Ibsen Gender Roles

In the 19th century, women enjoyed little freedom. Mothers were stereotype as nurturers for their children; however, widows could work to support themselves in order to survive. Comparing 19th century women to today’s women, today’s society has created more liberty for women. However, throughout the world, many societies still maintain defined roles restricted to one’s sex. Ibsen, Gosse, and Mazur focus on the theme of gender roles through Ibsen’s use of Torvald’s treatment towards Nora, Ibsen’s usage of Nora’s conflict with her discrepancy, Gosse’s critique of A Doll’s House, and Mazur’s comparison of Ibsen’s plays to real Victorian women’s life in order to show modern audience the confined space for women in 19th century Northern Europe which

The play begins during Christmas Eve, and in the Act One of the play, Torvald Helmer says “Is that my little lark twittering out there?” as his first line towards Nora (Ibsen 1). This quote presents Torvald belittling his wife as little birds with his diminutives. Torvald’s use of diminutives throughout the play such as featherbrain, little lark, and skylark to call Nora illustrates Nora place in the household as an insignificant wife. Furthermore, Torvald’s calling shows the power Torvald upholds over Nora. Additionally, in the conversation between Nora and Krogstad, Nora, in disbelief, questions, “Is a daughter not to be allowed to spare her dying father’s anxiety and care? Is a wife not to be allowed to save her husband’s life?”(Ibsen 24). Such questioning elucidates the duty of women in the 19th century toward her family and reveals that women play a limited role in society. Married women cannot get a loan without the consent of their husbands, and they are often categorize women to bear children and as caregivers to their children. In Act Two, Nora tries to persuade Torvald not to send Krogstad’s dismissal letter; however, Torvald ends the discussion by sending the maid with the letter to Krogstad (Ibsen 36). Torvald’s settling of Krogstad’s dismissal exemplifies how many men treated

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