The character Nora of "Doll House" and May of The Age of Innocence both embody the values of their society in the beginning of their respective work. Both characters transform as their respective stories progress but the conclusion of their stories are different. Both characters symbolize the extreme off innocence while simultaneously showing signs of experience that defines them. The contrast between the facade that both characters puts up and their actual actions shows the duplicity of women in their roles in society.
Both characters appear to be innocent as we are introduced to them. Nora, a typical housewife, seems to be the definition of cookie-cutter wife as she is playful and flirty with her husband while being totally submissive to his every whim. In the opening act of "Doll House", Nora appears to be almost a doll that Torvald plays with as he controls every aspect of her life, including what she buys,what she eats, and how she dresses. He also makes multiple remarks against her as a woman that she completely agrees with since as a woman, she is born with natural faults. May was also the same when she was first introduced. Archer points out that May is completely shaped by her up bringing and is incredibly closed minded. Although he seemed frustrated with her naivete, Archer shows interest in taking her under his wing to teach her about the world. Both women appear to be products of their society and innocent. This innocence portrays the society that they live in as well as allows us to see the traditional roles of women during the time period.
Even though both characters show their innocent and naive sides in the start of their stories, it is later revealed that they are more mischievous than they appear. In Act 2 of "Doll House", it is revealed that it is not Torvald, but rather Nora, that holds the balance of their entire fabricated reality. She deviously goes behind Torvald's back to ensure his safety and protect the appearance of the doll house while simultaneously allows Torvald to think he is the sole defender of the house. In later sections of The Age of Innocence, May also reveals some of her devious qualities. It is hinted that she is aware of Archer's relationship with Ellen, which contrasts with her innocence and helplessness. Also, May actively shields Archer away from sources of knowledge or experience that would pull Archer away from her Old New York society. She prevents him from meeting the French tutor while the two honeymooned in Europe. She also disclosed her pregnancy to Ellen behind Archer's back, causing Ellen to leave to Europe. The sly and cunning sides of these two women illustrates the duplicity of women and their roles in society. While it is socially accepted that women were part of the sphere and are helpless creatures, these two characters show that women at the period were responsible for just as much, or sometimes even more, as the men for keeping up the family appearance.
I agree about Nora and May being similar but only to an extent. May is seen by everyone to be naïve, innocent and, as Beaufort comments, somebody who will only ever hit one target-- aka nice (178). In Nora’s case, however, I think it is clear from the beginning that she isn’t the “perfect” wife. A wife was supposed to give in to and obey her husband, but Nora doesn’t do that. From the very beginning, Nora manipulated Torvald. Ibsen utilizes dramatic irony here since the readers know that Nora lies to Torvald, but he remains oblivious until the end of the third act. In comparison, it isn’t until the end of the novel that May is depicted as manipulative. Neither the readers nor Archer are aware that May knows about Archer’s affair with Ellen for most of the novel. I do, however, agree that both characters’ personalities are completely revealed towards the end. It isn’t stated that Nora forged a signature until the very end of the play just as May’s manipulation isn’t revealed until the last few chapters.
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