The Effects of the Female Characters Departure in both A...

In both A Doll’s House and Like Water for Chocolate Henrik Ibsen and Laura Esquival respectively, each make one of their women characters leave not only their houses but even their lifestyles and cultures. Nora in A Doll’s House leaves her home in search of her true inner self. While Gertrudis in Like Water for Chocolate leaves her house in her own endeavor to escape Mama Elena’s repression. Bothe Ibsen and Esquival make use of a variety of literary devices and styles in order to show to the readers/audience the effect the departure of Nora and Gertrudis has on not only the other characters in the work but also the entire work itself. Each of the two characters exit the works under different circumstances and it is this dissimilarity that†¦show more content†¦She points out to Torvald that their marriage was a clear failure when she questions Torvald, â€Å"How could you ever teach me to be a proper wife? Your wife?† (Ibsen 82). To this question Torvald is unable to provide a reasonable answer hence proving Nora’s point about the failure of their marriage. Further, the sudden change in Nora’s behavior during the second half of the play is significant as it symbolizes her clear intent to depart from the house in search of her inner-self. The egression of one of the female protagonists from each of the works has a profound effect of the other characters and their development. The departure of Gertrudis is met with both extreme anger and sadness –opposite emotions. Mama Elena’s reaction to Gertrudis’ ‘elopement’ is one of absolute outrage. She in a way almost disowns Gertrudis by â€Å"burned [burning] Gertrudis’ birth certificate† (Esquival 55) and claiming that she â€Å"didn’t want to hear her name mentioned ever again.† (Esquival 55) The diction of the sentence and the usage of the word â€Å"ever† are significant as it shows the extent of Mama Elena’s rage and disavowal towards Gertrudis. At the other end of things, it is clearly evident to the reader that Tita is sad and dissolutioned by Gertrudis’ exit as Tita saw Gertrudis’ rebellious tendencies towards her mother as a fulfillment of her own desires to rebel against her ty rannical mother. On the other hand, in A Doll’s House, the reaction of Torvald varies with the