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Gender Roles In A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen

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The play "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen features a housewife with a scandalous secret in the mid-1800s. Throughout the play, the characters portray gender qualities congruent with the time period. Nora, the housewife represents the typical stay at home mother without any real authority and Torvald, the husband, represents the masculine breadwinner and ruler of the house. Other characters such as Mrs. Linde may represent a nonconventional side of the woman's place in society.
Ibsen was best known for his realistic style and harsh criticism of traditional social customs represented through his works such as "Pillars of Society", "Ghosts", "An Enemy of the People", and of course "A Doll's House". He was known in Europe for being a controversial …show more content…

Linde and Dr. Rank enter the home. Mrs. Linde is one of Nora's childhood friends whom she hasn't had contact with in a while. She and Nora contrast each other in such a way that highlights Nora's childlike demeanor due to the practicality Mrs. Linde displays through her life choices and advice. Mrs. Linde recently lost her husband, whom she only married to provide a financially stable life for her mother and younger brothers, which was normal for women to do in times of need. She explains that she is finally free from dependents and in need of a job, not only because of her financial situation but also because without dependents she has no one to live for. Mrs. Linde may be Ibsen's ideal image of women in society, the working woman, and may also be the feminist of the play. During their conversation, Mrs. Linde appears to hold her work ethic over Nora's head and has the attitude of a superiority due to her life experiences. She even tells Nora at one point that "you really know so little of life's burdens yourself" (Ibsen) and "you're just a child" (Ibsen), through this Mrs. Linde expresses her opinion on Nora's pampered lifestyle …show more content…

Males are generally seen as being strong, stable, and logical, with high morals. Krogstad committed the crime of forgery some years earlier, which Torvald believes is morally wrong and believes Krogstad got himself out of the mess by "sharp practices" and must "lie and cheat and deceive on all sides"(Ibsen) and "has to wear a mask" (Ibsen) to hide his mistake. Torvalds reaction to Krogstad's forgery foreshadows the reaction to Nora's forgery, which is much more personal to him. When Krogstad and Mrs. Linde become involved the gender roles are reversed as she becomes the provider and breadwinner and he is now the "stay at home husband". This can be related to modern times as social reform in that respect has taken place and more and more women are seen in the workplace along with fathers and husbands staying home and helping in the household more

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A Doll's House to challenge those gender roles, providing interesting points of comparison and contrast between the plays and challenging us to think about gender roles in a new way. Trifles

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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.

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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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Nora has spent all her life doing what her husband had told her. She has three kids that are looked after by the nursery, Anne-Marie. She didn’t want to spend more times with her kids, her opinion that they may grow and learn by themselves. Not only that, her attitude is more like a child in the house, because she could ask for

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Entry #1: Act I, Pages 1 – 13 I started the play, “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen and since I came late into the course, I have some background on the play and some minor information about Nora, Torvald and Mrs. Linde, Christine from some of the IOPs presented. The first impression for each character introduced differed. Torvald seemed like a dominant man that was the essence of a typical Norwegian man during the time the play was written. He’s constantly being demeaning towards Nora and women in general during the dialogue between him and Nora. For example when he says, “That is like a woman!”

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In the 19th century Victorian era, Ibsen delves into a society vastly different from the society we know today. He explores a society in which the men are in control, the men run businesses, the men control the money, while the women manage the home and children. Throughout the play, we see Torvald asserting that dominance over Nora, not only in spoken orders but also in how he speaks to her, “No borrowing, no debt. There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt,” (Ibsen,1879). Frequently, Nora is referred to as "little songbird," "little squirrel," "little spendthrift," or "little Nora."

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The play A Doll House could be considered the beginnings of feminism is because it generally portrays a woman who is trapped in the own life, but yet finds a way to escape her desperation to abandon her kids. It reveals who women during this time period have limitations and expectations to uphold otherwise they could be considered a stereotype. The story is a feminist drama because Nora portrays the doll, and the house that she is living in is the actual Doll House. Her husband calls her pet names such as a little squirrel, but she does not say anything about it because she is feared by him. Nora knows what is expected of her since she is keeping a secret to uphold her husband Torvalds reputation to ensure that she does not bring him shame.

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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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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.

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The play closes on a positive note with Nora, representative of the supressed female, overcoming Torvald, representative of the oppressive male, however to express the true extent of this achievement, Ibsen makes evident the context of the struggle that society dictated women live by. The progressive characterisation of the protagonist Nora encapsulates Ibsen’s intention of pushing theatrical and societal norms through showing how women deserve to create their own identity and not be restricted by their male oppressors. Ibsen crafted every line to show the development of her dialogue, actions, setting and properties, and in doing so he potently slammed the door on the patriarchal society of the 19th

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This overall role of women essentially created the bridge that linked the subjugation of women with Ibsen’s A Dollhouse theme.

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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

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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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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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This unhappy secret must be disclosed; they must have a couple understanding between them, which is impossible with all this concealment and falsehood going on,” (Ibsen 52). Mrs. Linde is well aware of Nora’s secret and the consequences that would follow if Torvald found out. When Torvald finds out about the letter, he is only worried about his reputation and his appearance. Torvald says, “From this moment happiness is not the question; all that concerns us it to save the remains, the

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