Comparison of the Characters in “A Doll’s House” and “The Stranger”In the real world there exist many different people, of different racesand ages, each one unique. Some live secluded lives with few friends and otherslive very rich and complex lives surrounded by friends and acquaintances. Nomatter what type of life is led it is human nature to adjust one’s externalpersonality to suit the specific situation, much like putting on and removingdifferent masks. People tend to be polite and respectful to others in publiceven though they may not know the person well or not care for them, yet behindclosed doors that mask may disappear and their true feelings may come to thesurface. People may adjust their external behaviour and attitudes when aroundothers because they may not like their true selves and either want to changethemselves or just merely fit in with society and be liked by others. Anothermask that is often worn is the powerful and superior one and so to feelsuperior when among others pushes them around and becomes a bully. This sameperson could be gentle, nice and kind when around family but may feel the needto appear superior around other people. This form of adjusting one’spersonality or mask to suit a situation in life, is also common among charactersin novels, dramas, and other forms of literature. In certain characters it isevident in the novel The Stranger and the play A Doll’s House .In someinstances it is quite easy to notice but other times it may be difficult toidentify the changes in character’s masks as the changes slowly developthroughout the plot.
A form of mask wearing was found at the beginning of the novel TheStranger, where Meursault goes to the beach to go swimming and meets MarieCardona. She was lying on a float when Meursault was swimming towards it. “Sheturned toward him. Her hair was in her eyes and she was laughing.”(20) Lateron when both Meursault and Marie go swimming together “She laughed the wholetime,”(20) and then on the dock while they were drying themselves off Marieplayfully says “I’m darker than you.”(20) She puts on a type of giggly, flirtymask when around Meursault, probably because she likes him and wants to befriendly with him. It did not seem like a serious interest at first because itappears that Marie is a very friendly and joyous person who seems like she onlywants to have fun, giggle a lot and behave like a bubble head’. But later onin the novel it is found that Marie is not so stupid and bubble headed’ afterall and that her giggly attitude was simply to get more acquainted withMeursault. It was the mask she used to get Meursault interested and did notreflect her true intentions. When Marie goes over to Meursault’s house, andafter an exchange of kisses, Marie puts on a more serious tone and asksMeursault the question “…if I (Meursault) loved her (Marie)”(35). Meursaultthen replies “…that he didn’t think so…”(36) which leaves Marie quite sadand somewhat broken hearted because it seemed as if both Meursault and Marieknew that their relationship wouldn’t last but in fact Marie did want to makesomething out of it. Evidence for this is that she constantly asks Meursault ifhe loves her and also if they should get married.
The beginning of the play A Doll’s House is similar to the beginning ofthe novel The Stranger in that both Nora and Marie appear playful and childlikebut we later discover that again this is merely a mask. In The Stranger, asstated before, Marie is very childish and giggly when she meets Meursault. Thesame goes for Nora. She appears very childish in the opening scene when Helmercalls her “my little skylark”(148) and “little squirrel”(148). She hides hermacaroons like a child hiding something that she should not have, before goingto see Torvald her husband. This seemed to be an act or a mask because it isunusual to see a normal woman act like a child. It is not totally obvious atfirst that Nora is hiding anything from others or even that she is wearing amask. Not until later in the story when Mrs. Linde comes does Nora drop themask and reveal her true self when Mrs. Linde and Nora start talking about howNora got the money in order to send her husband Torvald to Italy. Together theyplay a type of guessing game or cat and mouse.. “There are all sorts of ways Imight have got it money”(160) says Nora during this guessing game. A shortwhile later, Nora reveals herself by telling Mrs. Linde that she “earned”(162)the money. “She was sitting there working and earning money. It was almostlike being a man.”(162) This finally revealed Nora’s true self. Behind closeddoors she was working as a business woman to earn money. This is quite shockingbecause in the 1800’s women were only supposed to take care of children and thehousehold while the men worked. It was important for her to have the attitudeof being playful and like a child in order to hide her true self. Otherwise shewould have been in trouble not only from Torvald but from others as well becauseit was not proper or socially acceptable for a woman to work.
Another obvious mask in The Stranger is very evident in Raymond Sintes.
He is” a little on the short side, with broad shoulders and a nose like aboxer’s”(28). At the beginning of the novel when speaking with Meursault,Raymond tells the story of him running into his mistress’s brother and that he”let him have it”(29). This makes him seem like a strong, aggressive character.
Later, a fight breaks out between Raymond and his mistress. Sounds could heardof Raymond hitting her. After a while, a policeman shows up and knocks onRaymond’s door. “Raymond opened the door . He had a cigarette in his mouth andan innocent look on his face”(36). Raymond puts on a different attitude or mask,hiding the true self that beat his mistress and presents himself to the cop withan innocent look on his face. He puts on his mask to make it seem as if nothinghad happened. With his macho attitude he stands in front of the policemandisregarding the plea to get rid of his cigarette. Then out of nowhere “.. thecop slapped him – a thick, heavy smack right across the face.”(36) At thispoint, Raymond’s mask flew off along with the cigarette that was once in hismouth and he showed his true self to the policeman. This was the mostembarrassing moment for Raymond because he thinks that only women slap. Butwhen the cop slapped him that was the ultimate insult to Raymond’s personality.
Raymond then has the “shakes”(37) from being incredibly nervous and humiliatedby what the policeman did. He thinks Raymond is drunk due to the shakes’ butRaymond tries to explain “I’m not drunk officer. Its just that I’m here, andyou’re there, and I’m shaking, I can’t help it.”(37) In other words, Raymondwas so humiliated by the cop slapping him, that he is so nervous he is shaking.
Some of the masks that characters exhibit are very subtle and initiallyno masks are noticed. This is the case with Meursault in The Stranger as Idiscovered that perhaps Mersault was wearing a mask to hide from himself. Theevidence of this is when Meursault notices the “robot lady” in the restaurantwith her regular routine of eating. For some reason he becomes fascinated withher. “Her gestures were jerkyshe ordered her whole meal all at onceshe gulpedit downtook out of her bag a blue pencil and a magazineone by oneshechecked off almost every programput her jacket back on with the same robotlikemovements, and left.”(43) Meursault even “followed her for a while”(43). Inpart 2 of The Stranger, the robot lady is in the court room and she too isfascinated by Meursault. He recognises something familiar within her but doesnot realise that it may be a reflection of himself. He too has a routine whichhe follows in a robotlike fashion such as having “lunch at Celestes”(21)Meursault does not recognise his own mask which hides his true self from himselfand prevents him from recognising the woman as a reflection of his true self.
In conclusion, the main reason for the types and significance of maskwearing or dual-personalities is that it shows how characters behave when amongother characters and when alone. Raymond had his macho attitude which he put onwhenever he felt intimidated by others such as during the fight with hismistress’s brother. A different mask presented itself when the policemanslapped Raymond. He became very nervous, embarrassed, and began to shake. Heasked to pick up his fallen cigarette as if wanting to piece back together hisshattered tough’ mask. Nora had her socially acceptable’ mask on to protecther from both her husband and other’s opinions because she lived in a time whenwomen were not to work.
No matter what the reason is for people wearing masks and altering theirexternal personalities to hide their true selves, it is evident that it happensnot only in novels and play but also in the real world and is therefore a majorpart of human nature. To survive and be accepted by oneself as well as otherspeople need to have available to them a number of different masks that can beput when required. Category: English
