English Final Paper
William Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen are two great authors of their time and are still read by many today. William Shakespeare wrote many plays; one that is more well known is Hamlet. Henrik Ibsen is a not so well known author but wrote a great rival play named A Doll’s House. These two plays were extraordinary for their time and there has been much controversy and debates on which play made the greatest impact to culture and society. These two plays, written in very different time periods, show alternative views on society and how it should be.
Hamlet was written in the early 1600's right before Shakespeare died. This play portrays society in such a way by showing how easily the public is fooled by people of authority. Shakespeare was writing this play as a form of entertainment but it is now seen as how society used to be. All of the deaths and the general setting of the play describes how society was back then and in essence, Shakespeare was just writing it to entertain and not to show how society was. When Hamlet ends up dying in the end of the play, it wasn’t there to show how society was but to merely entertain. Shakespeare showed how Europe was in the late 1500's to early 1600's, but in that time it was for pure entertainment. This so called entertainment showed society the possible uncertainties their lives were based upon.
Henrik Ibsen’s, A Doll’s House, took a very different outlook on society in not showing
how it was but rather how it should be. Ibsen has set up an environment where women cannot decide on their own, but presents two female characters in the bok that go beyond this thinking and do things themselves. One of the women gets her own job and the other leaves her daughter for adoption. Thus showing they are making their own decisions in life. This is unheard of in the 1800's and shows Ibsen trying to have a society in which women do have an identity in society and can be heard. Throughout the play, a women is shown doing her own thinking and not listening to what men have to say even though that is not how it used to be. Ibsen creates this new society in which anyone, no matter the gender, should be able to make their own decisions about life and how to live it.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House (1879). Trans. Rolf Fjelde. Rpt. in Michael Meyer, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th edition. Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1999. 1564-1612.
“There are two kinds of spiritual law, two kinds of conscience, one in man and another, altogether different, in women. They do not understand each other; but in practical life the women is judged by man’s law, as though she were not a woman but a man.” Those words were said by the great Henrik Ibsen himself. Henrik Ibsen was born on March twentieth eighteen twenty eight in Skien, Norway. He grew up in poverty following the demise of his father’s business. He was exiled to Italy, and then moved on to Germany. Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House in 1879, while in Germany. He sought to question social practices in the real world, and women’s position in society. He was commonly known as “The Father of Modern Drama”. Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was published in 1879 and first performed shortly after in the same year and month. The play turned out to be very controversial, which lead Ibsen to write an alternate ending. The play was later turned into a television show and multiple movie adaptations. (Galens 106,107 ) Ibsen creates many static and strong characters that help convey his message. Nora Helmer is the play’s protagonist and wife of Torvald Helmer. Torvald, Nora’s husband, is shown to be extremely controlling and dominating. He often treats Nora like a doll or child. There are many relevant themes in the play such as: appearance and reality, pride, honor, sexism, and the search for self-identity. Nora’s life as a married woman is overall symbolized by a doll. Henrik Ibsen’s characters Nora, Christine, and Torvald perfectly depict the marital and societal trends of the 19th century; while further explaining the choices some made leading to a more feminist and gender equal nation.
Simonds, W. E. "Henrik Ibsen." Dial 10.119 (Mar. 1890): 301-303. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Mar. 2011.
Ibsen uses the role of motherhood to display battles women must fight involving their desires to be independent individuals and the directio...
A man, intoxicated and impoverished, lay on the dirty streets of patriarchal Norway, and as the jeering citizens sauntered by, they could have never guessed that this man, Henrik Ibsen, would be the Prometheus of women’s rights and the creator of the modern play. Having been born in 1828, Ibsen lived through various examples of the subjection of women within the law, such as Great Britain allowing men to lock up and beat their wives “in moderation” (Bray 33). Therefore, Ibsen was known for his realistic style of writing within both poetry and plays, which usually dealt with everyday situations and people (31). Focusing on the rights of women, Ibsen’s trademark was “...looking at these problems without the distortions of romanticism” and often receiving harsh criticism for doing so (31). In an attempt to support his family, Ibsen became a pharmaceutical apprentice, but after three years he abandoned this profession and began writing poetry. After an apprenticeship in the theater, he began writing his own plays, including a drama in verse, Peer Gynt (31). While working and writing in Norway, Ibsen and several social critics observed “...the penalty society pays when only half of its members participate fully as citizens”, deciding to flee Norway in hopes of finding a more accepting social environment (33). Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House, his most famous work about women suffering through the oppressive patriarchal society, while living primarily in Germany and Italy where he “...was exposed to these social norms and tensions to a much greater extent than he would have been had he remained solely in Norway” (32). While Sweden, Norway, and Denmark began to grant legal majority to women, Ibsen understood the legal improvements f...
Before the 19th Amendment for women’s rights was passed in America, women had no right to be involved in their family’s financial situation. In the cultural context of Ibsen’s play it states in the 1800’s
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, and Writing. By Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 2011. 1709-757. Print.
Northam, John. 1965. "Ibsen's Search for the Hero." Ibsen. A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
One of the most influential writers of the 16th century, whom students continue to learn about in school is none other than William Shakespeare. Two of Shakespeare’s most famous works are Hamlet and Macbeth. Although they were written almost 20 years apart, there are many similarities and differences to compare between the two popular stories. A mindful examination is best achieved by comparing and contrasting characters themes, language, social issues, supernatural, movie adaptations, and endings of Hamlet and Macbeth.
During the late 1800s, gender inequality was one of the common issues that existed in the society. Men and women were often distinguished among themselves. Men were regularly portrayed as the one who had power and strength, whereas women were supposed to do all the household work and they were seen as weak and trivial. Henrick Ibsen shows a prefect illustration of this example in the play A Doll’s House. Ibsen develops a notion of how the existence of gender roles in society affected one’s lives. The protagonist Nora, whose identity is shaped after seeing her husband’s actions, which depicts his beliefs of gender inequality, demonstrates this idea.
A Doll House was one of Henrik Ibsen's most controversial plays. He wrote this realistic play in 1879. Ibsen's writing style of realism was clearly shown in this play. This play was controversial at the time it was written, shocking conservative readers. But, at the same time, the play served as a rallying point for supporters of a drama with different ideas.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. In Four Major Plays. Trans. James McFarlane and Jens Arup. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
Ibsen writes his play A Doll House to explain the life of a housewife and her struggles with her own actions. Ibsen examines the emptiness in the lives of Nora and Torvald as they lived a dream in a Doll House. Both awaken and realize this emptiness and so now Torvald struggles to make amends as he hopes to get Nora back possibly and then to restore a new happiness in their lives. Ibsen examines this conflict as a rock that breaks the image of this perfect life and reveals all the imperfections in the lives of those around.
In order to explore the theme of feminism in Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, the following must be considered: the roles men and women are expected to have, what feminism is, the different ways that feminism can be shown in the play, and finally how feminism effects marriage. The roles that men and women are expected to have is a major contributor to the different ways that feminism is shown in the play, as well as how feminism effects marriage. Therefore, there must be a clear understanding as to what these expectations are so that the effects of following or rejecting these roles can be seen. In addition, there has to be knowledge of how following or rejecting these roles influences feminism in this play. Another thing that must be understood in order for there to be a clear viewpoint on what is being analyzed in Ibsen's work is what feminism is.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." Ibsen : Four Major Plays - Volume 1. Trans. Rolf Fjelde. New York: Signet Classics, 1992. 43-114. Print.