A Doll's House and Tess of the D'Urbervilles
During the late nineteenth century, women were beginning to break out from the usual molds. Two authors from that time period wrote two separate but very similar pieces of literature. Henrik Ibsen wrote the play A Doll's House, and Thomas Hardy wrote Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Ibsen and Hardy both use the male characters to contrast with their female counterparts to illustrate how women are stronger by following their hearts instead of their minds.
Ibsen uses Torvald, to depict a world where men choose to follow their minds in place of their hearts. Ibsen has Torvald believe that he is truly in love with his wife Nora. Torvald believes he will "risk my life's blood, and everything, for your sake."(63) The author sets the reader up to believe that Torvald is a chivalrous guy who would give life and limb to defend his true love, as the author believes that any real man would. Later in the play, a circumstance arises where he is given the opportunity to defend his wife. He does a 180 degree turn around and explains to his wife that "no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves."(71) The author shows the stupidity of Torvald with his misconception of honor. In actuality when a man sacrifices himself for the one he loves it brings him honor. Torvald is viewed as a true hypocrite. Torvald also believes the most important thing is to "save the . . . appearance."(65)
He follows his mind, only interested in what is best for society. Ibsen illustrates him as a truly weak human. In contrast to Ibsen, Hardy takes an intellectually free thinker, Angel, who shows a very close minded perspective on events instead of opening himself to his true inner feelings. When Angel's bride reveals to him that she has committed the sin of pre-marital sex as did Angel, he begins to reveal to the reader his ignorance. In her sin, "forgiveness does not apply."(244) Angel's double standard shows the reader that sexism even existed in the free thinkers of the time period like Angel. He believed that his wife's sin was not "a question of respectability, but one of principle."(257) Hardy mocks Angel because he ironically believes himself free from the church, but in actuality his mind is a prisoner to their principles.
Rogers, Katharine M. (1985): ‘‘A Doll House in a Course on Women in Literature,’’ in Approaches to Teaching Ibsen’s A Doll House, Shafer, Yvonne (ed.). New York: Modern Language Association, p.82.
Mr. Darcy also possesses many characteristics that also get in the way of letting his true feelings show for Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy has a past for hurting or betraying man...
Women have been given by society certain set of duties, which although change through time, tend to stay relatively along the same lines of stereotypical women activities. In “A Doll House” and “Simply Maria” we see the perpetuation of these forms of behavior as an initial way of life for the two protagonists. Nonetheless; we see a progression towards liberation and self discovery towards the development as a human being by breaking the rules of society. Such attitudes soon find opposing forces. those forces will put to the test the tenacity of these women; and yield freedom and ownership for their lives which are owned by others at the start of their stories.
Ibsen’s spotlight on everyday matters of a married couple delivers a test of fortitude; marriage, love, life and how this dance is perform daily. Torvald’s happiness is dependent on order; “Home-life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt,” (Act I 4) these spoken words focus on borrowing and debt, but are easily replaced with “chaos and willfulness” without change to the meaning. While Torvald carries his own set of secrets such as what the ideal home, wife, and mother means; Nora fulfills his minds play of a doll, placing her where he wishes and manipulates her with playful words of “my squirrel”, “my little lark”, and “my little spendthrift.” These spirited gibes are meant to keep her in place, as the obedient wife. Unknowingly at first Nora plays her roll well; bouncing playfully along with Torvald’s pet names given that she has an agenda of her own, little
Darcy begins to reexamine his corrupt tone, motives, and the consequential end result of his proposal. In reviewing this, he has a change of heart and proceeds to assist in the reunion of Jane and Mr. Bingley and in the locating of Lydia from Wickham. Through these generous actions, Mr. Darcy proves he does care deeply about Elizabeth and his feelings for Elizabeth are true. Proposing a second time, Mr. Darcy completely changes his approach and therefore hopes for a different outcome. This second proposal catches Elizabeth off guard, yet she does have a more docile reaction than she did to the first proposal. Mr. Darcy’s true love for Elizabeth shines through in the sincere and loving tone of his proposal. Also, he apologizes to Elizabeth for his former arrogance, extreme pride, and rudeness in his prior proposal. Not only does his tone shift, he now has a new set of motives to support his proposal. Mr. Darcy explains to Elizabeth how fervently he loves her and how he does not care about money or social status as much as his love for her. Unlike the last proposal, he is not sure of what her answer will be, but this only causes the proposal to be more sincere. Mr. Darcy also does not want to pressure Elizabeth into marriage, so he tells her, “‘If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.’” (314). She then informs
Kate Chopin's work, The Awakening, and Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, were written at a time when men dominated women in every aspect of life. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in The Awakening, and Nora, the protagonist in A Doll's House, are trapped in a world dominated by men. The assumed superiority of their husbands traps them in their households. Edna and Nora share many similarities, yet differ from each other in many ways.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and George Eliot’s Middlemarch are based on events from their personal experiences. The events that lead Ibsen to feel the need to write A Doll’s House makes his approach on the feminist stance a bit more unusual from other writers. Ibsen shows his realist style through modern views and tones that are acted out by the characters in this infamous story. In the viewers’ eyes, it is the women in A Doll’s House that makes it so popular, Nora and Christine give readers a real sense of Ibsen’s feminist stance. George Eliot makes her feminist stance in Middlemarch in much the same way as Ibsen. In Middlemarch, one of the main female characters, Dorothea, wants control of her life and chooses happiness over wealth. These female characters from these well-known works are represented in such a way to give readers a grasp of the social conditions involving women.
In the time this play was written, women had very few rights in public society. Ibsen reflects this by portraying Nora as having very few rights in the household. Torvald runs everything, and Nora has no say in how the house is run.
goal of most women to marry a rich man and if this was achieved then
...a that an idealistic lifestyle based off of lies and falsehood is in fact, not an idealistic lifestyle at all. At every opportunity Ibsen suggests that behind the façade of marriage, what exists is nothing close to what a marriage should be, and this is exactly what Nora comes to realize nearing the end of the play. The one miracle she had hopped to occur, was that their “Living together could be a true marriage.” It is undeniable that the ideas Ibsen develops that truth plays a crucial role in idealistic living; and when such idealistic lifestyles are built on deceit an individual will eventually undergo an epiphany resulting in a radical understanding of reality. In the case of this play, Nora and Torvald’s relationship disintegrates and she leaves him to find herself and to find a true idealistic lifestyle. As for Nora and Torvald, their marriage is destroyed.
...ing of what he may have once declared to be truth. Ibsen uses Rank to make these truths about Nora and Torvald's personalities evident to the reader.
He is a smug bank manager. With his job comes many responsibilities. He often treats his wife as if she is one of these responsibilities. Torvald is very authoritative and puts his appearance, both social and physical, ahead of his wife that he supposedly loves. Torvald is a man that is worried about his reputation, and cares little about his wife's feelings.
Analysis of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen It centers on the elder sisters of the Bennet family, Jane and Elizabeth. Their personalities, misunderstandings and the roles of pride and prejudice play a large part in the development of their individual relationships. The spirited Elizabeth and softhearted Jane have to deal with not only their own feelings but also the status of their family, both of which affect the outcomes of their marriages. The struggle is very believable and realistic because the story takes place a long time ago. The way people interact with each other today is quite different than how they would interact with each other back
A Doll House was one of Henrik Ibsen's most controversial plays. He wrote this realistic play in 1879. Ibsen's writing style of realism was clearly shown in this play. This play was controversial at the time it was written, shocking conservative readers. But, at the same time, the play served as a rallying point for supporters of a drama with different ideas.
As we read on, we see a change in Darcy, and feel that his heart of