Essay On Gender Roles In A Doll's House

The roles of men and women are habitually pondered by those in a society; however, to what degree are we to differentiate the roles in which a man and a woman can provide for not only their families, but rather his or her individual selves as well? During the time of the 1800s, women were seen as second-class citizens compared to the “superior” men. In opposition, women began to protest for their rights to break away from social norms. In 1879, a Norwegian playwright named Henrik Ibsen published his most controversial play A Doll's House to display such opposition in the society. Moreover, this play is primarily contentious in the way Ibsen perceives his characters in inhabiting what a man or woman is to be expected to be in their prejudice

For the duration of the play, an outward aspect of presentation validates the misleading typical stereotypes of gender roles that cover the reality of the play’s characters and their situations. The most important aspect of this theme is displayed in the underrating of Nora and Torvald. Nora initially seems as silly and childish, as Torvald talks to her in the third person with a patronizing way of referring to Nora as a squirrel and her not minding: “Is that my squirrel rummaging around?” “Yes.” (Henrik 883). By the ending of the play, however, Nora turns from being a foolish woman to an obstinate independent decision maker. In divergence to Nora is the character of Torvald. At the beginning of the play, Torvald can be depicted as a masculine kindhearted husband; however, upon hearing that Krogstad could potentially financially expose him, Torvalds changed his temperament. Moreover, Torvald’s appearance changes drastically into becoming a petty, ungrateful, and egotistical man by the end of the play. In an essence, in the grasping of the play is the theme of misguiding identification in that of the “migration […] further exacerbating the instability of identities [in which] moves beyond individual tragedy to suggest possibilities beyond the self as a possessive individual” (Lee