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The portrayal of women in 19th century literature
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A remarkable trait in which literature embodies is the ability to capture and preserve cultural and societal beliefs. One may read a literary work published in the 1800’s and observe how society has evolved since then, or in contrast observe how society has digressed since then. Regardless of the genre and content, one may still infer when the piece was produced based on the diction and syntax of said piece. This is possible because literature is essentially written picture- it is a time machine for your conscience, a window to the past. This beautiful quality can be exemplified through analyzing “A Doll’s House,” a play written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879 that portrays a Marxist view of society and oppresses women unreadily seen today.
One of the key principles of Marxism is the belief that human thought is the result of a person’s financial and social conditions, their associations with others are regularly undermined by said conditions, and that the less-fortunate are constantly abused by the wealthier bourgeoisie (Woods). A reoccurring theme within the play is the exploitation of the poor and weak by the rich, and the fixation on material goods. All the characters within the play are affected by the need or procurement of money, and their whole lives revolve around their mindset of obtaining it. Consequently, a Marxist theme is prevalent through a majority of the play and is observable through the perspectives of the main characters.
Nora, our protagonist, has become intoxicated with money ever since Torvald, her husband, announced he was receiving a promotion with a salary raise in three months. She begins the play returning from a shopping trip with an “armload of packages” (785) accompanied by a boy holding a Christmas tree....
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...ystems of thought” (75). As the story closes, it is evident that this new order is superimposing itself on the old.
In some ways, this story provides a blueprint for what many feminists hope to accomplish, as it shows an old conception of space and reality being replaced by a new one. It offers a vison of a world that is textual, a world defined by ideas and words and changed by them. In this idealist world, reality is a projection of the mind (Frisch 103).
In a sense, this mindset is similar to what Nora epiphanicly realizes and strives to achieve. She was the representation of the unnoticed, underappreciated workers of the world overthrowing the capitalists who took them for granted. Ibsen’s play was one of the greatest of its time, reaching all the way to our own just as Borges does through his stories, both with relevancies that will always be valid and true.
In this essay I will be comparing two playwrights, A Raisin in the Sun and A Doll’s House, to one another. I will also compare the two to modern time and talk about whether or not over time our society has changed any. Each of these plays has a very interesting story line based in two very different time eras. Even though there is an 80 year time gap the two share similar problems and morals, things you could even find now in the year of 2016. In the following paragraphs I will go over the power of time and what we as a society have done to make a change.
A man, intoxicated and impoverished, lay on the dirty streets of patriarchal Norway, and as the jeering citizens sauntered by, they could have never guessed that this man, Henrik Ibsen, would be the Prometheus of women’s rights and the creator of the modern play. Having been born in 1828, Ibsen lived through various examples of the subjection of women within the law, such as Great Britain allowing men to lock up and beat their wives “in moderation” (Bray 33). Therefore, Ibsen was known for his realistic style of writing within both poetry and plays, which usually dealt with everyday situations and people (31). Focusing on the rights of women, Ibsen’s trademark was “...looking at these problems without the distortions of romanticism” and often receiving harsh criticism for doing so (31). In an attempt to support his family, Ibsen became a pharmaceutical apprentice, but after three years he abandoned this profession and began writing poetry. After an apprenticeship in the theater, he began writing his own plays, including a drama in verse, Peer Gynt (31). While working and writing in Norway, Ibsen and several social critics observed “...the penalty society pays when only half of its members participate fully as citizens”, deciding to flee Norway in hopes of finding a more accepting social environment (33). Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House, his most famous work about women suffering through the oppressive patriarchal society, while living primarily in Germany and Italy where he “...was exposed to these social norms and tensions to a much greater extent than he would have been had he remained solely in Norway” (32). While Sweden, Norway, and Denmark began to grant legal majority to women, Ibsen understood the legal improvements f...
In Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House we encounter the young and beautiful Nora on Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer seems to be a playful and affectionate young woman full of life and zeal. As the play progresses, we learn that Nora is not just a “silly girl” (Ibsen) as Torvald refers to her. She learns of the business world related to debt that she acquired by taking out a loan in order to save her beloved Torvalds life. Although Krostad’s blackmail does not change Nora’s whimsical nature it opens her eyes to her underappreciated potential. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald,” (Find diff quote perhaps?) she exclaims in her confrontation with Torvald. She realizes that she has been putting on a facade for
Over the centuries, writers have used literature to show the societal status and the mind sets of the people in their era. ‘Antigone’, a Greek tragedy, and ‘A Doll’s House’, a highly controversial drama, inhibit the same thematic approach, depicting the oppression and submissiveness of women in male-dominated society and how they overcome their obstacles with firm will, inspiring millions of audiences from then till now. By Antigone’s character, Sophocles portrays a figure through whom he can express his faith in feminism in the 4th century. Likewise, Ibsen’s concerns about the position of women during the 19th century are beautifully breathed to life in ‘A Doll’s House’ through Nora’s transformation from a doll-like puppet to a human. Both of the writ...
In Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll 's House, readers can immediately see how social conditions trapped each character in place and did not allow them to grow further in their lives. Barry Witham and John Lutterbie 's "A Marxist Approach to A Doll House," highlights how the characters in A Doll 's House are pawns to their economic backgrounds, and in Karen Ford 's "Social Constraints and Painful Growth In A Doll 's House," she furthers the argument that Ibsen 's A Doll 's House is a Marxist writing without formally calling it Marxist. Each character within A Doll House shows the audience a different manner of how a character could be victim of their cultural setting which includes male as well as female characters. Because of Ibsen selecting both male and female characters in his story to endure these social conditions, readers can interpret how this play would be considered a Marxist rather than a Feminist writing.
Nora Helmer, the main character, has a seemingly unfulfillable need for money and a high social status. A good example would be how the play begins with Nora returning home from shopping for the Christmas season. She has many items and even bought a Christmas tree. Nora then tells one of the maids to hide the tree so that she can decorate it be...
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.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Literature and Ourselves. 2nd Ed. Ed. by Gloria Henderson, Bill Day, and Sandra Waller. New York: Longman, 1997
The actions and mentalities of the characters within the novel highlight the very economic struggles and predicaments that Marxist theories emphasize. One such scenario is through
Along what seems in the beginning to be a similar path is the dramatic play written by Henrik Ibsen, titled, “A Doll’s House”. The play, “A Doll’s House” contains three acts that take the reader through an a comprehensive level of developing the dynamics of a family household, a circumstance that creates difficulty and some twists and turns in which the circumstance brings about clarity and resolve (BachelorandMaster.com, n.d.). In reality this dramatic play seems to have it all, early indications of what appears to be perfect home and loving marriage, followed by deceit that has been created by the so-called perception of society, wealth, individual virtue, and moral standards. The play takes place during Christmas and New Year’s which seems
“Greed is the root of all evil.” A quote from the Bible that describes many plays and stories. The Marxist theory uses a similar outlook on that saying, but it does not convey the message that the quote does. Using the Marxist theory, good can still be done though it typically isn’t. “A Doll’s House” is the perfect example of this theory, and the quote. Its narrative is almost wholly centered on economic status and money. The characters like Nora, Ms. Linde, and Krogstad are primarily main characters because of the money issues they have got themselves stuck into. It leads their actions till the very end of the play up until some of the characters realized that money was controlling their thoughts and actions.
Nora engages in a mutually dependent game with Torvald in that she gains power in the relationship by being perceived as weak, yet paradoxically she has no real power or independence because she is a slave to the social construction of her gender. Her epiphany at the end at the play realises her and her marriage as a product of society, Nora comes to understand that she has been living with a constr...
This is a holiday that most people are accustomed to getting many gifts and in this household it is no acception. Torvald has been promoted and given a raise after the new year, this make Nora want to get more money and spend it sense its the holidays. Nora brags about the gifts she gets because she gets them cheap, its almost like a game to find the best things at the lowest prices. As a mother she thinks she should get everything for her babies. During the play you realize that Mrs. Helmer is more fond of the thougt of her lovely children instead of actually taking care of them herself.
In A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer returns home on Christmas Eve with a Christmas tree that must be hidden from the children until it is trimmed. Indeed, hiding is a major theme in this play. Later in the first act, Nora plays hide-and-seek with her children, and she hides the macaroons that her husband, Torvald, has forbidden her to eat. A more dangerous secret is the fact that, years earlier, she had borrowed a large amount of money to pay for the sojourn in Italy that enabled Torvald to recover from a serious illness. She had borrowed the money illegally from a usurer named Krogstad, and she has secretly been repaying the loan out of the small sums that she is able to earn by copying documents or to save from her household budget.
The beginning of the play portrays the Christmas tree as being well put together and beautiful, the same way as the protagonist, Nora. Her relationship with her husband Torvald can be considered to be picture-perfect, a fact that can be contributed mostly to her subservience. As long as Nora knows her place in the home and remains compliant, their relationship seems wonderful. Nora’s blind obedience at the opening of the play is evident as she adorns the tree with beautiful flowers and candles, promising to “do everything [she] can think of to please,” even offering to sing and dance for his pleasure (Act 1). This exemplifies the way Nora still works to maintain the appearances of both her family and her tree, dressing the tree so that it is “splendid” and also promising to do Torvald’s bidding to ensure his contentment. It also establishes a correlation between the ...