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The role of the woman in literature
How symbolism is used in doll's house by Henrik Ibsen
How symbolism is used in doll's house by Henrik Ibsen
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In a world in which patriarchy had - and still does have- firm roots, Henrik Ibsen released his play A Doll’s House. Received with scathing criticism, Henrik Ibsen challenged societal norms and promoted feminism, or at least equal rights, through the play. Henrik Ibsen uses Nora and Torvald as synecdoches for greater social ideologies, and through the conflict between them, he establishes a social critique of patriarchy and promotes equality. Torvald Helmer is portrayed as a synecdoche for patriarchal values through characterization and his tone towards Nora. Helmer repeatedly refers to Nora in a demeaning tone, through nicknames one would expect be given to children. For example, throughout the play, he repeatedly calls Nora “little” and …show more content…
Furthermore, the use of “my” when he gives these nicknames suggests ownership, that Nora is more property and less human. The nickname “Miss Sweet Tooth” (4) reinforces this concept of inferiority as Nora is given a childish name, and so it is therefore apparent that Helmer beckons Nora in a patronizing and condescending tone. Furthermore, Helmer is characterized as seeing Nora as a showpiece, a “doll” only there for his personal enjoyment. This is seen through the repeated remarks regarding Nora’s physical appearance, especially when he says “Why shouldn’t I look at my dearest treasure? – at all the beauty that is mine, all my very own” (57). Here, “treasure” is a metaphor for Nora and her physical appearance, suggesting that Helmer only values her …show more content…
This inequality is shown in the play when Nora claims that she has only been Torvald Helmer’s “doll wife” (67) and that she has not been allowed to do anything with her life. Women are regarded as delicate, and are expected to maintain the household, which translates into the idea that men are more powerful, as they are the head of the household. When Nora threatens to leave the house in Act 3, Helmer responds with “Before all else you are a wife and a mother” (68). His statement shows his expectation of women, that they should stay at home and care for their children. This expectation is found throughout patriarchal societies in the form of gender roles, strengthening the idea that Helmer is a patriarchal figure. Torvald Helmer objectifies women, and thereby portrays his inherent patriarchal values, becoming a synecdoche for
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, a drama written in the midst of an 1879, middle-class, suburban Europe, he boldly depicts a female protagonist. In a culture with concern for fulfilling, or more so portraying a socially acceptable image, Nora faces the restraints of being a doll in her own house and a little helpless bird. She has been said to be the most complex character of drama, and rightfully so, the pressure of strict Victorian values is the spark that ignites the play's central conflicts. Controversy is soon to arise when any social-norm is challenged, which Nora will eventually do. She evolves throughout the play, from submissive housewife to liberated woman. It seems as though what took women in America almost a century to accomplish, Nora does in a three-day drama. Ibsen challenges the stereotypical roles of men and women in a societally-pleasing marriage. He leads his readers through the journey of a woman with emerging strength and self-respect. Nora plays the typical housewife, but reveals many more dimensions that a typical woman would never portray in such a setting.
In Henrik Ibesen's play A Doll House, Nora Helmer struggles with telling her husband, Torvald Helmer, the truth about a loan she receives for them to go to Italy when he was sick. Consequently, when Torvald learns of the news he instantly insults Nora and declares that she has "ruined [his] happiness" (Ibesen 93). However, when Torvald tries to dismiss his insults after receiving a note that her contract was revoked, she does not accept his apologizes and decides to leave Torvald and her children to "make sense of [her]self and everything around [her]" (Ibesen 100). Her selfish decision to leave makes her a bad wife and mother, but she there are a few more characteristics that makes her a bad wife. The characteristics that Nora shows in the story are her dishonest, her individualism, and the unfortunate failings of the father figures during in her life.
Gender norms have always been an issue in society. When the colonists first arrived in America, men viewed women as inferior. At this point in time, women were viewed as property, which meant that they possessed no rights or freedoms. In addition, women were often forced to stay in their homes and work specific jobs. Colonial women washed clothes, took care of their children, and cooked food. Women also began to be viewed as inferior, childish, and unintelligent. Over time, these beliefs became the gender norms. To this day, most women remain to be viewed in this way. In the play A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen brings these gender norms to the reader’s attention. Through various literary devices, Ibsen displays a woman’s lack of freedom, necessary
Nora Helmer plays variuos roles in this innovative three-act play of A Doll’s House. Nora’s role as a wife of Torvald Helmer, is exteremely courageous, who puts everything on bet to save her economically troubled husband and it goes totally unnoticed and this portrays the picture of the women of all middle classes in this society. Nora is cheerful natured woman who is loved by her husband very much. Torvald expresses his love toward her saying her “little lark” and “little squirrel” and other praising words. Though they love each other very much, Torvald sometimes uses words that are against his attitude of loving Nora. On the eve of Christmas, Nora buys lots of gifts for children. Though Torvald doesn’t like this, he tells her that they can spend more without caring much as compared to earlier
Nora Helmer, a beautiful woman that has dedicated the past years to be the perfect house wife and admirable woman to society. Her life has been filled with good clothes, enough to live with and the good reputation that goes along with being married to a prospective bank manager. Nora’s early years belong next to her father and the pampering and dependency began, she was then passed down to her current husband, Torvald. In the play we are introduced to Kristine, an old friend of Noras and a character that allows us to witness the way Nora speaks about her marriage life and it ultimately shows the dependency of Nora to Torvald. Nora greets Kristine and goes to talk all wonders about her family. Kristine announces that she has neither children nor husband and this to Nora is unbelieva...
When analyzing A Doll House through a societal lense, it becomes apparent that even those looked up upon in society have their secrets. During the late 1800s, women had very few rights, which consequently led to them being treated very poorly by the men in their lives. This is clearly seen in Torvald’s relationship with Nora in that she is the submissive one in the relationship. The nicknames he calls her and the way he shows his affection towards (grabbing her waist, patting her head, etc.) further illustrates
The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate husband, Torvald. Nora parades the façade of being naïve and frivolous, deteriorating her character from being a seemingly ignorant child-wife to a desperate woman in order to preserve her illusion of the security of home and ironically her own sanity. A Doll’s House ‘s depiction of the entrapment of the average 19th century housewife and the societal pressures placed upon her displays a woman’s gradual descent into madness. Ibsen illustrates this descent through Torvald’s progressive infantilization of Nora and the pressure on Nora to adhere to societal norms. Nora is a woman pressured by 19th century societal standards and their oppressive nature result in the gradual degradation of her character that destroys all semblances of family and identity.Nora’s role in her family is initially portrayed as being background, often “laughing quietly and happily to herself” (Ibsen 148) because of her isolation in not only space, but also person. Ibsen’s character rarely ventures from the main set of the drawi...
The marital discord that is ever present within the relationship between Nora and Torvald Helmer is furthermore portrayed through the differences in the demeanour of both Torvald and Nora. Torvald is constructed as someone who is both visually stable and emotionally collected, as seen when he is “smiling” (Ibsen, 11) whilst Nora is “clapping her hands…takes his arm” (Ibsen, 11). Ironically enough, the playwright constructs an almost father-daughter relationship rather than a husband-wife, as we say Nora’s playful actions and Torvald’s subsequent emotions. Even the basic roots of their relationship remain unclear as seen through the visual stage directions; however, one thing remains the same. Regardless of whether it is a husband-wife or father-daughter
Nora Helmer was a delicate character and she relied on Torvald for her identity. This dependence that she had kept her from having her own personality. Yet when it is discovered that Nora only plays the part of the good typical housewife who stays at home to please her husband, it is then understandable that she is living not for herself but to please others. From early childhood Nora has always held the opinions of either her father or Torvald, hoping to please them. This mentality makes her act infantile, showing that she has no ambitions of her own. Because she had been pampered all of her life, first by her father and now by Torvald, Nora would only have to make a cute animal sound to get what she wanted from Torvald, “If your little squirrel were to ask you for something very, very, prettily” (Ibsen 34) she said.
In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora deals with the oppression of a nineteenth century, male-dominated society. She struggles to break free from the confinement of her restricting marriage and controlling husband Torvald. Her evolving attitude towards Torvald results in her newfound independence as a woman. Nora’s transformation suggests there may be hope for other women in society to break the bonds that oppress them and defy their chauvinist husbands.
Nora engages in a mutually dependent game with Torvald in that she gains power in the relationship by being perceived as weak, yet paradoxically she has no real power or independence because she is a slave to the social construction of her gender. Her epiphany at the end at the play realises her and her marriage as a product of society, Nora comes to understand that she has been living with a constr...
Torvald Helmer is the stereotypical Nineteenth-century husband, as he is a controlling, condescending patriarch. By referring to his wife with diminutive names, Torvald propagates the "women are lesser that men" stereotype and keeps his wife in a position of subservience. In line 11 of the first act, we come across the first instance of Torvald's bird references to Nora with "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" This reference is the first of many in which Torvald refers to Nora as a lark. Often this referencing is preceded by diminutive terms such as "little" and "sweet, little." Torvald also refers to Nora as a squirrel, a spendthrift, a songbird, and a goose, these terms also preceded with a diminutive. The significance of th...
Henrik Ibsen uses his play, A Doll’s House, to challenge the status of the typical marriage and question feminist equality. Ibsen makes an example of the Helmer marriage by exposing social problems within society. The play ends without any solutions, however, Ibsen does offer women possibilities. Nora is a heroine among women, then and now.
The inferior role of Nora is extremely important to her character. Nora is oppressed by a variety of "tyrannical social conventions." Ibsen in his "A Doll's House" depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize their role in society. Nora is oppressed by the manipulation from Torvald. Torvald has a very typical relationship with society. He is a smug bank manager. With his job arrive 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.
Torvald Helmer starts off the story with a new job as a bank manager. He has a wife Nora who does not have a job in the workforce since that was the man's role. Torvald even calls Nora pet names like "my sweet little lark" and "my squirrel”. These nicknames may seem to be harmless and cute, but in reality the names actually show how little he thinks of her and how he’s the one harnessing the power in the relationship. When Torvald says "my little squirrel" he is suggesting that he in fact owns Nora and that she is second-rate to him, since she is seen as little and as a squirrel which are usually frightened, non-threatening creatures. Torvald sees women as both child-like, helpless creatures detached from reality and who are responsible for taking care of the chores and children while staying inside the house.