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Gender and societal roles in "A Doll s House
A doll house literary elements
A doll house literary elements
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"In herself the woman is nothing. The woman can only justify her presence on the earth by dedicating herself to others; through deliberate self-effacement, duty and sacrifice she will discover the identity and raison d'être of which, by herself, she is deprived" (Basch 5). Surrounded by such popular belief, the women of the Victorian age had to surrender their valuable possessions simply to avoid the wrath of the male dominated society. The female characters in A Dollhouse, by Henrik Ibsen, project that a woman was merely a self-sacrificing entity of society. Nora, the main character, obsessively tries to please her father and her husband. In an attempt to be the perfect daughter and a perfect wife, she conforms to the established by the men and in turn loses her identity. Due to her initial faith in the superficial laws created by the men, Nora even tries to embed the Victorian ideals in her daughter, Emmy. As a Christmas gift, Emmy receives a doll and a dolly's bedstead. Instead of being allowed to explore her potentials, Emmy is confined to practice to become martyr of the Victorian society. Women during this period were deliberately made powerless by the lack of prospective. Mrs. Linde, Nora's friend, is a victim of such social misfortune. In the absence of her father, Mrs. Linde acquires the responsibility of her sick mother and her two brothers. She sacrifices her love, Krogstad, and marries a wealthy man in order to take care of her family. If society had permitted, she could have attained both love and family. Nora's nursemaid, Anne Marie, is also a victim of the society. She is forced to forgo her only daughter because an illegitimate child. Apart from being used by a wicked man, she is disabled from raising her ... ... middle of paper ... ...es set by the men of that era by ceding major cherished valuables of their lives. The concept of equality has always been unclear. Humans have revealed views about it fro many centuries. Ibsen himself had once revealed hi speculation of the concept - "there are two kinds of spiritual law [...] one in man and one in woman [...] but woman is judged in practical matters by man's law" (Rekdal). The men of the Victorian era had their own speculations and suggestions too. Fortunately for them, their views dominated the era. They themselves only understand little of this the difference mentioned by Ibsen, but actively engaged in promoting such misconception. They reason these misconceptions with fancy descriptions of a human's mind and soul, but not even once do they admit the possibility of being wrong. In reality, however, ignorance justifies all rules and actions.
The Victorian era was a period of time in England spanning from 1837 to 1901, named after Queen Victoria who reigned in this time period. Women were a suppressed gender in the Victorian era. Unmarried women that were 21 years old or older had the right to own their own property and earn their own money; however as soon as they got married they lost all of their rights. Their husband was now entitled to all wealth and property. Most people accepted the suppression however certain people started fighting for women’s rights. One of the protestors was Barbara Bodichon who wrote the pamphlet “Laws Concerning Women”, which is about the laws that women were obligated to follow.
When one reads Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House for the first time, at first glance they may focus on the themes of interpersonal relationships and a variety of deceitful acts. However, during the third act it becomes apparent the controversial impact that A Doll House is going to have around the world for years to come. When Nora slams the door on her marriage and therefore her children, there was outrage around the world. According to A Doll’s House by David M. Galens and Lynn M. Spampinato, the critics could not believe that a woman would “voluntarily choose to sacrifice her children in order to seek her own identity.” In fact, Galens and Spampinato point out that Ibsen had to write an alternate ending for the play by the management of its first German production when even the actress refused to portray a mother who would leave her children. Galens and Spampinato stated that the alternate ending portrayed Nora changing her mind upon seeing her children for the last time and that Ibsen considered this alternate ending “a barbaric outrage to be used only in emergencies.” According to Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing written by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, the cultural context in 1879 when the play was first published and performed prevented “women from voting, handling their own finances or borrowing money in their own name (1165).” Ibsen’s use of symbolism, irony and realism work together to demonstrate the struggles that women faced during the Nineteenth century.
The Victorian Era had lasted from the years 1837-1901. People in this era were known through their social class and how efficiently they were able to present themselves. Those who were obligated to carry themselves is such a proficient manner, were the women of Victorian Era. Although they had been expected to perform and execute many tasks, they were never recognized just as equal to the men in society. They were never acknowledged to make judgments or decisions, rather were best known for marriage, prostitution, and motherhood. As the men, dominated and took control of every decision possible. They were known for their aggressive and independent attitude. This led an extraordinary women named, Charlotte Brontë to begin a revolution of change and improvement in the social standings. As her living in the Victorian Era, set her upon a journey of many hardships but her well-known classics, Jane Eyre, depicted her strength and courage to step up for women equality and portray who she truly was in society.
In Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”, Nora Helmer portrays the Victorian English archetype of the “angel in the house”, otherwise known as the “doll” metaphor. In the Victorian age, the social construction of gender roles was much more traditional than contemporary gender roles; women had a clear role in society of which they could not escape. A major focus of social construction is to uncover the ways in which individuals and groups participate in the construction of their perceived social reality. As society is revolutionized, people individualize, freeing themselves from the constraints imposed by traditional societies. Nora Helmer represents an antecedaneous model of a feministic viewpoint in an oppressed position. Trapped in her role of the “doll”, Nora struggles to break free, her actions precipitated by her husband, Torvald’s, actions. Weintraub, in his ““Doll’s House” Metaphor Foreshadowed in Victorian Fiction” critical essay, depicts Shaw’s work and proposes the idea that the male protagonist has an immense impact on the female protagonist’s automorphism as “the doll” and the decisions she makes. In Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” Nora’s characterization and ultimate decision to leave can be seen as a struggle against the combination of Torvald and Society’s pressure to conform.
The Victorian era established strict guidelines and definitions for the ladies and gentleman. Noble birth typically defined one as a "lady" or a "gentleman," but for women in this time period, socioeconomic rank and titles held no prestige or special privileges in a male-dominated society. Commonly, women in this era generally tried to gain more influence and respect but to no avail as their male counterparts controlled the ideals and practices of society. Women were subject to these ideals and practices without any legal or social rights or privileges. In the literary titles by Frances Power Cobbe, Sarah Stickney Ellis, Charlotte Bronte, Anne Bronte, John Henry Cardinal Newman, Sir Henry Newbolt, and Caroline Norton, the positions, opinions, and lifestyles of men and women during the Victorian era were clearly defined. Men in the Victorian era were raised to be intellectually and physically sound in order to be skillful in the workplace and the military while women were typically restricted to fulfilling roles within the home. As the female desire for equal rights and representation under the law mounted, an international vigor for female equality would produce a call for equality.
“The Doll House”, by Henrik Ibsen has a major theme of feminism issues. Nora the wife of Torvald, has done an ultimate favor for her husband but is now is having to pay back for this favor. While the reader knows what the wife Nora has done, we see the way she is treated by her husband Torvald. Leaving a wonder of why she would even do a favor for this vile man.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and George Eliot’s Middlemarch are based on events from their personal experiences. The events that lead Ibsen to feel the need to write A Doll’s House makes his approach on the feminist stance a bit more unusual from other writers. Ibsen shows his realist style through modern views and tones that are acted out by the characters in this infamous story. In the viewers’ eyes, it is the women in A Doll’s House that makes it so popular, Nora and Christine give readers a real sense of Ibsen’s feminist stance. George Eliot makes her feminist stance in Middlemarch in much the same way as Ibsen. In Middlemarch, one of the main female characters, Dorothea, wants control of her life and chooses happiness over wealth. These female characters from these well-known works are represented in such a way to give readers a grasp of the social conditions involving women.
Women of the 19th century were trapped in their societal roles. There was no way out. Rights were unattainable: no matter how many rights movements occurred, such as the Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights. A women’s place in society was determined by their husband’s status; there was little to no way to obtain a job, a women could not even decide for herself whether or not she wanted to be married or have a child. The male role in the woman’s life took over all decisions and property. Women were seen as the property of men, like their dolls. This idea of a women being a doll was especially evident in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian dramatist, he became known as the father of modern realistic drama. He became popular because of the ridicule he received for “revealing a women’s need for independence from male authority” (feminist literature). While most characters in the play remained obedient to their societal roles, one woman took her life into her own hands. Mrs. Linde, after the death of her husband, learned to stand on her own two feet with no ones help. She got a job, a house and learned to stand on her own two feet. Even though Mrs. Linde played a minor role in the play, her life became a model for the feminist movements because she defied female stereotypes for her time period.
..." A Doll's House," by Henrik Ibsen portrays the genders role of nineteenth century women and men in society. Torvald's perception of his wife of how she is a helpless creature shows the overall role which women fill. Women are responsible for the purity of the world through their influence in the home and through the upbringing of their children. They had to beg and ask for permission to do certain activities and essential things.
In the case of `A Doll's House', the marriage of Nora and Torvald is clearly representative of the struggle between individualism and the expectations of society. At the beginning of the play Nora is almost completely immersed in the roles that are set out for her by society - that of a dutiful wife and mother. In her dialogue with Mrs Linde, Nora illustrates how a woman was valued according to how well she fulfilled those two roles. Her sympathy is evident ...
Ibsen points out flaws within society by writing this satirical and feminist play. A Doll House is largely about gender inequality, and written in order to open the eyes of the public to stop the imbalance in society. He uses Torvald, and, at one instance, Nora's father to represent the constraints, stresses, and belittlement men put on women. He parallels the trapped feeling most women had in society to Nora, who felt like a cornered dog and felt deceit was her only way out. Women should not have to "wear a mask," they should be free to express their true feelings and hopes without a man's undervaluing opinion. Ibsen felt this needed to be fixed in society; he felt there was no room for lies or deceit but rather that man and woman should live harmoniously together.
Nora engages in a mutually dependent game with Torvald in that she gains power in the relationship by being perceived as weak, yet paradoxically she has no real power or independence because she is a slave to the social construction of her gender. Her epiphany at the end at the play realises her and her marriage as a product of society, Nora comes to understand that she has been living with a constr...
In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, Ibsen conveys the idea of women equality. Women equality, where women would have the freedom that men had and would be able to enjoy and relish in a world where their true potential was not forcibly pushed inside of them. In 1879 most women were still confined to the home solely as of mothers and wives. Ibsen, being raised mostly by his mother, saw the truth of being a women from a man’s eyes and decided to show the rest of the world that same enlightenment. In this enlightenment Henrik Ibsen's use of the "well-made play" illuminates the developing strength of the protagonist Nora Helmer to help the social status of women in a male dominated world.
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.
“A Doll’s House” is unique in a way that it seems to explore aspects of feminism, such as the independent woman, although critics and Ibsen himself would have argued otherwise considering it to be more of a social commentary centred upon role playing in society. For this very reason, “A Doll’s House” can be seen as being relevant to twenty-first century society, since society will always attempt to group people together, whether categorised by gender, morality or wealth. The very fact that the themes presented were controversial during the Ibsen’s time, and are yet of concern in modern society, makes it one of the most influential plays ever written.