Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll's House (1879) is situated during a dominant patriarchal society where women conform to traditional roles, however through the portrayal of the character Nora, we see that she goes against these roles as she is quite deceptive and secretive towards her husband Torvald Helmer. In contrast, Bret Easton Ellis’ ‘American Psycho’ taking place in 1980s America presents investment banker Patrick Bateman as a person that would be described as a ‘yuppie’, but in truth, he is a drug addict, a cheater, and a dangerous psychopath that fantasizes about serial killings in front of his friends, yet despite this, he isn’t taken seriously which highlights that appearances can be deceiving.
Ibsen’s ‘well-made play’ begins with Nora telling someone to: “ hide the Christmas tree carefully” the verb ‘ hide’ symbolizes the recurring theme of secrecy/deception, especially between Nora and her husband Torvald as their relationship highlights a lack of unison despite being man and wife, furthermore the reality that Nora comes to at the climax of the play, that she has no personal identity and that their marriage makes no sense. In his essay ‘Nora as a doll’ Michael C. Wiseman (2010) argues that, “Nora does not take life seriously, an attitude that led to many of the plot’s complications.” Nora expresses her obedience towards Torvald as he teases her about breaking his ban on sweet eating, although her dishonesty about the macaroons she's just eaten in secret isn't extreme, this circumstance shows how easily Nora lies. Nora reassures Torvald that she never will go against his wishes, which we later know is not the case, this presents Nora’s perhaps subconscious, but deceptive attitude even towards her own husband. Animalistic imagery is used to describe Nora as ‘little squirrel’ presenting a clear sense of dominance Torvald has on Nora as she’s described as his pet, even more, so the repetition of the adjective ‘little’ signifies not just Nora's belittlement, but women’s inferiority to a man during that period. Nora’s lack of her own identity is emphasized as she not only refers to herself in the third person as Torvald does, but she also calls herself a ‘skylark and ‘squirrel’; however, the question raised is, whether this is what Nora is actually like or is this part of her deceptive nature in order to maintain a facade that in which Torvald believes that Nora is a loyal wife ready to follow his instruction? However, as later revealed, we find out that Nora committed forgery, but also borrowed money without Torvald knowing, showing that her: “acting against his wishes” is untrue. Ibsen presents how Nora breaks past the societal construct of a woman's identity; although she commits forgery, this is to support her husband, but these acts inevitably lead her to shatter the illusion of a doll's house she persevered so hard to protect her entire life. Deception in the relationship between Nora and Torvald is used by Ibsen to represent in his own words how ‘ A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day
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and so are forced to sacrifice themselves in order to gain social acceptance due to the dominant patriarchal society. Bret Easton Ellis’ ‘American Psycho’ presents narrator and main character Patrick Bateman as an unreliable narrator, Ellis’ purpose by leaving the reader with a storyteller who may or may not be trustworthy, with a view under the effects of drugs, paranoia, and hallucinations create an atmosphere for the reader that is essentially unpredictable and uncertain, emulating the feeling of being within the mindset of a psychotic and corrupt serial killer eventually exposing the possibility of us being like Bateman as a psycho ourselves. Ellis’ use of simple phrases in American Psycho clearly demonstrates how people and the things around us are more than they seem. The use of repetition as Evelyn Richards constantly refers that 'the boy next door' is Patrick Bateman, which implies that the personality and overall attitude of Bateman are that of a fine young man, surely not a psychotic murderer, however as the novel reveals, appearances can be deceiving. Furthermore, the recurring theme of mistaken identity within the novel leads to a rapidly increasing sense of alienation on the part of both the reader and the narrator. Bateman often is mistaken for others, however, within the novel, it is not unusual for anyone to greet him as someone else while he is out with his friends and not to be corrected. These moments of mistaken identity suggest that it is not really important who anyone is within the world of the book since the meaning and understanding of each other's characters is totally superficial and that they are within a society where no one has any personal connections or where no one really understands or communicates. Ellis does this for a few reasons, such as how he wanted to present the consequences of capitalism more specifically neoliberalism capitalism hence the novel's title, this type was especially emerging during 1980s America. A key characteristic associated with neoliberalism is that appears to have a good liberal and democratic government but is actually corrupted similar to when Patrick Bateman tells his friends he wants: “to end apartheid for one. [...] to provide food and shelter for the homeless, oppose racial discrimination, and promote civil rights, while also promoting equal rights for women.[...]most importantly, we have to promote general social concern and less materialism in young people.” but in reality he goes against every word he says and kills women and homeless people thus demonstrating the duplicitous nature of people and how easy it is for them to put on a facade and play two identities, perfectly illustrating the deceptive demeanor and uncertainty of people. This is signified by the end of the novel when Bateman ends up alone in his mind, where he eventually starts to deteriorate and lose his sanity and questions just as the reader does did he commit all those killings or was it all in his head? Ibsen’s Symbolism in ‘A Dolls House’ is used to express deceit, symbolism can be seen in the tarantella dance that Nora performs for the family. Such as the macaroons, and the tarantella dance symbolizes the part of Nora that she can't usually reveal; the intensity of the dance allows Nora to remove the facade of the ideal Victorian lady. Throughout the play, Nora uses success to impress Torvald, most notably the tarantella; he acknowledges that seeing her perform makes him desire her. Ibsen portrays through Nora how women within the patriarchal society are restricted from expressing themselves and their presented identity is controlled by the hands of their husbands and fathers, but Nora through this dance can be free and move about how she wants, it apart from the end that Nora has her own free will. Traditionally, the dance is done to rid the venom of the tarantula venom, but as Nora moves more and more aggressively, it's as though she's attempting to rid herself of the facade or false identity that she's designed to put up to make sure her husband loves her and not find out about the crime and the attack upon his pride otherwise everything will come falling down. Patrick Bateman contrastingly presents himself as a character in which the majority of the novel is in control of his attitude as he sets up this character that is normal which is why he’s referred to as ‘ the boy next door’. Bateman relates his extreme depersonalization to his delusional condition, but he doesn't tell which one triggered the other, but that 'the normal ability to feel compassion has been eradicated.' Bateman highlights how he has created a persona of himself imitating a real human being, it was something he managed naturally at the beginning of the book, but as the novel progressed it became a strain. On a date with Jean, his assistant, Bateman is trying to convey that he's not romantically interested in her and although he's ready to go out with her it doesn't imply he's drawn to her, despite the context of the book, this statement has an added significance; “his look was that of a fairly typical Wall Street stockbroker, yet secretly, he has a sinister face, full of aggressive urges and visions” which is why Bateman says: “I'm just ... letting you know that ... appearances can be deceiving”.
Deception is evident within the stage directions when Nora is playing hide and seek with her children, although this may seem like just a game, it is actually a symbolic representation of Nora and her secretive nature, especially as to how hard she's trying to conceal her secret from Torvald. The stage directions go on to say: “Finally Nora hides” this quite ironically portrays how Nora is playing a game of hide and seek with adults most notably her husband, Nora believes that if she tries hard enough she can stay hidden forever, this highlights the state of disavowal that Nora is in, Ibsen does this to show that deception won't last and that the truth will come out, which is why he created ‘A Doll's House’ as he intended to expose the hypocrisy of society, furthermore Nora herself realizes that she can’t keep this up which is why she even refuses to play hide and seek with her children anymore as she herself can no longer hide anything. The Christmas tree's recurring symbol expresses Nora's transition from a doll to a real woman. A clear reflection or juxtaposition of Nora's journey of her character is when the tree comes into the house first, Nora insists on covering it until it is cleaned and presentable which is representative of her desire for perfection, but when she begins to recognize that it is only a matter of time before Torvald learns her secret, the tree gradually starts to wither, until it becomes 'stripped of its ornaments, with burnt candle-ends on its disheveled branches'' the deterioration of the tree symbolizes the gradual end towards Nora as an innocent character and the start to the inevitable destruction of the family that has been constructed in this dolls house. Bret Easton Ellis presents how consumerism has taken over the American lifestyle and how the capitalist lifestyle highly contributes especially to how the upper-class act, furthermore the superficiality of the American dream is represented through Bateman. One instance of how Bateman goes to extreme lengths to construct part of their identity is through his general appearance, we see this when he goes through his daily routine in the utmost detail, such as what he uses, why he uses it, and how he does it. He states: “I wash the facial massage off with a spearmint face scrub. The shower has a universal all-directional shower head that adjusts within a thirty-inch vertical range. It's made from Australian gold-black brass and covered with a white enamel finish” Bateman has an extremely structured morning routine. He obsesses about keeping his body in perfect shape because for him his outward appearance is what is significant not just to himself, but as to how the people around him view him as. The reader has an impression that every day he goes through this process in the same custom as some kind of repetitive ritual geared toward upholding this superficial image of perfection. Although this scene may seem like Ellis presenting this character as extremely vain, it quite incredibly highlights the emphasis on a person's exterior which is why Bateman seems to most a successful ‘yuppie’ and a perfect embodiment of the success of the American Dream, in truth what is hidden beneath the surface is who he really is and explains why he is highly unnoticed.
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