Humans are the only species who have to pay to live on planet Earth; no other species has to worry about a paying off house mortgage or paying water bills. Even the New Testament in the Bible states that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer’s excessive love of money is a quintessential example of one of many social issues that was present in the mid-nineteenth century and is still present in today’s modern society. In addition, the actions of Torvald Helmer, Nora’s husband, toward his wife represent the attitude that men possessed towards women in the male-dominated society of the mid-nineteenth century. To Torvald, Nora is a mere possession of his that he uses for his entertainment. Thus, referring to Nora as Torvald’s “wife” is almost inaccurate, for she is not someone, as Torvald says, with whom he can have serious conversations with nor does she have any legitimate responsibilities. Thus, Ibsen uses A Doll’s House to inform and remind people of the numerous social issues that are still present in society.
It is often said that money can buy happiness, for with a great amount of money comes the reassurance that one does not have to worry about debt and can buy whatever he/she desires; however, just because one has a lot of money doesn’t mean that one should wildly flaunt it and obliviously spend it. Unfortunately, Nora does exactly that. When Nora asks Torvald for money for Christmas, Torvald responds by asking “What do they call the birds that are always making the money fly?” To which Nora responds, “Yes, I know—spendthrifts, of course” (144). Furthermore, when Mrs. Linden comes to visits Nora for the first time in nine years, Mrs. Linden says to Nora, “No...
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... for his reputation and shuns Nora, further demonstrating the true nature of his marriage with Nora.
Ibsen reveals numerous social issues expressed in A Doll’s House that are seen not only in the time that the play was written, but also in today’s modern society. The issues excessive love of money and being a spendthrift are still greatly seen in affluent nations such as the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Nor does it seem likely that an effective solution to these issues will be, or can be, ever discovered. Furthermore, while the social issue of male dominance isn’t as prevalent in affluent, developed nations, it is still a big issue in poorer, developing nations. Therefore, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House can still be used today as a perfect reminder of the numerous social issues that are prevalent in modern society and the difficulty in solving said issues.
Upon the first glance of Torvald and Nora’s relationship, Nora is returning from a day of Christmas shopping. She is acknowledged by her husband’s greetings of belittling pet names that he uses in an inconspicuous thus unnoticed form of verbal oppression and a verbal stake to claim her as his property “But if Helmer considers Nora his property, as he apparently does, Nora encourages him to do so. To him, she calls herself his little squirrel and his lark” (Dukore 121). These actions are not Nora’s fault, it appears Nora does not fight his degrading pet names because she knows no difference and also it benefits her in the ability to manipulate Torvald w...
Throughout A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen illustrates through an intriguing story how a once infantile-like woman gains independence and a life of her own. Ibsen creates a naturalistic drama that demonstrates how on the outside Nora and Torvald seam to have it all, but in reality their life together is empty. Instead of meaningful discussions, Torvald uses degrading pet names and meaningless talk to relate to Nora. Continuing to treat Nora like a pampered yet unimportant pet, Torvald thoroughly demonstrates how men of his era treat women as insignificant items to be possessed and shown off. While the Helmer household may have the appearance of being sociably acceptable, the marriage of Torvald and Nora was falling apart because of the lack of identity, love, and communication.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, written in 1879, is set in late-19th century Norway. Upon publication, Ibsen’s biting commentary on 19th century marriage stereotypes created widespread uproar. In the play’s first act, the viewer is introduced to a young married couple by the names of Nora and Torvald. In tune with stereotypes of the time, the relationship is controlled almost dictatorially by the husband. Nora is often treated by Torvald the way one might expect a father to treat his daughter. For instance, Torvald incessantly refers to Nora by child-like nicknames such as “my little squirrel” and “skylark” and often speaks to her in a condescending manner. Nora, who acts as a symbol of all women of that time, initially fits in very well with the common perception of women in late-19th century Scandinavia. Torvald himself even extends this sentiment of male infallibility and female submissiveness to the whole female race, saying, “Almost everyone who has gone to the bad early in life has had a deceitful mother (Ibsen 27).” However, throughout the play Nora begins to break the mold of inferiority that was associ...
children, her husband and what life she had behind, as she slams the door to the family home. A significant transition of power has occurred and this is one of the major themes that Ibsen raises in his dramatic text ‘A Doll’s House.’ However, in examining the underlying. issue of power presented by the text, one cannot simply look at the plight of Nora’s character, three major aspects of this theme need. also to be considered for.
Quote from Torvald and the money. It immediately distinguishes the differences in gender roles and morals in Norway during the late 1800’s. While Nora is willing to give the porter twice what is owed, we assume she is full of holiday spirit; Torvald has a much more sensible outlook on financial concerns. While he jokingly calls her his little spendthrift, he asserts that her lack of understanding is a result of her gender “Nora, my Nora, that is just like a woman” (Ibsen). Torvald believes that her place in the home is simply ornamental, a trophy that serves as decoration for his home.
Ibsen reveals many things about the bourgeoisie roles of men and women of society through the play A Doll’s House. These ideals are crucial to ones overall social status. The reader can see the characters and their roles in a figurative and literal dollhouse from the title to the end of the story. The main character Nora is the focus of performing these gender roles as she takes on the role of a doll and eventually seeks self-realization and a striving purpose. She leaves behind her family to fulfill an independent journey. Ibsen helps to point out the flaws of society’s stereotypical gender roles and gives new possibilities to men and women.
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...
“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.
Linde brings great happiness to Nora’s life. Nora is able to trust and talk about anything to Mrs. Linde (even secrets such as borrowing money behind your husband’s back). When Nora and Mrs. Linde engage in conversation with each other it is as if Mrs. Linde is the voice of reason for Nora. In one scene, Nora tells Mrs. Linde , “ You’re like everybody else. You all think I’m incapable of doing anything serious…” Again, I feel sorry for her, but at this moment I assumed that maybe Nora is not as naive as I thought. She is able to recognize that people see her as a childish person. In another part of this scene she mentions to Mrs. Linde, ”Torvald has his pride. He’d feel humiliated-hurt even- if he thought he was indebted to me in anyway." Nora is afraid of how humiliated her husband would be if he found out his wife did something that overpowered him. Since Mrs. Linde she believes that it is absurd that Nora would do such thing to her husband. Mrs. Linde recognizes that women do not have the same rights as men, therefore realizing what Nora did for her husband seem to raise a red
Nora was extremely ecstatic when she brought up her loan of four thousand, eight hundred kroner. She even describes the loan as something she is “proud and happy about” (1.316). Not only was Torvald’s wish of having no debt defied by Nora’s own action, but she has a sense of pride and believes that her actions were justified without any input from Torvald. Nora taking out the loan was her first step in approaching maturity and independence, and it instilled in Nora’s mind a need for an identity different from Torvald’s.
Henrik Ibsen was born in 1828 to a wealthy family, however, when he was just eight years old his family went bankrupt, and they lost their status in society. Ibsen knew how the issue of money could destroy a person’s reputation in no time at all. Perhaps that is how he makes the characters in his play, A Doll's House , so believable. Nora and Mrs. Linde, the two main female characters in the play, have had the issues of money and forgery ruin their lives. Nora forged her dead father’s signature to get a loan. The play revolves around her struggle with her fear of being found out. Both women’s values change as the story moves along. At first, it appears that Nora values money and the status that it brings. Mrs. Linde values her own happiness, and eventually Nora realizes that the only way she will be able to live with what she has done is to do the same.
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.
Patriarchy's socialization of women into servicing creatures is the major accusation in Nora's painful account to Torvald of how first her father, and then he, used her for their amusement. . . how she had no right to think for herself, only the duty to accept their opinions. Excluded from meaning anything, Nora has never been subject, only object. (Templeton 142).
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.
Although Ibsen portrays A Doll House as a Realistic play due to the societal problems, which include women, illnesses, and laws; he attempts to address society and cause change within the Norwegian society without openly talking about these issues. The actions of characters, such as Nora, represent the fact that an individual can make progress in societal reform. Therefore, Ibsen’s identification and attempt to change society symbolizes a Realistic desire of finding solutions to problems. The ultimate goal of Realism is to better everyday life for the majority of people, while trying to deepen the understanding of society’s problems.