A Doll House Analysis

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In the play, A Doll’s House portrays the fixation to keep up with appearances through the main characters’ actions and words. A Doll’s House creates a statement about the gender roles and social norms in the nineteenth century. Ibsen argues that individual tend to get sidetracked due to appearances, especially in an effort to please society. Individuals tend to focus on the opinions of others, therefore they believe that keeping up with appearance is important. Appearances can be used to masks or deflect various hardships and issues of reality. A Doll’s House depicts that not everything is how it appears. Appearance are not necessary, if fact they only hold people back from doing what is important and distorts reality.
For instance, Nora …show more content…

Women belonged at home and were expected to cook, clean, raise children, and keep her husband happy. Women had no freedom and were controlled by their husbands. Women needed to keep up with their appearances to get married off in order to fulfill her “womanly duties.” All women during this time period were taught to desire and work towards this goal. In addition, men have to live up to image of being a strong and a good provider. Men were taught at a very young age that emotion was only for women and not men. The ideal of being perfect and keeping up with appearances is prevalent in Ibsen’s, A Doll’s House. In the play, Torvald told Nora that he did not want her to ruin her “pretty little hands” meaning Torvald believed that it is not good for Nora to do any job that could potentially ruin her best quality, which is her appearance. This further illustrates that society wants women to have no purpose other than to look good. In the beginning of the play, Nora does what society says she should do and be. Nora wants to be appear to be the perfect wife and keep Tovald happy by listening to him and keeping up with her appearences. She wants to appear to have the perfect household and her children are necessary for the perfect family image. Yet, she does not raise her children, the maid does. She only greets and plays with her children. Nora was masking her duty as a mother. Ibsen, titled the

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