Hedda Gabler and A Doll House are undoubtedly two of Ibsen's most famous and beautiful works. In both cases, the central protagonists are women living in strained marriages who do not accept societal norms. Both are independent-minded, but Nora in A Doll House still feels strongly about the duty of marriage and motherhood, while Hedda in Hedda Gabler seems to think little about the institution of marriage and duty. A Doll House and Hedda Gabler were both sensations in their time. A Doll House, written in 1879, was Ibsen's first foray into creating a sensation, which would soon become his trademark. Her Ghosts (1881) and Hedda Gabler (1890), among others, were scandals in their time, often even banned for a time, although her canon is now widely read throughout the world. In both plays, the female protagonist is in a strained marriage and takes drastic measures to end that relationship. Nora has been married to Torvald for eight years and has three children with him. However, she hides things from him and lies to him, such as her fondness for macaroons, which he has forbidden her, and, above all, the large loan from Krogstad. Nora hides, lies and pleases – she plays Torvald's trophy wife, but still does what she wants. She doesn't do it cruelly, but she does it nonetheless. As the play progresses, she realizes that their marriage has been loveless, more "for show" than anything else, and based on trivial conversations and topics. She said to Torvald: “Eight whole years, no, not more, even since we knew each other – and we never exchanged a single serious word about serious things… [You] never loved me. You only thought how nice it was to be in love with me” (Ibsen 79-80). Nora was the "doll woman" in Tor...... middle of paper ...... Hedda knows what she wants and uses other people to get it. She is a manipulator, even a murderer in the eyes of some readers. However, the underlying reason she commits these acts stems from her wish to neglect her role in society. Again, like Nora, she makes choices for herself in a society where it is not her place to make. These two pieces turned the 19th century upside down. A sacred alliance, marriage in this perspective was considered imperfect, artificial, perhaps even doomed to disaster. Both plays also leave with endings that aren't clear or "well done", as the period demanded. The reader does not find out what happens to Nora after her departure, nor what will happen to Tesmond and his company after Heddda's suicide; no stasis was acquired. “I only ask…my call is not to answer,” Ibsen wrote at one point. And in fact he asks with these pieces.