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Essay from Henrik Ibsen, "the doll's house
SYMBOLISM IN THE PLAY _ A DOLL'S HOUSE _ by HENRIK IBSEN
Essay from Henrik Ibsen, "the doll's house
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The Romantic movement of the nineteenth century in Europe involved those who wished to express their disapproval of industrialism. Romantics focus on individualism as well as images and ideas created by the imagination. Romantics are very centered around a certain beauty and power of nature as opposed to material objects. Romantics stay away from the more realistic part of life, this is greatly expressed in Romantic literature and art. Specifically, in Arthur Rimbaud’s “Ophelia” it is evident to see the fascination with nature as well as the individual. He states, “On the calm black wave where the stars sleep/ Floats white Ophelia like a great lily,/ Floats very slowly, lying in her long veils . . .”(891). Here there is evidence of a Romantic’s …show more content…
To start, in this play the main character Nora is portrayed to be the perfect nineteenth-century wife to her husband Torvald. Not only that, but Nora is also painted in a way that characterizes her as a bubbly air-head that is not able to take care of herself or have a mind of her own. Ibsen wirtes “HELMER: Nora, Nora, how like a woman! No, but seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that. No debts! Never borrow! Something of freedom’s lost—and something of beauty, too—from a home that’s founded on borrowing and debt. We’ve made a brave stand up to now, the two of us; and we’ll go right on like that the little while we have to. NORA [going toward the stove ]: Yes, whatever you say, Torvald.” (944)Since Realists go against individuals having freedom of action over a state control, Torvald Helmer can be seen as representing a government while Nora represents a citizen with no say in any matter. Torvald uses the term “like a woman” to denounce Nora's inability to handle money, thus belittling her. Nora still complies to Torvalds wishes, giving up her voice rather easily while she only does what is best for her greater power. Furthermore, Nora obtains money from her father before he dies to support the trip to Italy because Torvald was ill and needed to go in order to get help. This shows that Nora did was only thinking about her husband, the higher power she obeys, and put herself last. This also exemplifies a Realist concern with community benefit, not
5. Ford, Karen. "Social contrains and painful growth in A Doll's House". Expanded Academic ASAP. Methodist College , Fayetteville , NC . 30 Octuber 2005
Weintraub, Stanley. ""Doll's House" Metaphor Foreshadowed in Victorian Fiction." Nineteenth-Century Fiction 13: 67-69. Web. 6 Jan. 2011.
Phylogeny versus misogyny, arguable one of the greatest binary oppositions in a work of literature, is present in Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 Norwegian play A Doll’s House. The title itself suggests a misogynist view, while the work mainly consists of feminist ideology, as Ibsen was a supporter of the female as an independent, rather than a dependent on a male. Nora knew herself that her husband did not fully respect her, and this became a major conflict in the play as Nora progressively became more self-reliant in the play. Ibsen created Nora to give an example for all women, showing that they are more than what their husbands make of them. The misogynistic views in the play can be seen through Nora’s husband Torvald, due to the fact that he believed, as the majority of males did at the time, that women were not equal to them socially. This opposition caused a major conflict between the couple that progressed throughout the stage production.
An underlying theme in A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, is the rebellion against social expectations to follow what one believes in their heart. This theme is demonstrated as several of the play's characters break away from the social norms of their time and act on their own beliefs. No one character demonstrates this better than Nora. Nora rebels against social expectations, first by breaking the law, and later by taking the drastic step of abandoning her husband and children.
Those of you who have just read A Doll's House for the first time will, I suspect, have little trouble forming an initial sense of what it is about, and, if past experience is any guide, many of you will quickly reach a consensus that the major thrust of this play has something to do with gender relations in modern society and offers us, in the actions of the heroine, a vision of the need for a new-found freedom for women (or a woman) amid a suffocating society governed wholly by unsympathetic and insensitive men.
“A principal tenet of Marxist criticism is that human consciousness is a product of social conditions and that human relationships are often subverted by and through economic considerations.”(Witham and Lutterbie) A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, can be interpreted and critiqued in many different ways. One of these ways is the Marxist approach. This way of thinking can basically be summed up by saying this: Money changes people’s thinking and actions. The main characters in A Doll’s House are all affected by this idea and it makes the acquisition of money and a higher social status the most important thing to them. Therefore, a Marxist theme is shown throughout the play through the speech and actions of Nora, Torvald, Mrs. Linde, and Krogstad.
happen for her, he did not change the way he needed to and with that
In the time this play was written, women had very few rights in public society. Ibsen reflects this by portraying Nora as having very few rights in the household. Torvald runs everything, and Nora has no say in how the house is run.
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.
[This is the text of a lecture delivered, in part, in Liberal Studies 310 at Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada. References to Ibsen's text are to the translation by James McFarlane and Jens Arup (Oxford: OUP, 1981). This text is in the public domain, released July 2000]
The characters of this play help to support Ibsen's opinions. Nora's initial characteristics are that of a bubbly, child-like wife who is strictly dependent on her husband. This subordinate role from which Nora progresses emphasizes the need for change in society's view of women. For Nora, her inferior, doll-like nature is a facade for a deeper passion for individuality that begins to surface during the play and eventually fully emerges in the ending. An example of this deep yearning for independence is shown when Nora tells her friend, Kristina Linde about earning her own money by doing copying. Nora explains, "it was tremendous fun sitting [in her room] working and earning money. It was almost like being a man" (A Doll's House, 162). Mrs. Linde is an inspiration to Nora, because Kristina has experienced the independence that Nora longs for.
He is a husband who is “proud to be a man”; and hence constantly patronizes Nora in a playful manner calling her “feather brain”, implying that as a feminine figure she is inferior to him. Although Nora is constantly chided as if she were a child, an audience with Ibsen’s context would see Torvald’s treatment of Nora as flattering and desirable.... ... middle of paper ... ... Once again, what conclusions modern feminists may draw from the play are shaped by their context.
A Doll House Essay Ibsen said that his mission in life was to “Inspire individuals to freedom and independence” which was shown throughout the play A Doll House. Since he wrote modern theatre, the characters were real and audiences could relate to them. He particularly questioned the role of men and women during his time. Ibsen used A Doll House to motivate women so they would seek more power and freedom in their relationships. Audiences could then look up to characters such as Nora and Mrs Linde whom were independent, some what ahead of their times.
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.
sure the children don’t see it till it’s decorated this evening”(Ibsen 892). There is also a