. He decides to try to stop this, as he feels a great injustice against him. He lies to his brother and his father and double-crosses them both, and gains power while Edgar has to assume the alias 'Poor Tom'. By gaining this power, he becomes infinitely more attractive to Goneril and Regan, who compete with each other for his affection. This gives him power over the two sisters too, and he becomes the most powerful, influential person in the play.

None of the women in 'King Lear' have any power at the start of the play, and Lear had it all. They have been reduced to expressing their love to their father in exchange for land. Cordelia is the only sister who refuses, and loses what little power she had over her father as the favourite, and is banished to France. By doing this, Lear essentially passes his power straight into the hands of the mistreated and neglected Goneril and Regan. They take full advantage of this newfound power and abuse it, firstly by overthrowing the King, and then by using it to get closer to Edmund. This backfires badly, and they turn against each other. To get rid of her sister's power and influence over Edmund, Goneril poisons her, but then loses the will to live when Edmund dies, and commits suicide. Goneril and Regan had a lot of power in the middle of play, but lost it almost as quickly as the received it.

In opposition to the sisters is their father, who had all of the power at the beginning of the play, but naively splits his power between Goneril and Regan.