According to the philosopher Michel Foucault, “...government has as its purpose not the act of government itself, but the welfare of the population, the improvement of its condition...and so on.” In Yevgeny Zamyatin's “We” and Henrik Ibsen's “A Doll's House”, the protagonists are confronted with power-wielding entities that do not correspond to this definition of legitimate government. The futuristic “We” depicts a totalitarian state in which every citizen's actions are closely regulated in order to enforce total happiness. Their personal freedom having been removed, however, the people are reduced to inhuman machines leading monotonous, unfulfilling lives whose welfare can hardly be said to have been respected. In “A Doll's House”, a stifling and condescending husband creates the illusion of a happy home while in reality leading his wife to despair. Both Zamyatin and Ibsen explore the idea that illegitimate power leads to violent revolt.