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A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen History has proven that the holy sanctity of marriage has faltered. Women no longer feel obligated to remain in a union that does not suite her needs or hold her best interest. In the late nineteenth century, it was considered scandalous for a woman to walk out on her family obligations. Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House, " written in 1879, is a direct attack on the values of family and marriage regarded as sacred to many during that time.
Through Nora in A Dolls Hous, In shows how women at th tim had to appear comically didnt, in or to appa's th fail mal go, though many shortly harbour a did for financial indpndnc. Although sh send much of th air portion of th play acting as a plant, charming child, printing to b a didnt featherbrain in or to plas Torvalds, th reality is quit different. Sh yarns to arn hr own kp, to work lik a man, taking up copying work that sh hid's from hr husband, driving a guilty player from during som of th social xpc tations of fall, which dictate that th husband is th most of th household, as wll as th sol breadwinner. Torvalds aversion to his wife working is marked, thinking that Nora working, tiring [her] pretty eyes or her sweet little fingers through work would imply that he could not support her on his own income. He also objects to what he considers unrefined activities such as dressmaking. Clearly, Torvalds cant stand to have his own power overshadowed by a woman, considered by him to be before all else a wife and a mother, and thus lesser in status than himself.
Ibsen here shows mens insecurity over their position in society. Through Torvalds shallow ideals of women working and unappeasable pride, which are repellent to the audience, he criticises the social ideal of the economically dominant male of that era. Fully aware of Torvalds hurt and humiliation if he were ever to find out, Nora hides her capability from Torvalds, but announcing proudly to Mrs. Linde that it was I who raised the money for the holiday that saved Torvalds life. The tough life led by women who had to learn to support themselves, to struggle along without a husband to take care of them is shown through the comparison between Nora and Mrs. Linde.
Nora's pampered lifestyle is at great odds with Mrs. Linde's difficult working life, described by Mrs. Linde as feeling like she was shipwrecked and clinging to a spar. Working has clearly taken its toll, giving Mrs. Linde an embittered air that can be seen through the way she deprecatingly speaks of the luxuries in Nora's everyday existence, remarking that it must be pleasant have everything you need. Through these two vastly different female characters, Ibsen juxtaposes the idealistic and at times naive view of independence that Nora holds (in Mrs.
Linde's words as knowing so little about the troubles and hardships of life) with the harsh reality, that workingwomen lead hard lives. He also highlights, through Mrs. Linde's plight, how 19 th Century society made life difficult for those who dared to be individual. Women also covet independence in a physical sense. Torvalds pet names for Nora, such as little songbird, show the generally accepted notion of women as being caged creatures.
Through the setting of A Dolls House, a single room in which all events take place, Ibsen may be showing the reader here that, as society expected women to remain in the house, as dolls to be played with by men, they are often kept in a locked box, this suffocating atmosphere causing women to feel isolated from outside society, and become desirous of freedom. The final stage direction in A Dolls House is that of a door slamming, symbolic of Nora's newfound independence and her simultaneous exit from her sheltered existence and entrance into the outside world as an individual. Female characters in 19 th Century texts also need intellectual freedom. Women of that time, often reduced to being domestic caretakers who looked after their children and the day-to-day running of the household or china-doll trophy wives, felt confined in their regulated environment, without stimuli in their environment.
From birth, they are often taught to copy the opinions of the men around them, rather than formulate their own original thoughts and ideas. Nora is an example of this sort of indoctrination, having been taught to have the same opinion of her father, a sort of training for marriage, when she could have the same tastes as Torvalds. Through Nora's accusation of Torvalds for having committed a grievous sin against herself, saying that its Torvalds fault shes made nothing of her life, Ibsen shows how womens intelligence and capabilities were ignored, even suppressed so that when she was married, she could be a suitable doll-wife, according to society's demands. I have been performing tricks for you, Torvalds, says Nora in the final scene of A Dolls House.
Through Nora's epiphany and intellectual liberation, Ibsen represents the long-ignored views of a woman, showing their deep dissatisfaction with the social ideal. Female characters in 19 th Century texts also need sexual independence. That is, for their sexual freedoms to be equal to those of men. In stark contrast to men of the time, such as Onegin from Eugene Onegin, who were permitted to be discreetly promiscuous, even to the extent that they could brag about their various conquests, and be lauded for being a professional flirt. Women, however, were expected to remain chaste before marriage, and faithful to their husband after, further perpetrating the conception of women as innocent maidens, pure and untainted.
To flout this unwritten expectation with a display of female sexuality, as Nora does in flirting with Dr. Rank, is dangerous. Women who do so run the risk of unwittingly giving out a sexual invitation, as well as risking the ire of their husband. Ibsen may be showing here that it is possible for women to strike a balance between independence and security, to be neither alone and isolated, nor dominated, showing his approval of this melding through the happiness of both Mrs. Linde and Krogstad in this solution. In the 19 th Century, appearance and fortune were the most important prerequisites in females.
This shallow and superficial system meant that women were often trapped in roles as either dutiful housewife, or doll-wife, without their need for independence being taken into account. The unhappiness of those who chose to marry for the sake of cementing their fiscal futures was marked, while those women who chose independence seemed to be relegated to a strenuous working life. Here, the writers of 19 th Century texts show that women were often condemned to discontented lives, suggesting that the only way to attain true happiness is to blend the need for independence and the need for security. Nora is a Victorian wife who finds herself in dilemma; she can no longer live in her home, with a husband she does not love.
She decides to leave, and slam the door on all the responsibilities society has forced her to accept. She comes to accept that she comes before everything and everyone else. This is a truly contemporary idea. A woman in the Victorian Era is to put her family first, and herself last.
This concept is believed to true up until the 1920 s; in the 1920 s the Womans Rights Movement changed that. It made women realize that if they were not happy, then how could she possibly bring happiness into her home. The woman of modern time has accepted this, and it is not as unusual for a woman to leave her home if she is unhappy; whereas then she would have been condemned. Bibliography: Ibsen, Henrik. A Dolls House.
London: Penguin Classics, 1976 Magill, Frank N. , editor. Masterpieces of World Literature, Harper & Row, 1989, pp. 203 - 206. Meyer, Michael, editor. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, 4 th Edition, St. Martin's Press, 1996, pp. 1128 - 1136.
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Research essay sample on A Dolls House By Henrik Ibsen
