Gender Role In A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen

Since the dawn of time, a person 's gender has been an essential component of determining what roles each gender is to assume in life. Woman have frequently been viewed as the submissive or weaker gender, only to be useful in the home, who are not capable of making it in a man 's world, who are not allowed the same rights and privileges as their male counterparts. Men, on the other hand, have always been viewed as the dominant or stronger gender, the one who’s job it is to be the provider, the one who makes all the important decisions for his family. In Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll 's House, these assumed gender positions are upheld to the highest degree throughout the majority of the play, and not dismantled until the pivotal ending when Nora makes her stance on this lifestyle very clear.

In the 19th century Victorian era, Ibsen delves into a society vastly different from the society we know today. He explores a society in which the men are in control, the men run businesses, the men control the money, while the women manage the home and children. Throughout the play, we see Torvald asserting that dominance over Nora, not only in spoken orders but also in how he speaks to her, “No borrowing, no debt. There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt,” (Ibsen,1879). Frequently, Nora is referred to as "little songbird," "little squirrel," "little spendthrift," or "little Nora." (Ibsen, 1879) Although occasionally calling her by her name, Torvald