“A Dollhouse”
In “A Doll’s House,” women lead a difficult life. They live on restrictions in society, as well as in their home. “The play depicts the father not only as absent but also as morally polluted” (Rosefeldt). Men are seen as a higher being than women. However, women seem to take on more sacrifices than men. Throughout the play, it expresses the misery of women or mothers and their disadvantages in society.
Mrs. Linde went through a horrible past. We truly do feel sympathy for her when she says, “My Mother was alive then, and was bedridden and helpless, and I had to provide for my two younger brothers; so I did not think I was justified in refusing his offer” (Ibson). “Mrs. Linde, Nora's friend, is the victim of an absent father. Although it is not obvious, her father's absence lies at the bottom of her plight. To support her sick mother and her brothers, Mrs. Linde married a man she did not love. The absence of her father forced her to seek a new father figure in a rich husband, but he too fails in this role, becoming bankrupt and an invalid” (Rosefeldt). Mrs. Linde took sacrifices for the welfare of her family. She disregarded her desires and instead chose to do what she felt was right. Mrs. Linde was once in love with Krogstad. However, she abandoned him feeling that it was necessary. In order to support her family, she needed to marry a rich man and Krogstad was a penniless man. So Mrs. Linde chose obligation over desire.
“Sheltered, petted, and expected to behave like an amiable nitwit by first her father and then her husband, Nora Helmer has committed forgery in order to get money to save her husband's life” (Doll’s House). Nora is in an advantage over the other women. She is economically better as she doe...
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...en though it may seem like men do most of the hard work, women also have extremely difficult decisions. In this play, women are seen as beings that have little to no importance. Women shown in the poem are just jewels that the men wear.
Works Cited
"Doll's House, A." Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia (1996): 279-280. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 1 May 2011.
Drake, David B. "Ibsen's A Doll House." Explicator 53.1 (1994): 32. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 1 May 2011.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Dollhouse. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. R. Farquharson Sharp. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2008. 1191-1237. Print
Rosefeldt, Paul. "Ibsen's A DOLL'S HOUSE." Explicator 61.2 (2003): 84. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 1 May 2011.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, and Writing. By Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 2011. 1709-757. Print.
“A Doll House.” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardner, Beverly Lawn, Jack Ridl, and Peter Schakel. Third edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. 850-908. Print.
Ibsen, Henrik. “A Doll’s House.” Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain. 9th Ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 792-841. Print.
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Ibsen, Henrik. The Project Gutenberg EBook of a Doll's House. [EBook #2542]. The Project Gutenberg, 13 Dec. 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. .
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth Mahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 2002. 916-966.
Davies, H. Neville. 1982. "Not just a bang and a whimper: the inconclusiveness of Ibsen's A Doll's House." Critical Quarterly 24:33-34.
In its historical context A Doll’s House was a radical play which forced its audience to question the gender roles which are constructed by society and make them think about how their own lives are a performance for Victorian society.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House. Lives Through Literature: A Thematic Anthology. Ed. Helane Levine Keating et al. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995. 782-838.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 1564-1612.
“A Doll’s House” gives the reader a firsthand view at how gender roles affected the characters actions and interactions throughout the play. The play helps to portray the different struggles women faced during the 19th century with gender roles, and how the roles affected their relationships with men as well as society. It also helps to show the luxury of being a male during this time and how their higher status socially over women affected their relationships with woman and others during this time period.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Trans. William Archer. Boston: Walter H. Baker & Co., 1890. Gleeditions. Web. 12 April 2014
Henrik Ibsen’s, A Doll’s House, took a very different outlook on society in not showing
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. In Four Major Plays. Trans. James McFarlane and Jens Arup. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." Ibsen : Four Major Plays - Volume 1. Trans. Rolf Fjelde. New York: Signet Classics, 1992. 43-114. Print.