Henrik Ibsen's Play, A Doll's House

939 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Roles of women nineteenth century

Women of the nineteenth century had no choice but to become dependent upon men. Husbands held all the authority over their wives and their property. Considering this dependency, women had to fight in order to obtain their own identity and to make their voices heard. This struggle for the individual rights of women can be found in one of Henrik Ibsen's play. Nora, a dynamic character in the play A Doll's House, undergoes three significant stages of character development. Nora transforms from a child-like character to recognizing herself as an individual and finally transforming into an emotionally strong woman who is able to live by her own discretion.
Firstly, the play presents Nora as a child-like character. In the beginning, Nora is treated like a child by her husband. When Torvald hears Nora enter the house, he asks, "Is that my little skylark twittering out there?" (Ibsen, 148) and "Scampering about like a little squirrel?" (Ibsen, 148). Nora seems to enjoy the attention from her husband and plays along with it by also calling herself "little Nora" (Ibsen, 150). The names signify how she has no power in their relationship. Nora exhibits childish qualities when she secretly eats from her "bag of macaroons" (Ibsen, 148) and wipes her mouth to ensure Torvald does not find out. When her condescending husband asks if she "nibbl[ed] a macaroon or two..." (Ibsen, 151), she denies it and like an innocent child replies, "I wouldn't do anything that you don't like." (Ibsen, 151).This reveals her need to please him and receive his approval, just as a small child looks for parental praise. Additionally, the way Torvald instructs Nora in her dance practice reminds one of how a parent would guide a child through an important event. Standi...

... middle of paper ...

...on of herself is shown when she decides, "I must stand on my own feet if I'm to get to know myself and the world outside." (Ibsen, 227). In the end, Nora becomes an individual who is able to free herself from her husband's domination.
In conclusion, Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House displays Nora going through a transformation from a childish and dependent character to a woman who recognizes her capability and becomes a strong-willed individual who makes her own decisions. Nora is a symbol of many women in the nineteenth century who wanted to escape from the authority of men. Many women in the world today face similar issues as they are forced to be rely upon men, whether it is their father, brother, husband or son. This is a problem because these women are treated unjustly by the men who run their lives when in fact they are capable of taking control for themselves.

Show More
Related

  • The Unrecognized Dimensions of Nora

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House, Ibsen tells a story of a wife and mother who not only has been wronged by society, but by her beloved father and husband because of her gender. Nora left her father’s house as a naïve daughter only to be passed to the hands of her husband forcing her to be naïve wife and mother, or so her husband thinks. When Nora’s husband, Torvald becomes deathly ill, she takes matters into her own hands and illegally is granted a loan that will give her the means to save her husband’s life. Her well guarded secret is later is used against her, to exort Torvald, who was clueless that his wife was or could be anything more than he made her. However, Nora has many unrecognized dimensions “Besides being lovable, Nora is selfish, frivolous, seductive, unprincipled, and deceitful” (Rosenberg and Templeton 894). Nora is a dynamic character because her father and her husband treat her as a child and do not allow her to have her own thoughts and opinions, as the play progresses she breaks free from the chains of her gender expectation to explore the world around her.

    Read More

  • Critical Lens Essay On A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, several literary lenses can be used to better help understand the storyline. The most prominent lens used throughout this play is gender. It plays a large role in the story A Doll’s House. Nora, the protagonist is faced with many challenges because of the normalities of 19th century society. She must overcome these difficulties throughout the play.

    Read More

  • Henrik Isben's A Doll's House

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    to discover and educate herself. She must strive to find her individuality. That the perception of woman is inaccurate is also supported by the role of Torvald. Woman is believed to be subordinate to the domineering husband. Instead of being the strong supporter and protector of his family, Nora's husband is a mean and cowardly man. Worried about his reputation he cares little about his wife's feelings and fails to notice many of her needs. The popular impression of man is discarded in favor of a more realistic view, thus illustrating society's distorted views. Ibsen, through this controversial play, has an impact upon society's view of the subordinate position of women. By describing this role of woman, discussing its effects, and predicting a change in contemporary views, he stressed the importance of woman's realization of this believed inferiority. Woman should no longer be seen as the shadow of man, but a person in herself, with her own triumphs and tragedies. The exploration of Nora reveals that she is dependant upon her husband and displays no independent standing. Her progression of understanding suggests woman's future ability to comprehend their plight. Her state of shocked awareness at the end of the play is representative of the awakening of society to the changing view of the role of woman. "A Doll's House" magnificently illustrates the need f...

    Read More

  • A Doll's House A Raisin in the Sun

    3074 Words  | 7 Pages

    Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, which was written during the Victorian era, introduced a woman as having her own purposes and goals, making the play unique and contemporary. Nora, the main character, is first depicted as a doll or a puppet because she relies on her husband, Torvald Helmer, for everything, from movements to thoughts, much like a puppet who is dependent on its puppet master for all of its actions. Nora’s duties, in general, are restricted to playing with the children, doing housework, and working on her needlepoint. A problem with her responsibilities is that her most important obligation is to please Helmer. Helmer thinks of Nora as being as small, fragile, helpless animal and as childlike, unable to make rational decisions by herself. This is a problem because she has to hide the fact that she has made a decision by herself, and it was an illegal one.

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes In A Doll's House

    1189 Words  | 3 Pages

    In A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen writes the character Nora, to reflect a child, the reason he does this is to comment on gender stereotypes of the time this work was written, to portray women as powerless, dependent, and naive. Her actions and overall position in the play is what places her in a position of the child in this work, however in some ways this is Nora’s coming-of-age story, and Henrik uses Nora to comment on women’s placement and capabilities in their modern society.

    Read More

  • a dolls house

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    Upon reading “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, many readers may find the character Nora to be a rather frivolous spending mother of three who is more concerned about putting up a front to make others think her life is perfect, rather than finding herself. At the beginning of the play, this may be true, but as the play unfolds, you see that Nora is not only trying to pay off a secret debt, but also a woman who is merely acting as her husbands “doll” fulfilling whatever he so asks of her. Nora is not only an independent woman who took a risk, but also a woman whose marriage was more along the lines of a father-child relationship.

    Read More

  • The Growth of Nora in A Doll's House

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play " A Doll's House", written by Henrik Ibsen, Nora, the main character of the play, decides to abandon her husband, her home and her children in order to find herself. She finally realizes she has to leave when confronted with a problem in her relationship with her husband, who keeps treating her like a doll, reflecting the childish treatment she always received from her father before. She finds the strength to leave with her childhood friend Kristine, who has led a hard life, and has the wisdom to guide and support her. Nora leaves the role of the doll child and doll wife she played her whole life, and becomes an independent self-thinking adult, when she realizes that the world is different than she always thought it was, and that she herself is not who she thinks she is.

    Read More

  • Evolution Within a People in A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Doll?s House presents a revolutionary change for Norway in the 1880?s. During this time period women were seen as second or even third class citizens, and though numerically this is not true, a minority . Ibsen presents his character Nora as a plaything, sorely manipulated by the men in her life. As the play pro...

    Read More

  • Examples Of Stage Directions In A Doll's House

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    She is portrayed as a childish woman that is treated like a doll by various figures in her life throughout the majority of the play. In Act Three however, it becomes apparent to the reader through Ibsen’s change in tone and the stage directions of Nora, that she has transformed and discarded her role as a doll. Reflecting upon her childhood and the overbearing treatment received from both her father and her husband, Nora decides to make a transformation and begin a life of independence and

    Read More

  • A Doll’s House

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate husband, Torvald. Nora parades the façade of being naïve and frivolous, deteriorating her character from being a seemingly ignorant child-wife to a desperate woman in order to preserve her illusion of the security of home and ironically her own sanity. A Doll’s House ‘s depiction of the entrapment of the average 19th century housewife and the societal pressures placed upon her displays a woman’s gradual descent into madness. Ibsen illustrates this descent through Torvald’s progressive infantilization of Nora and the pressure on Nora to adhere to societal norms. Nora is a woman pressured by 19th century societal standards and their oppressive nature result in the gradual degradation of her character that destroys all semblances of family and identity.Nora’s role in her family is initially portrayed as being background, often “laughing quietly and happily to herself” (Ibsen 148) because of her isolation in not only space, but also person. Ibsen’s character rarely ventures from the main set of the drawi...

    Read More

  • A Doll's House, by Henry Ibsen

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, a drama written in the midst of an 1879, middle-class, suburban Europe, he boldly depicts a female protagonist. In a culture with concern for fulfilling, or more so portraying a socially acceptable image, Nora faces the restraints of being a doll in her own house and a little helpless bird. She has been said to be the most complex character of drama, and rightfully so, the pressure of strict Victorian values is the spark that ignites the play's central conflicts. Controversy is soon to arise when any social-norm is challenged, which Nora will eventually do. She evolves throughout the play, from submissive housewife to liberated woman. It seems as though what took women in America almost a century to accomplish, Nora does in a three-day drama. Ibsen challenges the stereotypical roles of men and women in a societally-pleasing marriage. He leads his readers through the journey of a woman with emerging strength and self-respect. Nora plays the typical housewife, but reveals many more dimensions that a typical woman would never portray in such a setting.

    Read More

  • A Doll's House Sacrifice Analysis

    2126 Words  | 5 Pages

    Henrik Ibsen paints a sad picture of the sacrificial role of women throughout all social economical classes in his play “A Doll House”. The story is set in the late 19th century and all minor female characters had to overcome adversity to the expense of love, family and self-realization, in order to lead a comfortable life. While the main female protagonist Nora struggles with her increasingly troubled marriage, she soon realizes, she needs to change her life to be happy as the play climaxes. Her journey to self-discovery is achieved by the threat of her past crime and her oppressing husband, Torvald and the society he represents. The minor female characters exemplifying Nora’s ultimate sacrifice.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House

    2013 Words  | 5 Pages

    On the other hand, towards the end of the story, Nora exhibits the independence and

    Read More

  • Transformation of Nora in Henrik Isben's A Doll's House

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the time in which Henrik Isben's play, A Doll?s House, 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. Nora is portrayed as a doll throughout the play until she realizes the truth about the world she lives in, and cuts herself free.

    Read More

  • Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: A Realistic Drama

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    Societal problems prevail throughout the history of the world and exist within all countries, regions, and cultures. The controversial aspects in societies are based on a large variety of subjects, and have to be identified in order to cause societal change. Therefore, Realism is the portrayal of difficulties in societies that are depicted in everyday life, which includes common situations and actions. Realism allows authors to describe and emphasize the incompetence of some aspects within communities, while enabling writers to call for societal reform. Henrik Ibsen portrays and addresses the concepts of Norway’s society in the 19th century in A Doll House, which is a tragic play translated by Rolf Fjelde. Ibsen desires to challenge assumptions as well as rules of Norwegian life, and most importantly wants to depict society accurately, as he meticulously incorporates everyday life. Therefore, A Doll House represents a Realistic drama due to the issues involving women, illnesses, and laws within the play, while conveying Ibsen’s desire of controversy and change in Norway’s society.

    Read More

More about Henrik Ibsen's Play, A Doll's House

Open Document