In 1879, a very controversial piece of literature work was premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a play named A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen was born in 1828 into a well-off family from Norway that later went bankrupt. After a few years of taking trivial job position, he fled to Italy and Germany, where he produced some of his most famous works, including this one. “A Doll House” illustrates the issues of feminism and marriage institution of the 19th century. The main character, Nora Helmer, starts out as a submissive housewife to her husband, Torvald Helmer, who controls her behavior, finance, and eating habit. However, at the end of the play, after realizing that she has been living merely as a doll-wife, Nora A marriage shouldn’t be taken lightly and one can’t just waltz out of it anytime one pleases. However, critic Katherine M. Rogers implied, in her “Feminism and A Doll House” essay, that this play poses the “falsities of the 19th century patriarchal marriage” (2nd edition). First of all, the relationship between Nora and Torvald is not an equal partnership. Throughout the play, Torvald treats Nora not as his adult wife, but as his child and his pet, calling her “little lark,… squirrel” and controlling every aspects of her life (Ibsen 889). They’re not lovers or spouses, but master and servant. Secondly, the Helmers’ marriage is already weak at its foundation. Their interaction are superficial; in 8 years they’ve “never exchanged a serious word on any serious thing” (Ibsen 936). They converse about party and dresses, but anything intellectual, their conversation only consists of Torvald lecturing. Nora dare not to say “to hell and be damned!” in front of Torvald and she has use manipulation to give Mrs. Linde a job position, which shows that she can’t be straightforward with her husband. They don’t understand, or rather misunderstand, each other because they never talk. Clearly, there is no real, or true, marriage to maintain in the first place, as Nora already points out. If Nora decides to leave her doll house, aka her prison, for a self-discovery journey, then Nora is devoted to her family; she stayed by Torvald’s side when he was sick and she borrowed money to save him without telling him, fearing that it would hurt his pride. Then, when it is Torvald’s turn to play the hero, he readily trades their eight years long marriage for his reputation. As he puts it, “there’s no [man] who gives up honor for love” (Ibsen 939). His immediate reaction to Krogstad’s letter is to “hush up [the threat] at any cost [and] go right on living in this house [in order to save] the bits and pieces, the appearance” (Ibsen 934). The only worry that ever crosses his mind is how other people will judge him; he is willing to showcase his “doll-house” home just to maintain an image. If an eight years long marriage is less important than a man’s reputation/pride, then why is it sufficient to suppress a woman’s
A Doll House, a play written by Henrik Ibsen, published in the year 1879, stirred up much controversy within its time period because it questioned the views of society's social rules and norms. "Throughout most of history... Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions... The resulting stereotype that 'a woman's place is in the home' has largely determined the ways in which women have expressed themselves" ("Women's History in America"). Ibsen places many hints throughout his play about the roles of women and how they were treated in his time. Nora is perceived as a typical housewife; maintaining the house and raising her children. However, Nora had actually hired a maid to do all of those typical housewife duties for her. Nora was naive, and ambitious. She hid many secrets from her husband. The way women were viewed in this time period formed a kind of barrier that Nora could not overcome. Women should not be discriminated against just because of their gender and within reason they should be able to do what their heart entails.
In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen wrote a play that showed how one woman, Nora Helmer, stood up to her husband after feeling like she was useless to their marriage and their family. Nora’s husband, Torvald Helmer, was the man of the house and would make every decision for the family, especially for Nora. He supported her financially, but not emotionally. He always took it upon himself to do everything a man was supposed to do at the time, but never let Nora explore herself. He made sure she was kept as just a wife and nothing more. As it was mentioned in the play, Nora was arranged into the marriage by her father. While going through eight years of marriage, she finally felt it was time to find herself as an independent woman in...
Though Nora believed that her “miracle” was too much to ask of her husband, she saw it as the last chance to regroup after years of deceit and a lack of communication. However, after an intensely negative reaction from Torvald, she begins to realize the role both of them played in this manipulation, with Nora putting on an act and lying in her actions and Torvald encouraging this by “rewarding” her for doing so. Though she lived well, she did not live happily like this. “Nora:..’Now when I look back, it seems as if I’d lived here like a beggar-just from hand to mouth. I’ve lived by doing tricks for you, Torvald. But that’s the way you wanted it’...Helmer: ‘Nora, how unfair and ungrateful you are! Haven’t you been happy here?’ Nora: ’No, never. I thought so-but I never have.’ Helmer: ‘Not-not happy!’ Nora: ‘No, only lighthearted...I thought it was fun when you played with me, just as they thought it fun when I played with them. That’s been our marriage, Torvald.’” (Ibsen 1016). Realizing that she can’t be in a marriage in which she can’t speak or behave honestly with her husband, Nora decides to leave. The “miracle” falling through only proved to Nora what she already believed, that her marriage was built of falsities rather than it being a true marriage where it was worth working through the issues rather than jumping ship when things become serious. This is what leads
At first glance, one might think that the Helmers have a successful marriage—but only at a superficial level. Once we delve beyond the comfort of middle-class security, we see that the foundation of the marriage is built on the utter subservience of the woman. Additionally, Nora’s actions show that—with good reason—she does not truly respect her husband’s value system. Her day is filled with constant acts of subterfuge—some minor, like sneaking macaroons, and some of the utmost importance, like paying back a loan that saved her husband’s life. No matter the level, deceit is a constant in the relationship. This outwardly typical, happy marriage is anything but. In fact, the interactions between husband and wife serve a specific purpose: they illustrate the banality of the discourse between the two. Torvald does not address his wife regarding any subject of substance. Instead, he bestows her with pet names that often begin with the personal pronoun “my” and often include the diminutive “little”: “Is that my little lark?” In this respect, Torvald may think he is flattering his wife. However, he is actually reducing her to a cute, harmless pet—one that is clearly owned. And like a pet, Nora is expected to obey her owner/husband and his petty tyrannical r...
The women had very little influence on what their husbands thought, how they acted, or what they did. Nora followed many of Torvalds’s commands, allowing him to hear little of what she did behind his back. In a scene where Krogstad asked her for a favor to convince Torvald to let him keep his position at the bank, Nora responds with, “What should make you think I have any influence of that kind with my husband?” (24). This proves that Nora would have little effect on her husband. Many of the times she tried to talk to him, he would easily demean her. He would call her his “little skylark” or other names what would make her feel like a child with little power over him. During the 1870’s women had a hard time finding positions in their home and in life without the influence of their husband. It wasn’t until after the 1870’s that women officially started to gain more rights, such as voting, divorce rights, and property claims.
The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. 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. Ibsen’s character rarely ventures from the main set of the drawi...
Lastly, the amount of deception and dishonesty between Nora and Torvald would have broken the marriage even without Krogstad’s extortion plot. Both Nora and Torvald are living in a world of lies, and both of them are not honest with each other and themselves. In the beginning of the play, Torvald and Nora are portrayed to be a perfect couple with a perfect life. Nora is seen returning home after a day of shopping and is greeted lovingly by her husband. Even though they seemed to have had some financial troubles in the past, Torvald just received a new job as a bank manager and everything seemed to be alright, but behind the scenes nothing was alright.
The reason that Nora had to do this was because “a wife cannot borrow without her husband’s consent” (Ibsen and Archer). During the time that the play was written women were seen as not being capable of having or obtaining money. Therefore, it was their husband’s job to provide for them. Women were also not able to take out loans without a man’s signature. In order to obtain a loan Nora forged her father’s signature. Nora also does not want Torvald to know about what she has done for him because he would seem weak for not being able to keep his wife in line, which she reveals when she says “how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owned me anything!” (Ibsen and Archer). The reason for this is that men are expected to be overtly masculine. This means that they not only act as the provider for the family, they are also the strict disciplinarian, and the person who makes all of the decisions within the household. So if it was discovered that he wife was the one who had actually procured the money for their move, it would emasculate him and ruin his reputation in the
Nora engages in a mutually dependent game with Torvald in that she gains power in the relationship by being perceived as weak, yet paradoxically she has no real power or independence because she is a slave to the social construction of her gender. Her epiphany at the end at the play realises her and her marriage as a product of society, Nora comes to understand that she has been living with a constr...
Groundbreaking themes were presented in Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House. The play has shared an important message regarding feminism. It was released in the 1800's, during time when women were not taken seriously. This has made the work essential for humanity to observe and respond to. One of the most important aspects of Ibsen's play was the end, in which the main character, Nora Helmer leaves her husband. This was a shocking scene for unprepared audiences in theaters throughout the world. Divorce and separation from one's spouse and children was not proper to discuss in public because it was not looked highly on. Critics and others who study the play wonder if the ending was too bold for the time.
Torvald expects Nora to agree with what he says and thinks, and commit her life to keeping the family happy by being a housewife. But Nora defies the roles that she is expected to have as being a wife, a woman, and a friend. As a wife, Nora spends Torvald’s money on macarons which are forbidden and attempts to earn her own money while going against what her husband tells her, because she wants to be an independent person with her own opinions. The trip to the south and borrowing money was all done by her, and in the end of the play Nora ultimately goes against the expectations set upon her by leaving the house to live on her own to gain knowledge and experience, but leaves behind her husband and children who she is responsible for taking care of. As a woman, she does not have the authority to disagree with her husband or try to influence his actions. Torvald says, “If it ever got around that the new manager had been talked over by his wife…” (Ibsen 42) showing that it would be a laughing matter if a woman had an idea, but Nora still makes many attempts to persuade her husband. As a friend, Nora is expected to know her role which is a listener and supporter for Mrs. Linde and just an acquaintance to Dr. Rank, but the relationship with Dr. Rank goes beyond what is acceptable. When Dr. Rank confesses his feelings for Nora she is very upset because they can no longer flirt with each other now that the feelings are real. Her role is to be a loyal wife to her husband, which she is, but Ibsen uses the flirtatious dialect between the two to show that there are mutual feelings and that confessing them brings the relationship beyond what is allowed. As Nora challenges all of these roles, she is gradually becoming more stressed and eventually breaks down and leaves her husband, which demonstrates the effect of the unrealistic expectations to uphold the roles of
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House play things was not what it seemed. It also teaches us a lesson on the consequences of having a marriage lacking trust and poor communication. The marriage of Torvald and Nora seemed normal like any other marriage in that time period. Torvald was the bread winner Nora was a house wife and she took care of their two children. Nora thought that the only thing she was missing to be the happiest person on earth was money, and all her problems were going to disappear. Since her husband was going to start a new job she believed that soon her dream was going to come true. All Nora wanted was to have a good life with her family, but what she did not know was that her secret was going to destroy her marriage with Torvald.
A contrasting difference in the characters, are shown not in the characters themselves, but the role that they play in their marriages. These women have different relationships with their husbands. Torvald and Nora have a relationship where there is no equality. To Torvald Nora is an object. Hence, she plays the submissive role in a society where the lady plays the passive role. Her most important obligation is to please Torvald, making her role similar to a slave. He too considers himself superior to her.
The nineteenth century was truly a different time for women and what their assumed roles in life would be. Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” is an examination into those assumed roles and a challenge to them. It was a time of obedience and inequality and in the first act each character is shown to portray these qualities. However, the characters in this play have multiple layers that get peeled back as the story progresses. As each new layer is revealed the audience is shown that even with the nineteenth century ideals, the true nature of each character is not quite what they appeared to be initially.
We see a woman who is making a bold action against gender inequality and the position society and culture has given her. As for Nora, we see in this first conversation that she seems entirely dependent on Torvald for her money, her food, and her shelter, despite the fact that she is keeping a secret. This secret is the kernel of her individuality and her escape from the doll’s house. While it is easy to paint Helmer as a tyrant and Nora as the naïve wife who suffers under his control, one must not forget that torvald is not aware of any damage he is causing. His greatest sin is perhaps his ignorance. The shock he shows at Nora’s revelation shows that he has no awareness that there is anything wrong with the status balance in his