I have been your doll wife, just as at home I was Papa’s doll child; and here the children have been my dolls” (67). In this conversation, she shows her alienation as a woman in society by expressing discontent with her role in life. In addition to being treated like a doll, Nora is also regarded as a small child. Victorian society looks upon women’s intelligence as no better than a child’s. Torvald tells her, “You talk like a child.
Sometimes children complain about their mothers, each wishing they could have different type of mom. The lives and situations of each mother were different, but in my opinion, both mothers were a bad model for parenting. "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen shows us a mother who is struggling through her own life and does not pay any attention to her daughter. The mother in this story happens to be the narrator, and we get the indication that she isn't a very good mother. To start, she was very young when she first had Emily.
I wish I were dead! Like them” (294-295). Although the mother’s words are unkind, Jing Mei ultimately crosses the line, thus creating a fracture in their relationship that she believes will never be mended. In Jing Mei’s child perception, she believes that because her mother stops pushing her to play piano after this, she really wishes her two babies were here instead of Jing Mei. Jing Mei cannot begin to understand what an ideal mother is, because of the complexity of humans.
The children grow up caring and respecting their nanny instead of their mother. In the ideal image of a family the mother nurtures her children and teaches them right from wrong. Ibsen shows how insignificant family has become during the Victorian era as opposed to the romantic time period. When Torvald mentions, “What a horrible awakening! All these eight years – she who was my joy and pride – a hypocrite – a liar – worse, worse – a criminal”, he emphasizes on the distance and meaningless of a marriage.
Through characters such as Nils Krogstad and Torvald Helmer, one sees how those living in this society worried primarily over their social standing and reputation, while through the character of Mrs. Lindie the reader sees how even women fell into the trap of behaving as “dolls”: doing everything that is expected of them while remaining obedient. Though some of these characters may seem cruel, they have a huge impact on Nora’s character and help push her towards the realization that she is not living as she wants to live. Brunnemer says, “There is an evolutionary process whereby the mini-Nora of the opening scenes becomes the super-Nora of the close” (1). In the beginning of the play, Nora is portrayed as an obedient wife who would never stray from her husband’s wishes, and subsequently society’s expectations. By the end of the play, we see her blossom into an individual who wishes to make her own decisions and follow her own path.
It was hard for her mother to have a baby at a young age herself and try to make ends meet was not easy. She needed to lean on others for help, which she thought at the time was right thing to do, but got caught up on her new family. This is why Emily had so much resentment towards her mother. This story is a great example of a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. The story does great job showing the mother’s anguish over her daughter, and a depressed teen that needed her mother and is struggling to overcome a very unhappy childhood.
In this drama, the little girl’s father died and because of that, the single mother couldn’t care for all of the children. The mother decided the best thing to do was give the youngest child away to her sister so that she could care for and raise the little girl. The little girl, Oates, was told by her “parents,” “when she was old enough to know” (Oates 1062). The family seemed to be very open about it and told her the truth. I don’t agree with this because as it says in the drama, “When I was a little girl and my mother didn’t want me I hid away to cry.
Gillys Nan introduces herself and secretly pays Gillys mum to visit her. Gilly goes to live with Nonnie, but in the end chapter tells Trotter she wants to come back. Galadriel Hopkins is an unhappy child. Her need to know her mother is very strong and takes over her life. When the story begins, Gilly is very unhappy.
Emily’s mother feels as though she has neglected her daughter in some sense. Throughout the story she describes two negative aspects of Emily’s childhood. First she talks about sending Emily to live with her relatives as a toddler. Next she describes sending Emily to a convalescent home as a young child. The mother ultimately feels guilty for the actions she took to ensure a better life for her daughter.
After Emily was born her mother, “with all the fierce rigidity of first motherhood, (I) did like the books said. Though her cries battered me to trembling and my breasts ached with swollenness, I waited till the clock decreed.” (Olsen 174). Then when Emily was two she went against her own instincts about sending Emily to a nursery school while she worked which she considered merely “parking places for children.” (Olsen 174). Emily’s mother was also persuaded against her motherly instincts to send her off to a hospital when she did not get well from the measles and her mother had a new baby to tend to. Her mother even felt guilt for her second child, Susan, being everything society deemed worthy of attention.