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Feminism in American Literature
Feminism in American Literature
Overview of feminism and its place in literature
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Kramer vs. Kramer shows the outcome, the aftermath of A Doll’s House. In A Doll’s House there is the hard-working husband and father, Torvald and the stay at home wife whose job is only to mother the children, Nora. There is same exact scenario in the movie Kramer vs. Kramer with Ted and Joanna. Both in the play and the movie Nora and Torvald, and Joanna and Ted are married for eight years before they split, and they have at least one child. Kramer vs. Kramer continues the story of A Doll’s House, but from a different point of view. In the play, the audience sees it from Nora’s perspective. Nora is Torvald’s little squirrel, his little, insignificant squirrel. Nora is worthless to Torvald and she only realizes in the end how foolish she is to think that he will …show more content…
Kramer as well as the theme and characters. Joanna and Nora leave their husbands to find their selves and because they think they are unfit to be a mother. Ted and Torvald are conceited and care more about their jobs more than their children or wives, but it is too late to change. It is only after their wives leave them they realize how silly it was to have acted the way they did. A Doll’s House leaves it only at that; Torvald is torn apart and it is too late, Nora leaves and goes out into the world to make something of herself. Kramer vs. Kramer continues the story line but from the husband’s point of view. Ted shows how it is not easy, especially in that time when men couldn’t have the same ambitions as women, and women couldn’t have the same ambitions as men. The movie goes to show that both men and women can work and can raise a child if they would like to because rolls are not assigned. Kramer vs. Kramer finishes A Doll’s House. It describes what it may be like for a man to deal with a position and what it may be like for a wife, with a little insight on how scared, angry, sad , or upset the child or children in the middle of all of this
In “A Dollhouse,” Nora is stuck in a marriage with a rich man who has no respect for her. Nora’s husband Torvald, does not think his
Nora Helmer was a delicate character and she relied on Torvald for her identity. This dependence that she had kept her from having her own personality. Yet when it is discovered that Nora only plays the part of the good typical housewife who stays at home to please her husband, it is then understandable that she is living not for herself but to please others. From early childhood Nora has always held the opinions of either her father or Torvald, hoping to please them. This mentality makes her act infantile, showing that she has no ambitions of her own. Because she had been pampered all of her life, first by her father and now by Torvald, Nora would only have to make a cute animal sound to get what she wanted from Torvald, “If your little squirrel were to ask you for something very, very, prettily” (Ibsen 34) she said.
In the year 1879, the infamous and controversial play, “A Doll’s House” was published to the world. The play is about the Helmers, a married couple who seem to have the perfect life of a happy marriage, loving children, and more money coming in from the husband Torvald. However, the audience learns that is not the case.
His appearance in the story proves to be the catalyst forcing Nora to examine how happy she is hiding secrets from her husband for fear that he would not love her if he finds out. Because both are the lone ones in A Doll’s House who see every case about morality situationally, they starkly see how those who do not conform to society’s conventions are greatly ostracized. Krogstad has even experienced this isolation when he is shunned from his work place despite being fairly competent at his tasks. This unfair treatment lingers in Nora’s mind as she struggles with her own worries. To aid her toward the direction of self-honesty, Krogstad and Christine decide that the truth of Nora’s actions must be revealed since they have just finished their talk about their feelings and pasts. Ultimately, Nora realizes that no matter her efforts, she is fake for constantly trying to be someone she is not without finding who she really is. She sees that Torvald treats her horribly like how he treats Krogstad because both committed a similar crime, and she decides that if Torvald acts the same way to her as to a coworker for the sake of appearances, she is like a stranger to him. The two must separate to reflect in order to live a life without deceit, even if it means breaking this perfect doll-house life Nora has meticulously crafted for the past eight
Nora and Torvald's relationship, on the outside appears to be a happy. Nora is treated like a child in this relationship, but as the play progresses she begins to realize how phony her marriage is. Torvald sees Nora's only role as being the subservient and loving wife. He refers to Nora as "my little squirrel" (p.1565), "my little lark" (p.1565), or "spendthrift"(1565). To him, she is only a possession. Torvald calls Nora by pet-names and speaks down to her because he thinks that she is not intelligent and that she can not think on her own.
Nora is a dynamic character. When the play begins Nora is viewed and presented as a playful and carefree person. She seems to be more intent on shopping for frivolous things. But, as time goes on it becomes apparent that Nora actually has a certain amount of seriousness in her decisions and actions in dealing with the debt she incurred to save Torvald’s life. Nora’s openness in her friendship with Dr. Rank changes after he professes his affections toward her. Her restraint in dealing with him shows that Nora is a mature and intelligent woman. Nora shows courage, not seen previously, by manipulating her way around Krogstad and his threats to reveal her secret. After feeling betrayed by Torvald, Nora reveals that she is leaving him. Having
A Doll 's house is one of the modern works that Henrik Ibsen wrote. He was called the father of modern drama .He was famous for writing plays that related to real life. A Doll 's House is a three-act play that discusses the marriage in the 19th century. It is a well-made play that used the first act as an exposition. The extract that will be analyzed in the following paragraphs is a dialogue between Nora and the nurse that takes care of her children. This extract shows how she was afraid not only of Krogstad blackmail, but also of Torvald 's point of view about those who committed any mistake. Torvald says that the mothers who tell lies should not bring up children as they are not honest . Nora is also lying to her family and to Torvald. So she is afraid because she thinks she maybe 'poisoning ' her own children. The analysis of this extract will be about of Nora 's character, the theme, and the language in A Doll 's House.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is a three-act play significant for its attitude toward marriage norms. In the drama, Ibsen explores idealism between the wife Nora and her husband Helmer. Nora’s and Helmer’s idealism forces the pair to see themselves and each other starring in various idealist scenarios of female sacrifice and heroic male rescue. As a play, the scenes are act out on stage. The staging of a house reveals the dramaturgical aspects and dynamics of the play. The presence of the house is significant to the depiction of women on stage. The action of the play traces Nora’s relationship to the house. Ibsen’s play focuses on the aspect of the expected idealism of the wife and husband, and how the domestic abode can hinder freedom.
“A Doll’s House” gives the reader a firsthand view at how gender roles affected the characters actions and interactions throughout the play. The play helps to portray the different struggles women faced during the 19th century with gender roles, and how the roles affected their relationships with men as well as society. It also helps to show the luxury of being a male during this time and how their higher status socially over women affected their relationships with women and others during this time period. Torvald Helmer starts off the story with a new job as a bank manager. He has a wife, Nora, who does not have a job in the workforce since that was the man's role.
...nding, "thousands of women have" (875). This statement allows for Nora to realize her many accomplishments and her worthiness of a larger award than what she has ever been given. Torvald stops referring to her using bird metaphors, he now sees her strengths that far exceed his own. Instead of her relying on him, he is dependent upon her to keep his beloved public image. Nora no longer relies on his claims of "wide wings to shelter you with," (871) she breaks free and uses her own recently discovered wings to escape Torvald’s sheltering. One throughout the play is almost hoping for the “greatest miracle,” but can see Nora’s struggle to break free of her caged prison. Nora has set herself free to fly just as birds were created to do, and the sound of a door slamming shut emphasizes her gained strength.
A Doll’s House illustrates two types of women. Christine is without a husband and independent at the start of the play whereas Nora is married to Torvald and dependent on him and his position at the bank. Both begin at different ends of the spectrum. In the course of the play their paths cross and by the end of the play each woman is where the other started. It appears that a woman has two choices in society; to be married and dependent on a man or unmarried and struggle in the world because she does not have a man.
The title “A Doll’s House” shows a symbolic meaning the word doll house signifies the plastic, that the doll’s house is just for beauty and money. We see our Nora is played as a doll, someone that is fake. "...But our home has never been anything but a playroom, I've been your doll-wife, just as I used to be Papa's doll-child. And the children have been my dolls. I used to think it was fun when you came in and played with me, just as they think it's fun when I go in and play games with them. That's all our marriage has been…. " ("A Dolls' House." Tiernanenglish. N.p., n.d). The courageous act that Nora has done, had showed other women that you do not need someone to tell you what to do. That women needs to stand up for themselves and take a
A Doll House was a play written well ahead of its time. This play was written in a time when it was considered an outrage for a woman such as Nora not only to display a mind of her own, but also to leave her husband in order to obtain her freedom. This play relates to the Art Nouveau and Edwardian period because just as the furniture and clothing were considered decorative pieces, so were women. Women were expected only to tend to the husband's and children's needs. Women were not supposed to do anything without first consulting the husband and certainly never do anything without his prior knowledge and approval. Women were expected to be at home and always looking presentable for their husbands.
Throughout the play, the relationships between all of it’s characters can either be seen as manipulative, deceitful, or just downright fake. Nora uses Torvald for money while keeping little secrets from him like eating macaroons behind his back, Torvald uses Nora for entrainment pleasure, and Christine uses Nora to gain a job at Torvald’s bank which causes Krogstad to lose his job. This leads to the main conflict of the story, it revolves around Nora’s forgery of the loan document she gave to Krogstad. This is a crime in a legal and moral sense; legal being that Nora had committed forgery, and moral being that she kept it secret from Torvald. Because Krogstad lost his job, he threatens to expose Nora’s secret. This conflict causes a chain reaction of manipulation as Nora attempts to do everything in her power to prevent Krogstad from exposing her. Knowing about Krogstad’s history with Christine, Nora uses her to persuade Krogstad out of his decision. The cycle of lies, deceit, and manipulation is symbolic to that of a dollhouse because even though everything in the Helmer household and the relationships of the characters seemed to be perfect at the beginning of the play, it is all
As the play goes on, Nora seems to transform from her delicate little character into something much more. At the end of act one, Krogstad goes to Nora for the recollection of the money she had borrowed from him. "You don?t mean that you will tell my husband that I owe you money?" (21). Since Nora was wrong in doing so socially, she could not tell Torvald or anyone else about her problem. Not only would that affect their social standard but also Torvald's ego, which inevitably would happen anyway. After Krogstad threatens to expose Nora for forging her father's signature, she realizes that no matter what she does Torvald was going to know the truth. The flaw with...