The Mendacious Acts of Mrs.Helmer and Hale Vindictive notions come in various of forms. Whether the notions uprise in a legal or moral sense, the tendency to be “selfless” in a “selfish manner” occurs frequently in the plays “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen and “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell. In both of the theatrical works ,the truth is unveiled ; leading to the uncorrelated duet of Nora Helmer of “A Doll’s House” and Mrs.Hale of “Trifles” ,in both relevance and irrelevance. In the three-act play , “A Doll’s House” , Nora Helmer , wife of Torvald Helmer and acquaintance of banker , Nils Krogstad , commits the atrocious act of forgery in order to claim money from Krogstad for the sake of “love.” Krogstad then blackmails Nora by threatening Hale , wife of Lewis Hale commits the crime of withholding vital information from a murder scene to County Attorney ; George Henderson and Sherriff ; Harry Peters. John Wright was found hung in his home and the only accomplice that the murder would connect to would be his wife , Mrs. Minnie Wright. Mrs. Hale and her long-time friend , Mrs.Peters ,find a disturbing item in a belonging to Mrs. Wright. A dead canary lay dead and was noticeably strangled, just how John Wright was. The women come to conclusion that John Wright aided to his death by his selfish neglect toward his wife and debate on whether they should inform the authorities or leave this quiet. Mrs.Peters remarks , “It was an awful thing that was done in this house that night, Mrs.Hale.Killing a man while he slept, slipping a rope around his neck that choked the life out of him.” (1.127). Mrs. Hale abruptly corrects Mrs.Peters by remarking , “His neck. Choked the life out of him.” Helmer and Hale are similar in ways of women empowerment. No matter what the case may be , they empathize their gender. Toby Zinman, analyst of “A Doll’s House” preached , “She needed her freedom to have the kind of life she felt she deserved and that she could never have achieved with the typical male. My sympathies lie with the women in this macho world.” (Zinman 30). Suzy Clarkson Holstein , analyst of “Trifles” noted , “The women do not simply remember and sympathize with Minnie. They identify with her, quite literally. Their silence has become a mark of their solidarity, a refusal to endanger a sister.” (Holstein 290). Clearly stated above , each understands the corrupt ways men have belittled women and take the stance of
The unfortunate death of John Wright was a mystery to all. A team of individuals consisting of the sheriff, county attorney, Mr. Hale, and Mrs. Peters were on a mission to find the purpose of the murderer. At this point, Mrs. Wright is the primary suspect. Mrs. Hale was asked to join the party in order to give Mrs. Peters, the sheriff s wife, some companionship. In the story, Mrs. Hale leaves cues of guilty feelings. As an example, the narrator states, Martha Hale had a moment of feeling that she could not cross that threshold. The reason being given that she had been too busy to come by but now she could come (Glaspell 2). Another instance to be noted is a conversation between her and the young attorney. During this conversation, he asked if they were friends since they were neighbors. Her answer was sympathetic, I’ve seen little enough of her late years. I ve not been it this house-it s been morethan a year. Then she goes on to explain, I liked her well enough. Farmers wives have their hands full, it never seemed a very cheerful place (Glaspell 6). At this point, Mrs. Hale s empathy toward Mrs. Wright is apparent.
Nora and Mrs. Wright’s social standing when compared to the men in each play is inferior. Both works expose their respective male characters’ sexist view of women diminishing the women’s social standing. Each work features egotistical men who have a severely inflated view of their self-worth when compared to their female counterparts. The men’s actions and words indicate they believe women are not capable of thinking intelligently. This is demonstrated in “Trifles” when Mr. Hale makes the statement about women only worrying about mere trifles. It is also apparent in “A Dollhouse” when Torvalds thinks his wife is not capable of thinking with any complexity (Mazur 17). Another common attribute is of the women’s social standing is displayed as both women finally get tired of feeling like second class citizens and stand up to the repressive people in the women’s lives (Mulry 294). Although both women share much in common in their social standing there subtle differences. Torvald’s sexist view of Nora is more on a personal level in “A Dollhouse” while the male characters’ sexist views in “Trifles” seem to be more of a social view that women are not very smart and their opinions are of little value. This attitude is apparent in “Trifles” as Mr. Hale and Mr. Henderson’s comments about Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping (Mulry 293). As the women in both works reach their emotional
There is not one child who has not rebelled against their parents in some way. Any little action can be seen as an act of rebellion; whether it is secretly buying a book from the Scholastic book fairs, talking on the phone late at night or purposely leaving the trash to pile up. In the play, A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen presents the ideas of rebellion for indepen¬dence. The main character, a sweet and lovely housewife, name Nora Helmer is married to Torvald Helmer who has been promoted to a new banking position. Torvald expects her to be an obedient wife who will follow him wherever he walks and to stay by his side, no matter the situation. She had fallen in debt to Krogstad, a misunderstood lawyer and moneylender, because she tried to save Torvald when he became bedridden. She works hard to pay all the money back but she cannot live any longer without her husband discovering her secret. With the reoccurring use of pet names, macaroons, and symbolic actions, Ibsen gradually reveals Nora acting more independently than anyone thinks.
5. Ford, Karen. "Social contrains and painful growth in A Doll's House". Expanded Academic ASAP. Methodist College , Fayetteville , NC . 30 Octuber 2005
The strong women characters in Trifles allow for feminist discussion, but also question the classic gender roles present at any point in time. Through the crime committed by Minnie Wright, three women grow together and establish that justice for all is deeper than finding the culprit. Justice occurs in all things, in hiding the clues by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, in the quiet dignity they both have by helping their friend, and by proving that women are capable of anything they are determined to
“A Doll’s House” is a story about a husband and wife, who are well off, and going through the Christmas holidays. Helmer, the Husband, is going to start a new job after the New Year. There is a strong focus on the marriage. In fact, when I first read "A Doll 's House," I thought marriage was the theme, but with closer examination now I realize the real theme is deceit. I will use examples from the play, symbolism, and character analysis to demonstrate this idea.
The author clearly reveals the imbalance in power within the Helmer’s marriage. When Torvald addresses his wife, he continuously reinforces his dominance by calling her belittling pet names such as, “my little lark… my squirrel” (Ibsen 1190-1191). Only when Nora is being criticized does her husband address her by her name. Torvald condemns her for being wasteful with money, and connects it with the fact that she is a woman. Nora endures constant ridicule for her “feminine” acts of squandering money, “Nora, how like a woman… you little prodigal” (Ibsen 1191-1192). Throughout the play, Ibsen reiterates “little” to expose Torvalds’s repetitive disparaging of Nora’s character. But not only does Nora continue to allow the condescending treatment, she responds by acting helpless and in need of proper guidance. When discussing the responsibilities of women in the Victorian era, Hsin Ying Chi, English instructor at Troy State University, points out, “Her first duty is to be a submissive wife who loves and obeys her husband” (par. 27). In A Doll’s House, Nora represents the “traditional” subordinate house wife who solely exists to please her husband. She is shown to be oblivious to any outside issues, and it is apparent to the reader that Nora is completely dependent upon Torvald. Therefore, as a Victorian women, Nora must blindly follow her husband’s
When a child’s favorite toy is broken, the child is usually overcome by emotion and unable to function. When that child becomes an adult, the proverbial toy is the social life of that adult and, as with the toy, the adult is protective over it and tries to keep it from breaking. It is no mistake that Henrik Ibsen titled his play A Doll’s House, the toy house being a symbol for the carefully constructed and maintained social structures of adults. By the end of the play, the toy is all but smashed, as typical gender roles are destroyed by a revolutionary woman named Nora. Yet, Ibsen ruined his perfect progressive literature by writing a second ending; Nora, who was originally written to leave and become an empowered individual, sees her children sleeping, meekly collapses in the doorway, and decides that she should remain a hapless housewife for the sake of the children As shown in Critical Reception by Errol Durbach, people didn’t accept his original progressive literature, insisting he write this alternate ending to appease their societal views. It seems that by Ibsen writing an alternate ending, he is making himself and his work succumb to negative social pressure, just as the rewritten Nora did.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House conveys the story of a wife’s struggle to break away from the social norms of late nineteenth century middle class Europe. Throughout the play, Ibsen focuses on Nora’s characterization and experiences and thus this leads the reader to perceive her as the protagonist. On the other hand, her husband, Helmer – also referred to as Torvald, is revealed as the antagonist as the dialogue between him and Nora throughout the entire play portrays him as an authoritative figure and oppressor rather than a loving and supportive husband. By comparing and contrasting the opening scene of Act One, from pages 147 to 149, and the closing scene of Act Three, from pages 225 to 227, I have understood and appreciated the shifts in thematic ideas by mainly placing focus on the writing style, diction and structure. The theme of objecthood is portrayed effectively in the opening scene through the use of diction applied in the dialogue between Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer and is further enhanced by the tone of voice of both characters’. The opening scene focuses solely on introducing both characters by allowing the readers’ full view of the characters’ usual day to day interactions and this further enhances the reader’s understanding of the characters’ attitudes and opinions on things. The argument scene on the other hand serves as the climax and turning point as both Torvald and Nora arrive to the point of realization. The theme of feminine liberation is effectively conveyed through this scene, again, through th...
Throughout A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen illustrates through an intriguing story how a once infantile-like woman gains independence and a life of her own. Ibsen creates a naturalistic drama that demonstrates how on the outside Nora and Torvald seam to have it all, but in reality their life together is empty. Instead of meaningful discussions, Torvald uses degrading pet names and meaningless talk to relate to Nora. Continuing to treat Nora like a pampered yet unimportant pet, Torvald thoroughly demonstrates how men of his era treat women as insignificant items to be possessed and shown off. While the Helmer household may have the appearance of being sociably acceptable, the marriage of Torvald and Nora was falling apart because of the lack of identity, love, and communication.
Conflict in A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen In every play, there is always conflict. Without it, the story would simply be dull and boring. There would be no lessons learnt and nothing that keeps the story going. Everyone has different opinions and perceptions about particular things and this is why conflict occurs – everyone is human and that is the reality. The different kinds of conflict include the conflict between individuals, within the individual and conflict with society.
The play A Doll House (1879), by Henrik Ibsen, has a realistic feel that compels the reader to identify with the main characters and the situation that they find themselves facing. The wife, Nora, is in all but one scene, and nearly all the scenes occur in a single room. She is the main character, and it is her unraveling and self-discovery that the reader is spectator to.
In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, pointedly captures the reality of the Victorian Era within the play. Nora Helmer, the protagonist of the story, represents the typical women in society during that era. The audience’s first impression of Nora is a money obsessed, childish, obedient house wife to her husband, Torvald Helmer. However, as the play progresses one can see that Nora is far from being that typical ideal trophy wife, she is an impulsive liar who goes against society’s norm to be whom and what she wants. Her husband is illustrated as the stereotypical man during the 19th century, as he is the dominate breadwinner of the family, who too deserts his position as the play reaches its end. A key theme that is brought to light in A Doll’s House is gender roles, which teaches us that there is a noticeable difference in the roles that both the men and women were expected to play in the everyday societal developments in Norway during the Victorian Era. It portrays the issues that women faced during the 19th century with gender roles, and how their roles affected their relationships with men as well as society. The play paints the characters and situations as they were to be in reality. The play demonstrates, through many of its characters, that there is a hidden side to everyone’s personality, which is often shown when two characters, that are close, interact. In addition, the play acts as a warning to restrain from dishonesty, so that we may not ruin the relationships that are in our lives, which is shown by Nora.
“A Doll House” by Ibsen exposes one of the main trials facing Nora and women of today that a lot of men tend to underestimate women. They assume that
To conclude, there is conformation of Victorian society’s ingrained gender stereotypes. In ‘The Murder in the Red Barn’ gender conformation is evident throughout the melodrama whereas in ‘A Doll’s House’ the purpose is to ‘expose’ that some characters perform ‘actions’ that are ‘in opposition to general gender norms’.