Inequality In A Doll House Essay

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Throughout Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll House", Henrik Ibsen conveys the idea of inequality of woman. By demonstrating this she use's Nora(the main character) and show's how over the course of the play, she breaks away from the complete domination of her overbearing husband, Torvald to become her own person. In today's society woman are still trying to fight for a right to be equal. The author uses Nora throughout the play to show the courage it took for a woman back then to learn about herself, and what it takes to find herself as a human.
The play starts off by introducing a married couple; Nora and Torvald Helmer. This couple appears to be quite happy with one another. On the outside they seem to have a perfect marriage however when you go deeper into their marriage, they do not, Torvald speaks to his wife in a rather demeaning way but Nora does not seem to mind this. She seems to be okay with the way he talks to her and treats her.
The first act starts off by telling us that Torvald has gotten a new job as the manager of a bank by where they live. When he accepts the job him and Nora are happy because they will not have to worry about their money problems anymore. This shows us that the couple is a middle class married couple who has problems with money, just like the rest of us. His wife Nora is very supportive of him getting this job so that their money problems will become better.
To show how the play is about inequality, Ibsen uses Nora Helmer as the main example of a woman who lives in a society where the male refers to the females as a mere doll or plaything. Nora is portrayed as helpless in the play, and somebody who just wastes the money that her husband works hard to earn for her and the family. Nora is the "...

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...ng out for myself and make my own decision" (Ibsen 1358). Torvald comments saying that "I shall not allow you to bring up the children; I dare not trust them to you" by saying this Torvald is stripping her most cherished feminine role; motherhood (Ibsen 1357). This is the final breaking point in the play and as well as in Nora's marriage. After this Nora figures out what she needs to do.
As Nora is walking out she shuts the door behind her and by doing this she wasn't just a woman leaving her family, she was a woman who was seeking for her own independence. She was now a woman who was searching for herself, she was now nobody's thing, object, or possession. She is no longer a "doll" to any man. From that point on she no longer wanted anything from Torvald. Nora is now shown as a woman going out on her own and finding herself, proving that she does not need a man.

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