Femininity In A Doll's House

The power struggle between men and women has been evident, and in the end men have emerged victorious. However, several authors, such as Henrik Ibsen, have attempted to rectify this wrong with their works. In Ibsen’s case- one such work is A Doll’s House. Although A Doll’s House has been historically revered as a feminist work, further evidence from Nora’s socially defiable actions and behaviours imply that Ibsen’s classic play is not as female empowering as thought. A Doll’s House is not a true feminist work due to Nora’s continued enslavement to money and her desire to shed her feminine manners.

Although Nora was able to escape her toxic relationship from Torvald, she stays bound to her first abusive love: money. Through the play, Nora’s

Nora within her marriage is described as what typically femininity would look like: She enjoys shopping, sewing, and treats. She cares for her family, and she loves pretty things. Still, when she realizes her oppression and declares her leaving, there is no inkling in her mind that she is taking any of her past feminine characteristics with her. Little does Nora know, feminism is about embracing femininity that a masculine culture has deemed shameful. If Nora had been a true feminist, she would have set herself free from her marriage while simultaneously enjoying sweets and providing love to her children. “To hail the outcome of A Doll’s House as a purely feminist paean to the “new woman,” all of Ibsen’s statements and intentions aside, is to devalue the very project of feminist theory,” (source my own). But all this of course, is really the author’s fault, as he is the one who orchestrated the entire play, and “Ibsen himself clearly states that he was not a feminist,” (Source G). In fact, Ibsen’s ideal way to equal relationships between men and women “was to obliterate the difference between the sexes and let a new sexual role delete the former ones,” (source myown). By deleting roles considered masculine and feminine, feminism is effectively deleted. Feminism can only function if femininity exists, as statetd before it is the celebration and acceptance of feminine qualities and having them being embraced by males and females alike. Deleting feminism, is not this, and therefore A Doll’s House is not a feminist work.

Although on the surface, A Doll’s House seems to be a feminist work, with a closer examination of the evidence this is proven false. Through Nora’s slavery to money and her desire to shed her femininity, there is no liberation of the woman. A Doll’s House is not a feminist work,