Literature that were set before modern time in the past had an idea where the perception and expectations of women were quite similar. The four literature I have chosen are ‘Revolt of Mother’ by Mary Freeman, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the play, ‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrik Ibsen. The settings for each of the literature that I’ve have chosen had similar societies where men had more power than woman and sometimes even had full control over them. Some of these stories questions the idea of appearance versus reality. The theme of freedom and confinement is also presented in most of the texts. All four texts explores both gender and their roles in society.

Appearance vs Reality …show more content…
In times of struggle, we place a façade on ourselves to deceive those around us. We do this as a white lie to keep the ones we love safe from harm or secrets. But in time of danger, we also do this to barricade ourselves away from threats. In the ‘The Great Gatsby’, Jay Gatsby had the appearance of being a rich man who sets up extravagant parties most nights. The truth was that he came from a poor family, but he lied about it, “I’ll you God’s truth. . . I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west (San Francisco).” During the roaring 20s, people were restricted to their role and social class, it was hard to escape from being in the lower class as the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. So it would have been strange for a poor young man to instantly become rich and rise up the social ladder so quick. Which is why another illusion that Gatsby created was his rise to wealth. He …show more content…
The irony is that her husband was a banker and a lawyer and doesn’t know about her breaking the law to save him when he was sick. She also knowingly pretends to be a ditzy wife to get what she wants from her husband, playing and acting as his ideal wife. “Years from now, when I’m no longer pretty. You mustn’t laugh! I mean, of course, when Torvald no longer loves me as he does now; when it no longer amuses him to see me dance and dress up and play the fool for him.” She even admits to her friend Mrs. Linde that she puts an act for her husband to keep him entertained and be satisfied with her. “The Christmas tree must be beautiful. I’ll do everything that you like Torvald. I’ll sing for you, dance for you-” This signifies how hard and determine Nora is trying to be a good wife and impress him. It is also weird for her to try so hard for her husband as in a relationship, a person should be themselves and like their significant other for being the person they truly are. They were hiding their true self from each other and plus Torvald was selfish, cares abundantly about his reputation and how he appeared to others in society. One of the reason why he married Nora was that she was beautiful and came from a wealthy family. All this gave him a status of being a successful man (being a banker/lawyer) who has an