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A Doll's House Gender Roles

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“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works” (Virginia Woolf). For Henrik Ibsen, his experience derives from his late nineteenth-century Norwegian society. During this time, women were beginning to make strides, however, they really only developed the basic recognition of being an individual. While some societal advances occurred, they applied mostly to single women, leaving a large majority of married women as servile possessions. This progress marked the increase of interest in the feminist movement. Because of its gaining popularity, women's rights, and in general gender roles, were noticed as a large portion of the issues of society. Consequently, by critiquing gender roles, one finds the faults in society as a whole. In his play, “A Doll’s …show more content…

Within the first few pages of the play, Nora’s husband, Torvald, refers to her as a “little lark” (Ibsen 6). Torvald refers to Nora as multiple names including "my little lark," "my little squirrel," "my little spendthrift," and "little featherhead" (Snodgrass 1). Majority of these nicknames dehumanize Nora, describing her as an animal, “a bird in a cage” (Als 2). By stripping her of her identity as a human being, Torvald is claiming Nora as his pet, a creature unable to speak its mind so its owner decides everything for him or her. Often before each of these nicknames, Torvald uses the possessive “my”, to establish even further that he has both ownership and control of Nora, his so-called wife. The play repeats both “my” and the nicknames multiple times in order to bring attention to society’s unjust point of view. Torvald seems to share society’s view of women as less than human. At the end of the play, Nora leaves both Torvald and this viewpoint behind. Ibsen thereby demonstrates that this perspective is wrong and should be left in the

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The doll is utilized to portray the image of an impeccable female to the utilizer. There is the luxurious apparel, the cooking and the mendacious sense of placidity. The metaphor of the doll has been used to point out the irony of the idolized dollhouse. There is the placid and doting wife, the strenuously exertive husband, the ecstatic children and the family canine. All these dolls are placed in a setting where they play the component they are expected to.

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Torvald’s nicknames for Nora demonstrate his the feelings and attitude towards her. He thinks that Nora needs protection, as she is a small delicate child, who is not smart enough to live in this world. He does not give any credit to his wife and only cares about his status and success. However, Nora behaves

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As the climax rises, Nora starts to realize her childishness which is why she compared to her life as a doll’s life. She expresses to Torvald how she feels. “I have been your doll wife, just as I was Papa’s doll child” (67). Torvald subtly dismisses her statement by telling her that “playtime is over”(67). His dismissiveness shows the control that he had over her.

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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.

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1406 Words | 6 Pages

For instance, it is quite clear that Ibsen's decision to talk about the topic of money in this play is influenced by the societal norms or cultural expectations at the time where the society in Norway at around the nineteenth century had changed significantly in terms of its socio-economic ideologies and people had become obsessed with money where they would always take care of their financial health by trying to avoid debt by all means. This explains why the opening discussion in this play is about the topic of money and the story ends up with a divorce which has been occasioned by borrowed money by a wife in order to save her husband’s life. However, the most important aspect of the play is how Ibsen has demonstrated that women are willing to reject social conventions in order to safeguard their interest as was witnessed with Nora and Ms. Linde who are two women who have gone against social expectations in order to care for their families. For this reasons, Ibsen play is influenced by the social and cultural norms of the time where he seeks to show that a time had come to reject some of the conservative social conventions that

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1283 Words | 6 Pages

Gender representation is a theme in which is common when focusing on the form and content of both Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godott. Even though they are represented in different manners they both highlight the gender norms during the time period they were written. Within Beckett’s writings masculinity is prominent, centralizing the powerful and protruding gender focal point. Whereas Ibsen includes the female perspective and allows the readers to become aware of the gender representation as such.

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1229 Words | 5 Pages

He rather expects her to be more compliant, loyal and wants her to follow the social and moral rules strictly, like he does. Torvald’s assertion that Nora’s lack of understanding of money matters is the result of her gender (“Nora, my Nora, that is just like a woman”) reveals his prejudiced viewpoint on gender roles. Torvald believes a wife’s role is to beautify the home, not only through proper management of domestic life but also through proper behavior and appearance. He quickly makes it known that appearances are very important to him, and that Nora is like an ornament or trophy that serves to beautify his home and his reputation. He tells Nora that he loves her so much that he has wished in the past that Nora’s life were threatened so that he could risk everything to save her.

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1349 Words | 6 Pages

A Doll’s House was written, published and first performed in 1879, to a societal backdrop dominated by men. Women, especially those married, were the victims of restrictive laws and expectations. Ibsen’s play revolutionised not just the superficial theatre of the time, but also criticised the social conventions of the patriarchal Norway and Europe. He condemns the economic dependency women have on their male counterpart whilst attacking the prejudices of bourgeois values. The characterisation of Nora provides the

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1464 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout A Doll’s House, Henrick Ibsen gives emphasis to male-controlled symbolism in order to emphasize the standard family structure of the late nineteenth-century. Torvald, the central male character, perfectly depicts the typical male dominance through his actions of control and dominance in the relationship with Nora Helmer. The names he gives her throughout the play: skylark, little squirrel, little spendthrift, etc. shows his looking down to Nora. He gives her no respect and like all typical marriages in nineteenth-century Denmark, he gives Nora no means to have any control in the marriage. The title A Doll’s House in itself generates the whole definition of the play, giving symbolism to Nora and how she is “trapped” in her own home and being ordered by Torvald in everything she says and does.

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1228 Words | 5 Pages

The late 1800’s were a turning point in Norwegian policy concerning gender equality. In 1878, the Norwegian Gender Equality Act was passed, aiming to equalize the treatment of women and men. This step forward in the Norwegian feminist movement brought gender to the forefront of politics and discussion (Equality). It was in this atmosphere that Ibsen published A Doll’s House, a play that acknowledged and then promptly subverted gender roles. Around this time, Ibsen also became part of Det moderne Gjennembruds Mænd, or Men of the Modern Transition.

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828 Words | 4 Pages

Did you know that there is injustice in the play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen? The men in A Doll’s House treat women differently than how they treat other men. To society at the time men were above women. This idea is supported by the way that Nora is treated like a child by her husband Torvald, the way Nora has to follow all her husband’s decisions, during that time period women didn 't typically have a job or education. When all of the evidence is presented the reader can, therefore, decided whether or not they agree that women are treated very unjustly compared to men.

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1287 Words | 6 Pages

This play, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, focuses on women, especially in marriage and motherhood. Torvald is a character, who describes inequality between men and women and the women’s role in the society in that era. He believes that it is an important and the only duty of a woman to be a good wife and mother. As an individual, a woman, could not conduct or run a business of her own, she needs to ask her father or husband and they were only considered to be father’s or husband’s property. Women were not allowed to vote and divorce if they were allowed they would carry a heavy social shame and it was only available when both partners agreed.

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759 Words | 4 Pages

During act III, Nora asked to speak to Torvald after her performance of the tarantella dance. The following conversation demonstrated her quest for autonomy and freedom, as well as Torvald’s inadequate responses to her arguments and demands; it also showed how deeply connected her unhappy situation is with society’s regulation of the relationship between the sexes. She asserts that she is “...first and foremost a human being”, and her strong conviction that her womanhood, and the expectations associated with it, are secondary, strengthens her resolve to make a radical choice: A break with both husband and, with necessity due to her legal position, her children (Ibsen, 184). During her conversation with Torvald, she proclaims, “I have other sacred duties... The duties to myself (Ibsen, 184).”

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1384 Words | 6 Pages

The play begins with Nora being portrayed as a self-indulgent and whimsical woman with childlike qualities. After the porter asks Nora for “a shilling”, (Ibsen, p.23) she tips him over-generously with a pound, directing him to “keep it,” (p.23) giving the audience the impression that Nora does not know the value of money, much like a child would not. Her immature extravagance is recognized through her desire to spend Torvald’s higher salary right away, even though it will not be received for another three months. His

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958 Words | 4 Pages

Ibsen’s play A Doll 's House, written in 1879, examines the importance of social class and the expectations that follow. A Doll’s House tells the story of married couple, Torvald and Nora Helmer who strive to fulfill social expectation. However, the ending is known to be a shock for some, as roles reverse and Nora comes to realize that she has been mistreated like a doll throughout the whole marriage. Throughout A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen, doll 's and the dolls house are symbolic of how Nora is a submissive wife controlled and dominated by Torvald, and both are repressed by societal standards.

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