Struggle For Dominance

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From personal experience, I have seen how the need of dominance occurs in many boy-girl relationships. The girl wants the boy to be the man in the relationship; she wants him to make the first moves. At the same time, she also wants to be in control. The boy and girl fight because they both cannot be on top, and in the end, it doesn’t work out. This struggle for dominance is shown in works of literature such as A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen. The play is about the Victorian ideals, and hits the gender roles of women as conservative, nurturing, and obeying mothers. Nora Helmer plays the 19th century woman, as well the victim. Through the struggle of dominance, society’s role, and the struggle’s purpose, the author shows his audience how the struggle for dominance works with Nora.

The main struggle for dominance in the play is shown with Nora and Torvald Helmer. For most of the play, the audience sees how manipulative Torvald can be with his wife. In one conversation, he tells her, “Look, Nora, in lots of things, you’re still a child. I’m older than you in many ways and I’ve had...

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