Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House

How the 1800s living dollhouse is indicative to the values of Norwegian and European society?

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House plays patronage to the oppressive standards of society in Norway during the late 1800’s. The phrase, ‘doll house’, is used throughout the novel to represent the continued struggle of living one on one in a household, where quite frankly the women has to always report and work for the man of the house. In the novel, Nora Helmer is described as the ‘doll’ of the house – the perfect wife that her husband wants, but she is just dying inside, feeling trapped and isolated from her surroundings and reality. Nora attempts to keep to herself, but continues to live in fear of social and moral oppression. As laws were still being introduced to better the expectations and roles of members of society, the ideologies behind dominance and submission were prominent. Considering the lack of women representation in judicial and legal systems, women were confined to dealing with laws and decisions made by men and conduct assed from a masculine standpoint. During this ride for liberty and repression, women were trapped in regards to the authority they had outside their domestic sphere – which reiterates the idea that women were treated as nothing more than property. The 1800s living doll house displayed a women’s state of submission in society, legal assessment by male authority and state of social oppression.

A Doll's House had a moral standing that initiated a feud between the different parties (genders) in the novel. The male characters in the book, specifically John, played a major role in influencing the behavior and actions of the female characters. Such a role placed the storyline of the novel in negative air. A Dol...

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...evolution of said behaviors and attitudes. Dominance and submission were quite introvert topics during this time and had its toll on many households in Europe. However, we can note an improvement of these attitudes in present day Europe. As laws were still quite underway in the 19th century, justice and rights of women have clearly improved in judicial systems across not only Europe, but also the world. As important as social and moral values are, women around the world are clearly working towards destroying the stigma and building a new representative, working class for all women, regardless of any limiting factor. A Doll’s House clearly aims to express the stigmas and society and suggest improvements toward a better future for all.

Works Cited

Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll's House." Four Great Plays. Trans. R. Farquharson Sharp. New York: Bantam, 1959. 3-68. Print.