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Feminism in the 1800's
Theme of Gender Roles in A Doll's House
Theme of Gender Roles in A Doll's House
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Feminism in the 1800's
Theme of Gender Roles in A Doll's House
Theme of Gender Roles in A Doll's House
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Recommended: Feminism in the 1800's
For a play in 1879 feminism was a huge aspect in everyone’s lives, especially within a marriage. In A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen, showcased Nora a character in the play to be heavily influenced by
A Doll’s house is a realistic three act play that focuses on the nineteenth century life in middle class Scandinavian household life, where the wife is expected to be inferior and passive whereas the husband is superior and paternally protective. It was written by Henrik Ibsen. The play criticised the marriage norms that existed in the 19th century. It aroused many controversies as it concludes with Nora, the main protagonists leaving her husband and children in order to discover her identity. It created a lot of controversies and was heavily criticised as it questioned the traditional roles of men and women among Europeans who believed that the covenant of marriage was holy.
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.
Henrik Ibsen has used the play A Doll’s House to highlight some of the social issues and cultural norms that existed during his time, a period when society was transforming to modernity. Ibsen used the characters of Torvald Helmer and his wife Nora Helmer to perfectly depict the historical and cultural norms of the society at the time, especially in the relationship between a husband and wife. The play begins with the depiction of a seemingly happy couple who are living a bourgeois life but as it unfolds, the Helmer’s marriage would later disintegrate after the expected social conventions are rejected. Ibsen, in his play A Doll’s House rejects social conventions of his time.
The reader becomes very aware of the situation Nora is faced with as Ibsen challenges us to think about the societal times women were a part of during the late 1800’s. As Unni Langas states in her article describing gender within the play, “..this drama is not so much about Nora’s struggle to find herself as a human being, as it is about her shocking experience of being treated as a woman..” (Langas, 2005). This gives the reader an insight into Nora Helmer’s character. She is evidently perceived as the Doll trapped in the Doll house, as she is viewed as an entertainer rather than her own person in the eyes of her husband and children.
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, appearances prove to be deceptive veneers that disguise the reality of situations and characters. Ibsen’s play is set in 19th century Norway, when women’s rights were restricted and social appearance such as financial success and middle class respectability were more important than equality and true identity. Ibsen also uses realism and naturalism, portraying the Helmer’s Marriage through authentic relationships, which are relatable to the audience. In A Doll’s House, Nora represents 19th century women entrapped by society to fulfill wifely and motherly obligations, unable to articulate or express their own feelings and desires.
A Doll’s House: Character Comparison and Contrast Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House contains a cast of deeply complex characters that emulate the 1800’s societal norms that they belong to. Two characters that compare and contrast each other throughout the play are Nora Helmer and Kristine Linde. Nora and Kristine are similar because they both display a sense of independence. Their personalities differ as Nora presents herself as inexperienced, while Kristine is more grounded in reality.
Their only importance was to cook, clean birth babies and support their husbands quietly. It was socially accepted that women were to be totally subordinate to the men in there family. Women in this time period did not have her own identity, she was under the ruling of her husband. In the drama A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, The character Nora Helmer uses her relationships with her husband and friends to show characteristics of Feminism in her true identity during
What does it mean to be in complete control of your life, without fearing disapproval from your own husband? Nora Helmer sure would not know what that feels like. In the literary work credited to Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House, a clear distinction between the gender roles of Torvald and Nora Helmer was established through symbols. Through Ibsen’s use of symbols such as macaroons, pet names, and the Tarantella, such symbols help convey and compare the roles of men and women within the nineteenth century. Not only were the gender roles distincted through their character, but they exemplified the actual feminine and masculine roles of typical nineteenth century society.
In today’s world, our parents expect us to behave the way society wants us to. We may not follow this always and may deviate from behaving in the right way. These expectations tempted me to find out the expectations that existed in the Victorian Era. This mainly led me to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s house. Hence, I chose my research question of “The expectations of society that affect Torvald’s behavior.”
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the three-act play, set in 19th century Norway, explores the progress of Nora’s marriage as she attempts to hide her debt and forgery from her husband. Ibsen conveyed social commentary on gender roles and societal expectations, a topic still in controversy, through the use of symbolism, irony, and dramatic elements. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen presents the problems associated with the position of women in a man’s world of business as his central focus, even if other social or individual problems become more prominent as the play progresses.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, when first judged by its cover title, strikes the reader as very interesting and starts a multitude of inquires of why the title is so named. When one thinks of a doll’s house, most often, a cute and small, perfectly run and ordered, young girl’s favorite toy comes to mind. Everything is peaceful. A feeling of happiness runs through the air in such a way that no one would expect anything to go wrong. In A Doll’s House, a well-furnished living room is the setting of the entire play.
In 1880s, women in America were trapped by their family because of the culture that they were living in. They loved their family and husband, but meanwhile, they had hard time suffering in same patterns that women in United States always had. With their limited rights, women hoped liberation from their family because they were entirely complaisant to their husband. Therefore, women were in conflicting directions by two compelling forces, their responsibility and pressure. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen uses metaphors of a doll’s house and irony conversation between Nora and Torvald to emphasize reality versus appearance in order to convey that the Victorian Era women were discriminated because of gender and forced to make irrational decision by inequity society.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is a play set in 19th century Norway, when women’s rights were restricted and social appearance was more important than equality and true identity. In A Doll’s House, Nora represents 19th century women entrapped by society to fulfill wifely and motherly obligations, unable to articulate or express their own feelings and desires. Ibsen uses Nora’s characterization, developed through her interactions with others as well as her personal deliberations and independent actions, language and structure in order to portray Nora’s movement from dependence to independence, gaining sovereignty from the control of her selfish husband, deceitful marriage and the strict social guidelines of morality in 19th century Norway. Initially, Nora appears to be a dependent, naïve, and childlike character; yet, as the play unfolds, she appears to be a strong, independent woman who is willing to make sacrifices for those she cares about as well as herself.
Freedom is something that many people have sought and continue to look for on a daily basis, and the characters in Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, demonstrate a search for freedom from various aspects of life. Some characters want to be free from the social roles that have been established by the time period, others look to be liberated from monetary obligations they have, and some want to be rid of the reputations that are surrounding them. The characters throughout the play express the desire to be free from whatever his hindering them. When people are in difficult situations, they usually look to freedom as the end goal. It is sometimes seen as the reward for hard work and determination.