Chart on 2 plays Fences by: August Wilson & A Dollhouse By:Henrik Ibsen - Essay Example

PLAYS DOLLS HOUSE FENCES Protagonist Nora Helmer Troy Maxson Other characters Torvald Helmer Jim Bono Mrs. Linde Rose Maxson Dr. Rank Raybell maxson AntagonistKrogstadCory MaxsonConflictThe threat of discovery of aThe fact that Cory wants tobank loan assumed by Nora continue to play baseballwhen her husband was illdespite his fathers oppositionClimaxTorvald reacts furiously whenCory has a violent conflicthe finds out about the loan andwith his father and leavesNora walks out to retain herhome to join the Marinesindependenceand Troy dies at the endThemeTreatment of women likeComing of age under damagedempty headed dolls and black manhooddisregard of their rightsbaseball allegoriesElementsRepresentation of NorasDeath and baseball motifhome as unreal, a dolls houseFencesIronyWhile Nora is treated as a dollTroy escaped the violence of she is financially responsible,his father, but showed the Torvald is the one limited insame intolerance of his ownknowledgesons aspirationsSymbolismThe use of the doll motifThe symbol of the fence as afigurative deviceForeshadowingNoNoFlashbacksNoNo In creating both works, imagination ha splayed an important role, because both authors have utilized figurative devices to portray the tensions and conflicts in the play.

The author in Doll’s House creates meaning by demonstrating how the characters go against stereotypes, thereby highlighting the plight and captivity of women. This play is a reflection of the repression of women during Ibsen’s day and the protagonist’s bold move to seek her independence is a progressive step. In Fences, the author makes use of devices such as the baseball allegories, as well as the symbolism of fences to depict their different meanings for different characters. He also uses a variety of other symbols such as trains, seeds and growth, the linking of baseball with death and the typical music of the African Americans – the blues, to portray the history and circumstances surrounding these people and the frustrations they experience.

This play is important in that it provides a glimpse into black history that was riddled with unfairness and prejudice, poverty and cruelty. Both these plays draw attention to minority sections of the population, while the Doll’s House reveals the plight of women and the manner in which they were oppressed by being forced to confine themselves to home and hearth, The Fences reveals the sad history of the blacks as slaves and their struggle to fight against prejudice. However, one important distinction that must be drawn between these two plays is the fact that while Nora is portrayed as an innocent victim of society and the existing mores of the time, Troy Maxson is partly responsible for his own fate.

He has been shaped by the circumstances of his own childhood and his experiences with the cruelty of his own father; however this has not been enough of a lesson for him to avoid his father’s bad example because he engages in adulterous behavior despite having a good wife and imposes his will on his own son. References:Ibsen, Henrik. “A Doll’s House”Wilson, August. “Fences”