A Doll's House Societal Manipulation

The Power of Societal Pressure When Ibsen’s A Doll’s House premiered in the late 1800s, it was met with great controversy as it challenged the Victorian values of the era with its critique on marriage norms and gender roles. Overall, the play is entertaining and thought-provoking but it was the final scene that caused such an outrage with Nora leaving her husband and kids. Though a majority of the play takes place in settings that are private, the oppression of society is ever-present in the lives of every character. Ibsen wants to make a point about the power society had in the lives of people at this time. In Christina Garsten’s essay on Ibsen’s work, she states that “the characters are caught in webs of history, dependence, norms,

His behavior is the product of typical Victorian mindset that is tailored by everyone around them. Even Nora herself encourages Torvald’s role as authoritative and all-knowing provider who has the power to control all that she does. She plays along with him and seems to enjoy her nicknames. She tells Torvald on more than one occasion that she is unable to do something for herself, such as choose an outfit or practice a dance, and insists that he does it for her. Now Torvald seems to gladly accept this role and enjoys being an authority. However, his fear of somehow marring his reputation controls him. This is clearly shown in how he fires Krogstad even though he admits to Nora that he is a god worker and that they were once close friends. Torvald fires him because he is afraid of people knowing that they are friendly with each other. He tells Nora “he would make my position at the bank intolerable” (Ibsen, 1145). On an even more drastic level, Torvald’s fear of public opinion is manifested in the way he handles the blackmail from Krogstad. Rather than thinking about Nora at all he is caught up with how it will affect his reputation and he only cares about appearances. Torvald is locked in place as the authority of the house, provider, moral of the household, and head over his wife by the fear of ruining his

Her history shows how much the pressure of maintain a role can affect someone’s life. Out of duty to her family, she left Krogstad whom she was truly in love with and married a rich man as to support her mother and younger brothers. After her husband died and she was no longer responsible for her family, Kristine is left with no money to her name and is forced to work all kinds of different jobs to try and support herself. Hardened by this experience, Kristine is determined to seek out personal fulfillment in getting a job and finding people to support and take care of. While her desires may somewhat line up with Victorian values of what a mother should be, Kristine is not concerned with that. She tells Krogstad that she doesn’t care about his past, just that he will try to be a better person because in her eyes it’s not too late. While Kristine is able to escape the power of social conformity in the end, it still had a grip on her for much of her early life as she suffered through a loveless marriage for many