The nineteenth century was a time of male superiority and Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, is a great example of the introduction of feminist actions in the nineteenth century. Nora, the protagonist, portrays these characteristics within her heavy decision on whether to leave her family and pursue her own life or to stay, continuing the controlled life she grew increasingly bored of. In addition, Christine Linde, Nora’s friend, also exhibits the rebellion in her gender standards when she comes into the town that Nora lived in looking for work so that she may provide for herself. The actions done by these characters would be considered noble and admirable nowadays, though this story was set back in the nineteenth century. Then, morals were …show more content…
“One of the telling ironies of the play is that Torvald, whose very profession as merchant banker depends upon extending credit and loans, is constantly asserting the economic evils of incurring debt: “No debts! Never borrow! There’s always something inhibited, something unpleasant, about a home built on credit and borrowed money” (203). His business life and his home life, it would seem, are kept stringently separate, as if the “home” were some inviolate haven against the encroachment of the money ethic on family life, as if the debtless competence of the wife were some compensation for his immersion in the nastiness of daily business.”(Errol Durbach) In addition to Nora’s departure, in the beginning of the play, she took it upon herself to handle a financial issue involving her family, lading to her committing a crime. Such independence was unheard of in the nineteenth century. Christine Linde is another example for this perspective. She came to town looking for work so that she could survive without her husband, another thing frowned upon by …show more content…
Three major characters are women and three major characters are men. The female characters are Nora, Mrs. Linde, and Anne-Marie;and the male characters are Torvald, Dr. Rank, and Krogstad. This balance of gender roles is intentional, and each character’s role in the story contributes to the final revelation that women can be strong, men can be weak, and strength and weakness are human traits, not gender traits. In many cases, ‘manly ideals’ (courage, dignity, seriousness) were elevated to ‘human ideals’ and female ideals (gentleness, kindness, active sympathy)
To start, in this play the main character Nora is portrayed to be the perfect nineteenth-century wife to her husband Torvald. Not only that, but Nora is also painted in a way that characterizes her as a bubbly air-head that is not able to take care of herself or have a mind of her own. Ibsen wirtes “HELMER: Nora, Nora, how like a woman! No, but seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that. No debts! Never borrow! Something of freedom’s lost—and something of beauty, too—from a home that’s founded on borrowing and debt. We’ve made a brave stand up to now, the two of us; and we’ll go right on like that the little while we have to. NORA [going toward the stove ]: Yes, whatever you say, Torvald.” (944)Since Realists go against individuals having freedom of action over a state control, Torvald Helmer can be seen as representing a government while Nora represents a citizen with no say in any matter. Torvald uses the term “like a woman” to denounce Nora's inability to handle money, thus belittling her. Nora still complies to Torvalds wishes, giving up her voice rather easily while she only does what is best for her greater power. Furthermore, Nora obtains money from her father before he dies to support the trip to Italy because Torvald was ill and needed to go in order to get help. This shows that Nora did was only thinking about her husband, the higher power she obeys, and put herself last. This also exemplifies a Realist concern with community benefit, not
This becomes one of the main driving forces of Ibsen’s play. (Quote from Torvald and the money). It immediately distinguishes the differences in gender roles and morals in Norway during the late 1800’s. While Nora is willing to give the porter twice what is owed, we assume she is full of holiday spirit; Torvald has a much more sensible outlook on financial concerns. While he jokingly calls her his little spendthrift, he asserts that her lack of understanding is a result of her gender “Nora, my Nora, that is just like a woman” (Ibsen). Torvald believes that her place in the home is simply ornamental, a trophy that serves as decoration for his home. Torvald is constantly referring to her through the use of pet names such as (quote pet names from book) and only ever refers to her by name when he is scolding her. Not only does Torvald see her as his doll, but also as her child (quote near end of story). By keeping Nora dependent and obedient to him, he plays the role of Nora’s second father. Nora eventually sees that her daughter is being treated in the same manner that she was her entire life, as a
In the play, “A Doll House”, Torvald Helmer is a controlling, overbearing character who seems to care only about his reputation. He’s the most controlling when it comes to his wife, Nora. He controls her behavior so that it is to his liking and as a result hit reputation will be sturdy. Torvald follows the belief of a man’s role in marriage, and that is to protect and guide his wife in the right direction. He looks for every chance he gets to control his wife and “guide” her as if she is a child that needs assistance, but in reality, Torvald is the childlike character. Throughout the play, the audience will see the changes within Torvald’s character and how gender roles ultimately get flipped toward the end.
During the time in which the play took place society frowned upon women asserting themselves. Women were supposed to play a role in which they supported their husbands, took care of their children, and made sure everything was perfect around the house. Work, politics, and decisions were left to the males. Nora's first secession from society was when she broke the law and decided to borrow money to pay for her husbands treatment. By doing this, she not only broke the law but she stepped away from the role society had placed on her of being totally dependent on her husband. She proved herself not to be helpless like Torvald implied: "you poor helpless little creature!"
Nora, the main character, obsessively tries to please her father and her husband. In an attempt to be the perfect daughter and a perfect wife, she conforms to the established by the men and in turn loses her identity. Due to her initial faith in the superficial laws created by the men, Nora even tries to embed the Victorian ideals in her daughter, Emmy. As a Christmas gift, Emmy receives a doll and a dolly's bedstead. Instead of being allowed to explore her potentials, Emmy is confined to practice to become martyr of the Victorian society. Women during this period were deliberately made powerless by the lack of prospective. Mrs. Linde, Nora's friend, is a victim of such social misfortune. In the absence of her father, Mrs. Linde acquires the responsibility of her sick mother and her two brothers. She sacrifices her love, Krogstad, and marries a wealthy man in order to take care of her family. If society had permitted, she could have attained both love and family. Nora's nursemaid, Anne Marie, is also a victim of the society. She is forced to forgo her only daughter because an illegitimate child. Apart from being used by a wicked man, she is disabled from raising her ...
The effects of the societal roles in men and women from the 19th century are displayed through the actions and morals of the characters in Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House. The play demonstrates through its main characters the demanding norms of society. When one does not abide the Victorian society norms they are shunned, pitied and left with almost nothing. Ibsen’s humanistic side is seen through this play as he creates realistic problems for fictional people to suffer through So, the effects of societal roles are seen in the character of Nora Helmer, who is the obedient, naïve wife that finds her true self and decides to rebel against societal prospects. It is also observed in Torvald Helmer, who displays the qualities of the stereotypical male of the Victorian era and this display of societal norms affects Nils Krogstad, who went from accepting the social order to rebelling against for the sake of his family. Each of these characters helps understand the concept of societal expectations and struggles to achieve them.
This play takes one through the journey of the misery Nora goes through as her husband Torvald has treated her like a child. Torvald’s biased towards his feminist views is what ended his marriage with Nora. Torvald never giving his wife her independence and treating her bad so he could feel good about himself ended becoming his lose in the end. This play shows how crucial it is that one must share equality and respect with everyone because in the end if one does not then one can end up
A character’s introduction reveals the personality, attitude, and physical features of that individual. This first impression sets the emotional reaction to that character when ever he or she appears in the story. The certain mannerisms the author makes a character use, and the way others treat and react to the new character, demonstrate the personality of the introduced individual to the audience. In the play, A Doll House, Henrik Ibsen misleads his characters’ personalities when introducing three main characters: Nora Helmer, the wife and mother figure, Torvald Helmer, her hard-working husband, and Krogstad, a man that Nora unfortunately does business with. Throughout the beginning of the story, the mannerisms of these characters portray what they act like in front of other characters. The reaction the characters receive when introduced also demonstrates what other characters in the play perceive them as. As the play progresses, the real personalities of the characters appear to the other characters. Nora, Torvald, and Krogstad are introduced by Ibsen with personalities and characteristics that do not reflect their true characters; however, as the story unfolds, their true thoughts and characteristics slowly appear.
Finally, Ibsen has made it clear Mrs. Linde plays a vital role in Krogstad and Nora’s transformations. Nora, the ‘doll’ wife, who has come a long way from squirrels and skylarks with her husband to a woman resolute to discover her potential as a person. For if it had not been for Mrs. Linde’s interference and actions, Nora may have not been awakened to the harsh truth of her lie of a marriage. And unfortunately, may have continued on as Torvalds personal ‘doll’ marionette in the Helmer ‘dollhouse.’
Torvald is not very kind towards his wife because he treats her like a kid this referring to the theme of ‘Men vs Masculinity because it’s evident in the text that he views himself as the higher authority figure, and he refers to her as, “little squirrel and “little spendthrift” example of Torvald stamping his male dominance over women is when. Never mind, never mind! [Walks about the room.] Yes, it is funny to think that we- that Torvald has such power over so many people. [Takes the bag from her pocket.] Doctor Rank, will you have a macaroon?” (11), this is reiterating the idea of male characterizes are held higher than women in this play because of Torvald. Tovrvald in the play is also seen by his kids and the audience as the man who brings in the money once again stereotyping the male as the ‘bread winner’, krogstand acts superior when he is around women by saying that the women he was talking to should be pleased that they are talking to him. Over the course of the play the audience realizes that Nora stamps herself as an independent women who does not reply on men and rejects the idea false idea of marriage and the burden of motherhood and won’t give into male dominance even though the male characters in the play are held higher than the
The inferior role of Nora is extremely important to her character. Nora is oppressed by a variety of "tyrannical social conventions." Ibsen in his "A Doll's House" depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize their role in society. Nora is oppressed by the manipulation from Torvald. Torvald has a very typical relationship with society. He is a smug bank manager. With his job arrive many responsibilities. He often treats his wife as if she is one of these responsibilities. Torvald is very authoritative and puts his appearance, both social and physical, ahead of his wife that he supposedly loves. Torvald is a man that is worried about his reputation, and cares little about his wife's feelings.
Gender roles are also seen in the rules Torvald for Nora to follow. Torvald is the only one in the family who works and provide for his family who needs to survive in their lifestyle. Because of this, Nora must always go and ask for money from Torvald hoping for his acceptance of her using his income. Nora also had no possessions to her name because when a woman got married, all her possessions were considered ...
The roles of women have changed substantially throughout time. During the 19th century, it was normal for a man to dominantly rule his household. Ibsen wrote the play, A Doll House, in hopes of demonstrating and criticizing the marital roles of his century. It is clear Ibsen believed in a world that is equal. In this play, Ibsen created characters that struggled to escape these impractical expectations. Ibsen’s play, A Doll House, is a symbol of his view towards feminism during the 1800s and shows the effects caused by such a problem; evidence of this can be found in the similarities of his characters to the average woman of this time period, the theme of his play, and how these characters relate to women of today’s time.
The plight of women in western society is confusing and arduous. Nora’s crime was an ill-fated attempt to save her husband’s life, but her total abandonment of the marriage seems relatable and almost reasonable to the audience after they are shown Torvald’s misogynistic opinions. Torvald is invariably patronizing towards his wife and is offended and emasculated when he learns that Nora has gone behind his back and saved his life without his assistance. Nora acknowledges this hypocrisy in Act Three when she says, “I am learning, too, that the law is quite another thing from what I supposed; but I find it impossible to convince myself that the law is right. According to it, a woman has no right to spare her old dying father, or to save her husband’s life” (3.
Strength is to male as weakness is to female. Firstly, Ibsen highlights the role of Nora, the role of a weak female, by how he portrays her role in her marriage. Her husband is pressured into his role by the patriarchal society of the Victorian Age and thusly forces Nora into the role of an oppressed women. It appears, at first, that both Nora and Torvald, or Helmer, are content with assuming outdated, restricted gender roles set within their middleclass marriage, but it soon becomes clear that Nora is not the ditzy bauble that Torvald thinks she is (Fisher and Jibler). In the opening scene in act one, Torvald institutes for the audience his ownership of Nora as a pet when he says, “Is that my squirrel rummaging around? ... When did my squirrel get in?” (Ibsen 860). Torvald forces his wife to be compliant by calling her other patronizing names such as his "my wastrel" and "my little prodigal." An important, feminine weakness in the Victorian age is society’s requirement that men be responsible for the legal and financial affairs of women. Torvald keeps her in a subservient position by giving her no credit for understanding financial issues, or for being able to manage money. And, he fails in resisting the dictates of society as he is too full of pride and too accustomed by his society and his role in it to forgive Nora her misdemeanors made out of loving