A Doll's House Essay

Female roles established by society essentially restrict a woman’s independence. A Doll House, a play published in December 4, 1879 by Henrik Ibsen, challenged Victorian values and expectations in Norway and provided a new, realistic perspective of humanity. In A Doll House, Ibsen depicts the realistic nature of family life, which the romantic Victorian values overshadows, in Norway during the late 1800s. Ibsen comments on the controlling power of males and the submissive roles of females in the Norwegian society; as a result, women often sacrifice their own independence. A Doll House pioneered realism in theater and, most importantly, in the Norwegian society; thus, the play’s controversial themes sparked ideas of humanism. Additionally, significant feminist standpoints about women’s independence

In Act one of the play, Ibsen characterizes Mrs. Linde as a woman who abandons her true love, Krogstad, to marry a richer man in order to save her mother and siblings. Ibsen criticizes Mrs. Linde’s self-sacrifice for her family, which directly affects her relationship with Krogstad. During Act One, Mrs. Linde tells Nora that “[her] mother was bedridden and helpless – and [she] had [her] two younger brothers to look after;” thus, “[she] did not think [she] could turn him down” (Ibsen 51). Mrs. Linde ultimately denies her own rights and freedom to a passionate and true love with Krogstad as she marries a businessperson for money. Mrs. Linde’s self-sacrifice represents the forced role a woman must assume in order to satisfy societal expectations. Additionally, Mrs. Linde’s self-sacrifice accentuates one of Ibsen’s criticisms of women’s roles in society, which assert that women trap themselves in marriage, especially in one that they did not desire. Furthermore, Ibsen criticizes the stereotype that women only live for others. During a conversation with Nora, Mrs. Linde asserts that since her mother “has passed on” and her younger brothers “are