A Doll House showed how women were treated unfairly and unequally. Nora, Anne Marie, and Ms. Linde were examples of women in the world during that time period. Nora was an example of what became the start of the women’s liberation period. Henrik Ibsen showed a lot of modern realism by bringing out the struggles of women using these three characters. Life in the Victorian Era was very difficult for women. Nora was the main character with struggles. From the beginning, she had problems of being treated as an equal. Nora explains to Torvald how she has lived her life just doing what the men in her life say. She says, “When I was at home with papa, he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it. He called me his doll-child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls.” Because Nora was a woman, her opinion didn’t matter. She was treated like a doll, following whatever her father told her. When she married Torvald, things stayed the same. She went along with whatever her husband told her, and if she told her opinion, Torvald would get mad. Nora also struggled with money. When Torvald got sick, the doctor told them they needed money for a trip to Italy. It was hard for Nora to figure out a way to get money because it was illegal for women to get a loan. She had to go to Krogstad to get the money and forge the signature because she knew her dad wouldn’t let her get a loan because she was a woman. This caused her to have to cover up the lie from her husband. Anne Marie’s problems started at a young age. She got pregnant out of wedlock, which was considered disgrace. The community considered that one of the ... ... middle of paper ... ...upon women by not caring for them during their time of need. Ms. Linde showed some of the hardest parts about being a women during the Victorian Era. A Doll House was a great play that showed women’s struggles. Nora dealt with the struggle of money and having to comply with the men in her life. Anne Marie had to deal with the struggles of making a mistake and sacrificing the most important thing to her for a better life and Ms. Linde spent most of her life sacrificing everything she deserved for the people she loved. These were models of the women for many centuries around the world. All of them showed great courage and selflessness for the one’s they loved. Ibsen made a great impact to women’s liberation by writing this play and allowing women to see that it was okay to fight for their rights. This play will be a great model for history for many years to come.
The suppressed position of women was blatantly highlighted in Henrik Isbens play titled "A Doll's House" The dehumanization weathered by Nora, the dependence she felt, along with lack of adequate experience and education all played a part in Isbens story as if it were exact representations of society just beyond the doll house walls. As the reality of Nora's predicament was raised to the surface her inability to manage herself is seemingly what leads her down the path to her own independence. It is through the disillusionment that Nora undeniably felt towards her husband Torvald and the world that she finally comprehends her unmitigated state of repression.
In actuality, she was defiant, and ate macaroons secretly when her husband had forbidden her to do so. She was quite wise and resourceful. While her husband was gravely ill she forged her father’s signature and borrowed money without her father or husband’s permission to do so and then boastfully related the story of doing so to her friend, Mrs. Linde. She was proud of the sacrifices she made for her husband, but her perceptions of what her husband truly thought of her would become clear. She had realized that the childlike and submissive role she was playing for her husband was no longer a role she wanted to play. She defied the normal roles of the nineteenth century and chose to find her true self, leaving her husband and children
The drive for social advancement frequently appeared in literature. They used it as a media or message to question and challenge the limiting, struggles, domesticated angel in the house ideal. The nature of women, marriage and family life continued to be scrutinized, debated and argued over. Written by Henrik Ibsen , “A Doll's House”(1879) could be an example which reflected women's life at that time. Nora Helmer, a protagonist, and women in the 19th century shared the same status of being valued submissively by society. They were expected to stay home and perform domestic duties. It aimed to portray the possible changes of women to come by having Nora represented the negative treatment but, in the end, twisted the status of women to be responsible and equal to men. In the story, when Torvald, her beloved husband, asked her what she wants for the holidays, she replied, “you could give me money, Torvald. Only what you think you can spare- and then one of these days I'll buy something with it”(P.150). Nora is very dependent on her husband for money. He did not listen to her desire that he only does when he feels like it. So she was discriminated by the financial
A Doll?s House presents a revolutionary change for Norway in the 1880?s. During this time period women were seen as second or even third class citizens, and though numerically this is not true, a minority . Ibsen presents his character Nora as a plaything, sorely manipulated by the men in her life. As the play pro...
A Doll House, a play written by Henrik Ibsen, published in the year 1879, stirred up much controversy within its time period because it questioned the views of society's social rules and norms. "Throughout most of history... Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions... The resulting stereotype that 'a woman's place is in the home' has largely determined the ways in which women have expressed themselves" ("Women's History in America"). Ibsen places many hints throughout his play about the roles of women and how they were treated in his time. Nora is perceived as a typical housewife; maintaining the house and raising her children. However, Nora had actually hired a maid to do all of those typical housewife duties for her. Nora was naive, and ambitious. She hid many secrets from her husband. The way women were viewed in this time period formed a kind of barrier that Nora could not overcome. Women should not be discriminated against just because of their gender and within reason they should be able to do what their heart entails.
Nora explains to Torvald that “[she] can no longer content [herself] with what most people say or with what is found in books. [She] must think over things for [herself] and get to understand them” (3.68). Nora goes through a midlife crisis but for the best, she wants to create her character and learn from her own mistakes. She can read books and listen to what those around her say but unless she goes out and creates her own perspective, she will not learn or grow as a human being. When she gets the opportunity to experience a life away from the one she has always led, she takes it. Nora knows that people will talk about her but by the end of the play, she cares about what she wants in life, not what other people will think of her decisions. Above all else, she finally takes the chance to be the heroine of her own
“A Doll House” is no more about women’s rights than Shakespeare’s Richard II is about the divine right of kings, or Ghosts about syphilis. . . . Its theme is the need of every individual to find out the kind of person he or she is and to strive to become that person.” (Bloom 28) Ibsen portays this behavior in A Doll House through one of the main characters, Nora Helmer, by setting the scene in Norway in 1872. In the late 1800s, women did not play an important role in society at all. Their job was mainly to cook, clean, sew, take care of the children, and keep the house in order. They were treated as a material possession rather than a human being that could think and act for themselves and looked upon as a decorative member of the household. Women were robbed of their true identity and at the end of the play, Nora leaves everything behind to go out into the world to seek her identity.
Ibsen points out flaws within society by writing this satirical and feminist play. A Doll House is largely about gender inequality, and written in order to open the eyes of the public to stop the imbalance in society. He uses Torvald, and, at one instance, Nora's father to represent the constraints, stresses, and belittlement men put on women. He parallels the trapped feeling most women had in society to Nora, who felt like a cornered dog and felt deceit was her only way out. Women should not have to "wear a mask," they should be free to express their true feelings and hopes without a man's undervaluing opinion. Ibsen felt this needed to be fixed in society; he felt there was no room for lies or deceit but rather that man and woman should live harmoniously together.
I say this because there is no doubt that A Doll's House has long been seen as a landmark in our century's most important social struggle, the fight against the dehumanizing oppression of women, particularly in the middle-class family. Nora's final exit away from all her traditional social obligations is the most famous dramatic statement in fictional depictions of this struggle, and it helped to turn Ibsen (with or without his consent) into an applauded or vilified champion of women's rights and this play into a vital statement which feminists have repeatedly invoked to further their cause. So in reading responses to and interpretations of this play, one frequently comes across statements like the following:
Both have committed crimes against the law for reasons that were forgivable. Despite this, as Krogstad says to Nora, “The law cares nothing about motives” (Ibsen 33). Krogstad seeks redemption in order to be welcomed back into society, whereas Nora seeks a way out. Nineteenth-century society was more accepting of male criminals, considering that women would receive more backlash for their illegal behaviors. In A Doll’s House, Nora mulled over the reality of committing suicide to avoid the consequences of saving her husband’s life and sparing her father of unnecessary stress. This drastic measure illustrates the risks of defying societal norms. Both Nora and Krogstad were sacrificial characters; Krogstad was willing to abandon everything for a position at the bank, while Nora contemplated leaving her children behind in order to move on with her life. Krogstad served as an instigator for the plot of Ibsen’s play, thrusting Nora’s dishonesty to Torvald into the spotlight. He was one of the direct causes of the fallout between Nora and Torvald, and in this, catalyzed Nora’s decision to leave her life behind. In an incidental way, Krogstad aided Nora in realizing her lack of power in her own marriage. Comprehending that she is not seen as equal to her husband, Nora choose to become independent in a society that viewed women as inferior. The choice to write Nora as a
During the time in which the play took place society frowned upon women asserting themselves. Women were supposed to play a role in which they supported their husbands, took care of their children, and made sure everything was perfect around the house. Work, politics, and decisions were left to the males. Nora's first break from social norms was when she broke the law and decided to borrow money to pay for her husband's treatment. By doing this, she not only broke the law but she stepped away from the role society had placed on her of being ...
Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House mirrors the private life of Victorian women who lived in the shadows of their husbands. Women mostly stayed at home caring for their children or engaging with domestic chores. Mazur concludes, “The home theater space itself [is] …perhaps the most important shared parallel between A Doll’s house and real Victorian life” (Mazur 24). The setting of home in A Doll’s House is similar to the life of women in their homes. The feeling of home for women at this time in a hierarchal society amplifies the submissiveness of women to men. In connection with A Doll’s House, Nora left her home to bolt from her husband’s
A contrasting difference in the characters, are shown not in the characters themselves, but the role that they play in their marriages. These women have different relationships with their husbands. Torvald and Nora have a relationship where there is no equality. To Torvald Nora is an object. Hence, she plays the submissive role in a society where the lady plays the passive role. Her most important obligation is to please Torvald, making her role similar to a slave. He too considers himself superior to her.
Gender roles are also seen in the rules Torvald for Nora to follow. Torvald is the only one in the family who works and provide for his family who needs to survive in their lifestyle. Because of this, Nora must always go and ask for money from Torvald hoping for his acceptance of her using his income. Nora also had no possessions to her name because when a woman got married, all her possessions were considered ...
Throughout Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll House", Henrik Ibsen conveys the idea of inequality of woman. By demonstrating this she use's Nora(the main character) and show's how over the course of the play, she breaks away from the complete domination of her overbearing husband, Torvald to become her own person. In today's society woman are still trying to fight for a right to be equal. The author uses Nora throughout the play to show the courage it took for a woman back then to learn about herself, and what it takes to find herself as a human.