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
Most critics around the world believe the play led to increase awareness on the need for women’s rights in all continents, on the other hand some critics opine that the play depicted women as inferior creatures and dolls who have no personality of their own. Nora Helmer the main character strives to achieve the perfect concepts of life set by the society and her husband. Nora is trapped in her home where her Torvald has built a wonderful life for his ‘doll wife’. Nora’s transformation comes when she discovers the role in doll house imposed on her by the society and her husband and she is desperate to free herself in order to discover her identity.
Torvald tells her that Nora has a duty as a mother and a wife but Nora tells him that “she is an individual”, showing that she is finally putting herself on par with Torvald, and no longer allowing Torvald to control her, but instead she is trying to gain independence and liberation from social norms in order to break free from the “Doll’s House.” She tells him that she must leave him, because “for eight years [she’d] been living with a stranger”, emphasising how there was never any proper communication and mutual understanding between them, and hence no proper marriage, as she didn’t actually know what his true character was like up until that night, as she was convinced all along that Torvald would be the man to take everything upon
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.
The way that Nora responds to Torvald and his many rules show again Nora’s childish nature. This is evident in how Torvald controls Nora and does not want her to eat macaroons. After realizing that Nora had in fact had some, he questions her to which she responds “No; what makes you think that?” (Ibsen 1361). Nora hides the truth from Torvald as if he is her father and is unable to stand up to him because she fears what may happen to her even though they should be equals. Although it may be frowned upon for the wife to make such decisions in this period, Nora knows that this is no way to live, and instead of making that known she buries the idea.
The first criterion of the modern short story is subtle characterization over a fast-paced plot. The short story The Doll’s House includes this very well. Multiple times during the story the author stops to develop characters and settings, that way the reader will be able to get a better understanding of what is happening. Manfield showed this well when Kezia noticed the lamp and went on to describe it, and Isabel only noticed the majority of the house, not the lamp. Another example is when the Kelvey sisters are first introduced.
Unlike A Doll’s House, Ghosts begins with a more dreary setting. It is raining outside and Regina, a woman who helps Mrs. Alving is speaking with her father Engstrand. Most of the characters aside from, Mrs. Alving and her son Oswald appear in the play. Unlike Nora, Mrs. Alving appears to be more reserved. In the first act of A Doll’s House, After Mrs. Linde belittles about Nora having a life without any worries.
The plot thickens and Nora’s husband Torvald finds out about his wife's misconduct and reacts so differently than what Nora hoped for that even after she is told that her secret will not be told to everyone as Krogstad originally planned, she is disappointed in her husband and hastily evaluates her life. After evaluating her life and everything/everyone in it, she makes a decision that i know i certainly did not ever see coming. at first glance i have to say that i did not agree with Nora’s decision to leave her family behind and go out on her own, i pretty much agreed with Torvald when he said "before all else, you're a wife and a mother" (page 1151, para. 1). i also thought that nora had a duty as a mother and wife to stick by them and if she wanted to find herself, she would have to do so as a wife and mother first. it almost seemed as though Nora had turned into some kind of emotionless robot who had no care for anyone she knew or previously loved, she was ready to leave everyone behind and i did not like her character for that very reason, i know it was a different time but that should not be an excuse to be able to leave your family behind, children without a mother and a husband without a wife, all because she had to "Discover who was right, the world or
Initially, Nora appears to be a dependent, naïve girl, yet as the play unfolds, we see her as strong, independent woman, willing to make sacrifices for those who she cares about as well as herself. Henrik Ibsen uses symbolism in order to portray Nora’s sovereignty from the strict social guidelines of morality and appearances in 19th century Norway. The Helmer household is portrayed as the ideal and typical family in 19th century Norway. The Helmer’s home represents the standard middle class home, which is described in the stage directions as a “comfortable and tastefully, but not expensively furnished home.”
As the play comes to a close, Nora exits the room by slamming the door on Torvald, showing her standing up to the patriarchy that exists in the family and in nineteenth-century Denmark. Male dominance is the key attribute to nineteenth-century marriages because women were never thought to have ways of power through the eyes of the man. When Nora slammed the door on Torvald, she was not making a stand for herself; she was making a stand for feminist equalization in
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).”
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.
When he receives the second letter and says that he is saved and that he has forgiven her calling her his "little lark", his "little squirrel", and a child. Although his response was deplorable, it must be noted that Torvald’s whole identity is grounded in his role to society with no sense of self outside it, Nora’s lie has in effect put everything he cares about in danger and once he knows that that Krogstad won’t tell, the life he saw slipping away from him is brought back and he can then resume his place in his reality. Telling her that he forgives her is in his eyes a sincere concession, one that Nora cannot accept. She says, "I have to try to educate myself. You can 't help me with that.
This initiated an argument that brought reralization to Nora that was a just a facade, “You have never loved me. You have only thought of it pleasant to be be in love with me” (1388). She the becomes aware that she was merely a doll, filling in the role of a mother and a wife, “ our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa’s doll-child” (1389). Nora realizes that Torvald will never put himself before her to protect her, it was her who was protecting him from judgement, “ Nora imagines that once Helmer learns about her crime, he will generously and heroically offer to rescue her by sacrificing himself”
