Discuss the performance of gender roles and their relation to power in the plays ‘Hedda Gabbler’ by Henrik Ibsen and ‘Cloud Nine’ by Caryl Churchill.

Gender roles are culturally influenced stereotypes which create expectations for appropriate behavior for males and females.^] An understanding of these roles is evident in children as young as age  and are extremely important for their social development. Gender roles are influenced by the media, family, environment, and society. A child’s understanding of gender roles impacts how they socialize with their peers and form relationships. Many children have a firm sense of their gender identity, while some children can experience gender identity along a continuum. In addition to biological maturation, children develop within a set of gender-specific social and behavioral norms embedded in family structure, natural play patterns, close friendships, and the teeming social jungle of school life. The gender roles encountered in childhood play a large part in shaping an individual’s self-concept and influence the way an individual forms relationships later on in life