Social Setting In A Doll's House

Using the texts you have studied, discuss the degree to which the writers have offered a strong image of the social setting, and estimate the importance a sense of social context has for the effect of the texts.

Social setting has always been pivotal to the success of a story. Social setting decides the role of a person in their society. It controls almost every aspect of their life from their behaviour to their character and shapes their personality. The power of social setting is exhibited in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, and also in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. These texts reveal that the time and place then, as now, had a great affect on the character’s actions throughout the play. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams

In A Doll’s House, Nora, a middle class, turned upper class wife, leaves her controlling husband. She is a strong and intelligent woman who is deeply underestimated by her husband and her society. She willfully appears meek and unaware, as a “Lark” or a “squirrel”, to fit the standards of the society, a Norwegian town in 1870s. As a result, she leaves her husband when she realizes she cannot play the ‘Lark’ anymore. Both texts deal with the subject matter of gender roles. In A Streetcar Named Desire, williams depicts these challenges through the Dubois sisters. Blanche Dubois plays a southern ladylike woman, while Stella plays the city girl. Both of these stereotypes are similar, but there are differences between them. In A Doll’s House, gender roles are shown mainly through Nora and the imprudent, timid facade she puts on for most characters, especially her husband. These roles were based on context from which the characters came from (Blanche from the south, Stella from the city, Nora from a town). The social setting is what made those characters assume these different roles. Both authors used the social setting of

One way he exhibits this idea is through Christine Linde. Christine Linde is a widow who has to independently work to make ends meet. This juxtaposes with the setting, since Linde defies the social norms of 1879 Norway. She would be seen as immoral back then, as ‘a woman of that time would surely need a man to support her’. Especially since this text takes place in a rural, norwegian town, rendering the anonymity of cities impossible. The setting also affects Torvald and how he behaves, as his mentality is more rural and traditional. He wouldn’t let Nora do multiple things that, in his opinion, would damage their reputation. He has full control over her. For example, he wouldn’t allow her to eat macaroons and he would choose which costume she would wear. This displays both of their rural mentalities and which role either of them assumes. Torvald is providing husband who would do anything for his incapable wife. Their society deems the husband more intelligent, while the wife, an object to be cared for. This is shown through their behaviour, like the fact that Nora boasts at the fact that she doesn’t work, and that her husband got promoted. This contrasts with Stanley who doesn’t care for his reputation. This is due to the fact that A Streetcar Named Desire is set in an big city which provides anonymity, meaning that, unlike in a small town, people who live in