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Character and characterization in a doll's house
A dolls house character analysis
Role of women in the 19th century
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Women in the 19th century were not treated much better than property. A woman had absolutely no rights. She was not her own person, she was the person that everybody else expected her to be. Women did not have any power over the man in a public or private setting They were treated as property and were supposed to do as the man said. Also, women were not allowed to have jobs, and expected to keep to the house and raise the children. While today it is harder to comprehend the treatment of women in the 19th century Henrik Ibsen does an amazing job portraying this in his drama, A Doll House, with one of the main characters Nora. Nora is the wife of Torvald. She has always been in a rich family. Growing up, her father was very wealthy. Nora then married Torvald, who also has money. While many would think that Nora had everything she could ask for, she never had any power or freedom. Torvald questions Nora about her getting into the sweets. He said “Hasn’t nibbled some pastry?” (1283). This shows the power that Torvald has over Nora because he has told her that she is not allowed to eat the sweets. This is something tiny and a very low sign of power but this is seen in larger situations. In the 19th century, women were unrepresented in the parliaments of nearly every nation (“Women’s …show more content…
Women are now treated as equals. Women hold many positions of power and make world changing decisions. Women are also treated as equals in the house. They are no longer expected to serve the man and do as he says. Finally, women are now allowed to have to have jobs. While taking care of the children is still one of the main goal in a women’s life, it is not just the women’s job anymore. It is no longer abnormal for a woman to go out and get a job and the man be the parent who stays at home and takes care of the children. While there have been many advancements and changes along the way, this is just the
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House" The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Kelly J. Mays. Eleventh ed. New York: Norton & Company, 2013. 1447-96. Print.
In the beginning of the play it is evident; Nora is inferior to her husband, Tovald Helmer, in their marriage. Nora, like many women in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, was taught that as a wife, she must be, “subordinate and submissive, and to act on the desires of man.” (Kiebuzinska) In the Helmer household, the reader is presented with a clear example of these acts of submission. Helmer sets the rule that Nora is not to eat macaroons inside or outside of the house. Nora seemingly accepts his rule when she replies with an obedient, I “would never dream of going against your (his) wishes.”(Ibsen 884) However, the reader is able to note that this decree does not set well with Nora. She understands the rule is only in place for the purpose of keeping her teeth pretty and insuring she meets the social expectations placed upon her. By eating a whole bag of macaroons, against her husband's wishes, Nora’s deep desire to construct her own life choices is present, no matter how small they might be. Ibsen uses this example of Nora to portray the control women wanted to have over their own lives and the changes they wanted to...
The starting of the 19th Century was not kind to women, being seen as less then equal to their male counterparts. Women were not allowed to vote, own land, all their possession belonged to their
Linde both broke the stereotypical societal binds that constrained most women than. For Mrs. Linde, breaking from those traditional ideals yielded a much more positive result; she gained a family to care for. Nora, however, had to leave hers. And for good reason; even though to most during the time period, Torvald’s attitude towards Nora was common between husband and wife, she saw it as just being an object for him to show off and have for his own enjoyment. We see this clearly all throughout the course of the play, as Torvald attempts to use terms of endearment in an affectionate manner when talking to Nora, he fails. “Frightened little singing-bird”, “squirrel”, and “skylark” are just a few pet names he uses that make it seem that Torvald sees Nora as helpless, fragile, and downright idiotic. He shows no respect for his wife whatsoever but has the audacity to become outraged when Nora announces she is leaving. Torvald felt like Nora was obligated to take his disrespect because that’s what every other woman did, but thankfully (and surprisingly) Nora had an epiphany, one very little females had (and even if they did, few acted upon it). For her to do such a thing, was groundbreaking, even if she is just a fictional character; she probably spurred on women who were in similar predicaments to confront their oppression.
This play definitely raises feminism issues, which plays a substantial role. Throughout this play there are many given examples of how Torvald treats Nora horribly. He insults her, just due to her being a woman. “It’s a sweet little bird, but it gets though a terrible amount of money. You wouldn’t believe how much it costs a man when he’s got a little song bird like you” (Ibsen 1126) Nora is called pet names, and is made out to be weak. Torvald has much control over his wife Nora, she accepts his commands and does what he wishes. Nora is given little freedom, and is put down numerous times by her husband. Nora is
Feminism is the advocacy of women’s right and is on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Centuries ago, women did not share the same equality as men. Men and women’s gender roles were practiced with greater acceptance than by today’s standards. More-over, gender roles among women decades ago, were wrapped within the limits of their political, economic, and social rights and freedoms. The man’s role was to work and to make important final decisions for the family. Were-as, the wives were to stay home with the kids and obey her husband. Feminism changed all those aspects in the world for men and women to be treated to have the same rights. “A Doll’s House” is a profound play to make direct connection on why feminism started. The main character in the play Nora is wife and a mother that struggling to gain equality in her life. In
Today women are being mistreated for just the gender roles and stereotypes that revolve in the human society. Depending on the time period and culture, women are expected to act in a certain way. Throughout history, many relationships can be found in different cultures regarding the way women were treated. In Ibsen’s A Doll’s house, Nora reflects the responsibilities and roles of Norwegian women during the late 1870s. Torvald, Nora’s husband, also shows the way men treated women and what roles they played in a marriage. Here, women are portrayed as dependent on men, they don’t have much freedom, and they are not allowed to have opinions. Women are taught to rely on men and be acquiescent to their husbands. Many stereotypes and gender roles found in A Doll’s House can also be observed in
In A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen writes the character Nora, to reflect a child, the reason he does this is to comment on gender stereotypes of the time this work was written, to portray women as powerless, dependent, and naive. Her actions and overall position in the play is what places her in a position of the child in this work, however in some ways this is Nora’s coming-of-age story, and Henrik uses Nora to comment on women’s placement and capabilities in their modern society.
Specific roles and traits have been stereotyped with genders by society for many years. While being strong and vocal is often associated with masculinity and men, women are characterized to be weaker and soft-spoken. Males are conventionally in occupations or roles, that involve leadership. Conversely, the social normalization of females involves no work, but rather their main role is to look after the children at home. In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen depicts a society rich in gender norms and stereotyping. The protagonist of the play, Nora, lives in the shadow of her white-collar working husband, Torvald, who often refers to her as his doll. As the plot progresses, the reader discovers Nora previously received a confidential loan in order to assist in her husband’s efforts to heal from a serious illness. By the end of the story, Nora is exposed to Torvald for taking out the loan, resulting in an argument that leads to the demise of their eight-year marriage, but ultimately the separation was brought forth by Nora. The standard gender roles illustrated throughout the entire play, are swiftly reciprocated, to justify that sexes are not defined by social stereotyping, but all genders are capable of the same roles and traits as each other.
Roles seem to be changing gradually over time and no one is sure if this will be a positive or negative effect for the future. Women have come a long way from being house wife’s and being under the control of men.
The first thing that the reader will notice regarding gender is the title of the play “A Doll’s House”. This reveals to the reader, Nora’s and possible Torvald’s status within the play. Nora is unable to be herself as she is not seen as an equal in her marriage. Instead, she is something to be admired and flaunted. This need for her to be something that Torvald can show off. Both Nora and Torvald are living lives based on illusion. Torvald has made Nora his perfect little doll so that he can look good. She thinks that he is a person with incredible strength, she becomes disillusioned with him at the end of the play when he exposes himself as just a man. This paper will look at the way that society’s expectations of gender roles are perceived
The old and new attitudes toward sexuality and the proper behavior of women is very apparent in the play called A Doll House. The play shows how each woman has sacrificed who they were for the men and the other people in their lives. The play also shows how men see women in general. Several characters give up who they thought they were meant to be, because of the social aspect in their lives. Society has always placed a burden on women as who they are supposed to be as wives, mothers, and as adult women. Women were seen as the inferior sex in the past and in the present. Things have changed over the years as women earn more and more freedom and rights that men have had for a very long time. The sacrifices that are made in this play speak to how things work for women in society. Women give up their right to happiness because they feel obligated to change who they are to help someone else.
Henrik Ibsen published A Doll House in 1879, which was a time period of intense debate over women’s rights. Ibsen believed in the equality of people; consequently, the play displays the unjust inequality between men and women during the 19th century. Women were expected to fulfill the roles of a daughter, wife, and mother. However, to conform to the standards of the time women would repeatedly sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of men (Shahbaz). Nora attempted to fulfill the roles society expected of her, but she could not. Henrik Ibsen demonstrated how a woman has a duty to herself first by showing the negative effects of restricting women to the subservient roles of a daughter, wife, and mother in A Doll House.
In the United States, women now have the rights that men have. They are no longer considered property. Friedans writes, “Changeless woman, childish woman, a woman’s place is in the home, they were told. But man was changing; his place was in the world and his world was widening. Woman was being left behind” (Friedans, 532). Women do not have to experience being forced to stay at home while the men go into the workforce and support their family. Women now hold power in the workforce and they continue to grow among that. Recently, a woman ran for President of the United States. In today’s world, women are just as equal as men and will continue to be equal for a long
In "A Doll's House", Ibsen portrays the bleak picture of a role held by women of all economic classes that is sacrificial. The female characters in the play back-up Nora's assertion that even though men are unable to sacrifice their integrity, "hundreds of thousands of woman have." Mrs. Linde found it necessary to abandon Krogstad, her true but poor love, and marry a richer man in order to support her mother and two brothers. The nanny has to abandon her children to support herself by working for Nora. Though Nora is economically advantaged, in comparison to the other female characters, she leads a hard life because society dictates that Torvald be the marriages dominant member. Torvald condescends Nora and inadvertently forces Nora to hide the loan from him. Nora knows that Torvald could never accept the idea that his wife, or any other woman, could aid in saving his life.