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A Doll's House Essay

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Upon submersion into the world created in Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” readers get a closer look at the guidelines established for women in a time period in which women were viewed as delicate creatures unable to handle the real world without a man. Women were passed down from their father’s care to their husband upon their wedding day and were never expected to be individuals. While women were typically viewed as the inferior sex during the 19th century, Ibsen depicted a different sort of woman and drew attention to the absurdity of societal expectations for women by showing that they could be cunning, self-sufficient, and strong-willed. Despite the commonly accepted idea that women were flighty and dull of mind, Nora showed herself to …show more content…

In Nora’s case, what she truly desired was liberation and she cast aside her domestic duty to attain it. Nora eventually gathered the gumption to face her future when her husband revealed his true intentions and she was determined to become her own person. Despite her husband’s insistence that her most sacred duties were to her husband and children, Nora firmly and unapologetically stated that “first and foremost I’m a human being, just as you are—or, at least, that I have to try to become one” (Ibsen 914). Nora declared her acceptance of mental liberation when she severed her emotional ties to her place in society as a wife and mother. Contrary to the views expressed during the 19th century that claimed that “the mother in virtue of her sex is a better provider of care for her children than the father” (Markussen 123), Nora questioned her own ability to care for the children as she felt that she had no business raising children. During this time period, it was commonly believed that women should be the primary caretaker of offspring, but Nora was ready to give all that up in order to become her own person and one should note that it takes a great deal of strong-willed character to overthrow and sever ties to such a firmly held belief, no matter the exposure to

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Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, follows a housewife who struggles under the control of her husband. Nora Helmer, the main character of the play, is a young housewife who is a very sweet, kind, and loving mother and wife. She would do anything for the sake of her husband and children. Torvald Helmer is Nora’s husband or the “man of the house”, who believes he plays the dominant role in the marriage. Mrs. Linde is a tough, wise widow who searches for a new life after the death of her husband.

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Nora’s defiance may have resulted in criticism from society, but Ibsen importantly commented on the terrible treatment of woman in relationships and the world. Ibsen created A Doll’s House in a time where women were treated unjustly and poorly. While the play might seem slightly irrelevant now, it still has a place in the world today. Women can borrow money and leave their husbands; however, society still puts tremendous pressure on women to fulfill sacred vows. The expectation to assure her husband’s happiness and to prioritize everyone else before herself is still an issue that many woman face today.

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