A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
“A dolls house” was written by Henrik Ibsen and produced by famous
actors during the time of the 1800’s; in fact it was the year of 1879
to be precise. It was around this time that many different Social,
cultural and historical moments were changing through time, leaving
the end result to change not only one country but had an effect on
most of the world. For this section of the work I will be carefully
discussing with you the issues of;
* Social events
* Cultural events
* Historical events
Social
Each of these events all had major issues around during the time; like
the peoples views on marriage and the roles of men and women – with or
without being married. Views and opinions were vitally important in
those days, they had a massive effect on people’s lives, as meeting a
widowed woman would have been horrific, simply because people saw
marriage as such a major obstacle. Marriage was incredibly serious
during them times and it was not accepted for people to split up from
a marriage. They felt that when getting married they should only
accept the other person if they were happy to live with them forever
until death as the as the priest when getting married says:
“Until death do us part”
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Each person when in a marriage had there own role; for the women they
had to mainly work as housewives (although there were exceptions) and
for the men they had to get a job and bring in the income for there
relationship to live. It was just “the done thing” there were no
reasons why a man could not stay at home and look after the house why
the women worked it was just the way people presumed it to go. This is
still pushing the boundaries of today...
... middle of paper ...
...on. Divorce
was unacceptable, as I have briefly mentioned before. The play itself
is poignant as it set around the Christmas holiday, this is a time for
giving, loving and sharing etcetera, where as Nora is doing the
opposite. Also this is ironic as Nora’s father was a priest for the
Christian religion. Nora believes in this miracle throughout the whole
play, the fact that she is going to be free.
Overall, all of these events played a massive role on Henrik Ibsen and
influenced him incredibly leading to the naturalistic play of “A dolls
house”. Without these cultural, historical and social issues taking
place the play would not have turned out any thing like it did. Not
only did the issues have a massive effect on the play but also the
play had a massive effect on the issues. Taking each step a little
closer with things like the right for women to vote.
... and men of the community would freely pick their jobs without being demanded. Both women and men received an evenly amount of hours. Most of the time the women would be taking care of household chores and the children while the men produced crops and did most of the farming. At one point a man named Lewis Ryckman, suggested a business of shoemaking which successful.
Hollingsworth and Tyyska discuss the employment of women in their article, both wage work and work performed outside of the “paid labour force.” (14). They also look at work discrimination of women based on gender and marital status. They argue that disapproval of married women working for wages during the Depression was expressed not only by those in position of power, such as politicians, but also by the general public and labour unions. They suggest that the number of women in the workforce increased as more young wives stayed working until the birth of their first child and older women entered the workforce in response to depression based deprivation. Hollingsworth and Tyyska also give examples of work that married women did that was an extension of their domestic duties such as babysitting for working mothers or taking in laundry. They also state that some women took in boarders, sold extra produce from gardens, or ran make-shift restaurant operations out of their homes.
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, a drama written in the midst of an 1879, middle-class, suburban Europe, he boldly depicts a female protagonist. In a culture with concern for fulfilling, or more so portraying a socially acceptable image, Nora faces the restraints of being a doll in her own house and a little helpless bird. She has been said to be the most complex character of drama, and rightfully so, the pressure of strict Victorian values is the spark that ignites the play's central conflicts. Controversy is soon to arise when any social-norm is challenged, which Nora will eventually do. She evolves throughout the play, from submissive housewife to liberated woman. It seems as though what took women in America almost a century to accomplish, Nora does in a three-day drama. Ibsen challenges the stereotypical roles of men and women in a societally-pleasing marriage. He leads his readers through the journey of a woman with emerging strength and self-respect. Nora plays the typical housewife, but reveals many more dimensions that a typical woman would never portray in such a setting.
Being part of the workforce was something new for the American Women, since they were expected...
and were paid half the wage of a man. For the same reasons they were
of work. The state could no longer provide them any assistance for all that were in need. Women
Weintraub, Stanley. ""Doll's House" Metaphor Foreshadowed in Victorian Fiction." Nineteenth-Century Fiction 13: 67-69. Web. 6 Jan. 2011.
economy going as men fought on the battle front. After every war women were pushed
Is marriage really important? There is a lot of controversy over marriage and whether it is eminent. Some people believe it is and some people believe it is not. These opposing opinions cause this controversy. “On Not Saying ‘I do’” by Dorian Solot explains that marriage is not needed to sustain a relationship or a necessity to keep it healthy and happy. Solot believes that when a couple gets married things change. In “For Better, For Worse”, Stephanie Coontz expresses that marriage is not what is traditional in society because it has changed and is no longer considered as a dictator for people’s lives. The differences between these two essays are the author’s writing style and ideas.
Women opportunities and lifestyles were negatively impacted due to the inequalities that women faced in the working sphere. The wage gap the years following World War Two were obviously lower than the men's. It was in the 1980's when women only earned sixty-four cents to a male dollar. Although laws came into effect like the Equal Pays Act in 1963, there were still unfairness with wages. It did very little in changing women's status as women were still not seen equally to men. Women were maintained as a cheap labour force because society thought that the insignificance of women's work would be threatened if women and men share the same jobs. To ensure the continuation of inexpensive women labour, they were confined to certain jobs which became known as " female occupations". This gender segregation further claimed that women's work was less important, hence appropriate for l...
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
Women generally did not work outside of their home until the men had to fight during wars. While the men were out fighting the
In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll House Ibsen describes the perfect family and the conflicts within. Ibsen examines the normal lives of the Helmer family through the eyes of the wife, Nora Helmer. She goes through a series of trials as she progresses through the play and with each trial she realizes something is missing in her life. Ibsen examines the struggles within the house.
Ladies weren’t made to work and if they did, they didn’t make a decent wage to live on. It was all based on man’s
Societal problems prevail throughout the history of the world and exist within all countries, regions, and cultures. The controversial aspects in societies are based on a large variety of subjects, and have to be identified in order to cause societal change. Therefore, Realism is the portrayal of difficulties in societies that are depicted in everyday life, which includes common situations and actions. Realism allows authors to describe and emphasize the incompetence of some aspects within communities, while enabling writers to call for societal reform. Henrik Ibsen portrays and addresses the concepts of Norway’s society in the 19th century in A Doll House, which is a tragic play translated by Rolf Fjelde. Ibsen desires to challenge assumptions as well as rules of Norwegian life, and most importantly wants to depict society accurately, as he meticulously incorporates everyday life. Therefore, A Doll House represents a Realistic drama due to the issues involving women, illnesses, and laws within the play, while conveying Ibsen’s desire of controversy and change in Norway’s society.