A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

162) during her honeymoon with George, to refer to her suspected pregnancy. The most prevalent aspect of societal constraints at the time, however, is the weight of gender role... ... middle of paper ... ...he faces, and the devious way in which she deals with it. Hedda Gabler and A Doll’s House are two plays strongly connected by similar protagonists. Both also took place in what was then modern society, amidst constraining Victorian values; values such as the suppression of sexuality and the relegating of the sexes to traditional roles. The difference is that one protagonist, Nora Helmer, is merely a vehicle for providing a candid critique of society.

Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate husband, Torvald. Nora parades the façade of being naïve and frivolous, deteriorating her character from being a seemingly ignorant child-wife to a desperate woman in order to preserve her illusion of the security of home and ironically her own sanity. A Doll’s House ‘s depiction of the entrapment of the average 19th century housewife and the societal pressures placed upon her displays a woman’s gradual descent into madness. Ibsen illustrates this descent through Torvald’s progressive infantilization of Nora and the pressure on Nora to adhere to societal norms. Nora is a woman pressured by 19th century societal standards and their oppressive nature result in the gradual degradation of her character that destroys all semblances of family and identity.Nora’s role in her family is initially portrayed as being background, often “laughing quietly and happily to herself” (Ibsen 148) because of her isolation in not only space, but also person.

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,

Ibsen's A Doll's House In A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen criticizes the patriarchal society he lives in by using a fictional woman, Nora, to show women oppression. She begins to feel constrained by her husband, so much so that she feels the need to mask her true identity and deceive him. She feels that deceit is her only way out from the social constraints. Ibsen moved around a lot in his life and observed many societies. Much of his writing satirizes the shortcomings of society and the people within it.

She began to refer to Torvald as a “stranger” (Ibsen129), because she was leaving his misogynistic ways behind and pursued to commence a better life for herself. Seeing that the play defines the perceived gender roles of the time, Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House to support his ostracized view of a woman being the equivalent of a man. Works Cited “A Doll’s House: Ibsen’s Once Banned Play Births Feminism to the Modern Stage”. Clarksville, Tennessee. Compu-Net.

The fact that the main character does not have a name is another example of gender roles that Gilman is hinting at. This reinf... ... middle of paper ... ...ws the tension between high and low class people and the extreme mistreatment of women. If the roles were flipped, the women would have been looked down at quite harshly. In all of these pieces of literature, the behavioral norms that are considered appropriate for men and women are tested. In The Yellow Wallpaper, a wife is pushed to insanity, in A Doll’s House, a housewife goes against expectation, in The Great Gatsby, male dominance is pushed to the extreme.

The theme in “A Doll’s House” which shows us that during Ibsen’s time and in our current day and society the issue about gender continues to raise important concerns between men and woman like: the role of the wife in a marriage, the right of which a woman is to determine and direct the course of their own lives. The whole conflict is written to the audience and listeners of the play the ridiculous social expectations demanded of both women and men. Ibsen with his portrayal of Nora and Mrs. Linde shows that these social expectations are mindless and wrong. The thesis of this paper is to analyze Henry Ibsen’s play by taking a look at the characters Nora and Mrs. Linde in Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House”. When this play is being read you will notice that the society’s negative view of women may have had an impact on Ibsen for him to come up with a play about a female hero in Nora and Mrs. Linde during an era where it wouldn't have been viewed favorably and the reason why many generations of audience and readers of this play choose to identify the play as a work of feminism.

The Awakening was an eye-opening novel in that it challenged the social structure of the time in which men dominated society. This novel showed the discriminatory view of women and treatment of women. The novel also does a great job in showing the dissatisfaction in the women’s lives, particularily through the actions of Edna Pontellier. Due to society’s expectations, women were not allowed to pursue their psychological or sexual drives, for it was scorned by society. Edna pursues these drives as she eventually cannot tolerate her way of living.

“A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen shocked 19th century Europe with it controversially gutsy ideas. In this play Ibsen tackles women 's rights as a matter of importance, yet throughout this time period it was neglected. Ibsen acknowledges the fact that in 19th century life the role of the woman was to stay at home, raise the children and care for her husband. Nora Helmer is the main character in A Doll House, who plays a typical woman from the time period and is portrayed as a victim. The common denominator in many of Ibsen 's dramas is his interest in individuals struggling for an authentic identity in the face of tyrannical society.

Gender roles in society are virtually thematic in the two stories A Dolls House and Antigone. A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen is a story about the wife battling to hide a loan that kept her husband alive, because if anyone found out society would crash upon her for her bold actions. Antigone, written by Sophocles, is a play about a girl defying men to do what man didn’t to please the gods and bring honor to her family. In almost all societies before the modern age, women have been thought to be naturally below men. Both main female characters, Antigone and Norah, have fought against society to take responsibilities, as they rise from their status to face problems and challenges of men.