A Doll's House Gender

“Yes, so terribly frightened. Let me practice right now; there’s still time before dinner. Oh, sit down and play for me Torvald. Direct me. Teach me, the way you always have.” (Ibsen. 416) Nora does manipulate Helmer to get what she wants. She uses her power over her husband subtly, as women had to do in throughout time. Only recently have women been able to overtly vocalize what they want out of a relationship or marriage, or chose to marry for themselves.

It is often believed that for people to feel a sense of worth in their life, there has to be a standard of unhappiness and suffering for them to compare their life to. Many would argue that for the majority to feel privileged, there has to be an underprivileged, unspoken for, minority. The marginalization of certain groups has occurred all throughout history with people being left to feel inferior and being left without access to equal rights. If it was not bad enough that this happens to people, the environment has been marginalized as well. This is where social justice movements and environmental activism come into play.

In the play “A Doll House” the main character was a woman by the name of Nora Helmer. She was a young women who lived in Europe during the nineteenth century. She was married to a man by the name of Torvald Helmer who seemed to be a little controlling. At first Nora seem to appear as an

The audience learn that Helmer and Nora's relationship is not a relationship with equality between genders. Through the way Helmer speaks to Nora, the audience can infer that he thinks that Nora is a child and he keeps Nora dependent on him. Helmer also plays the role of Nora's second father. Nora seems to be a woman who is unaware of the true aspect of their relationship and is quite oblivious.

Nora thought she did the right thing by borrowing money when Helmer was sick and not telling him. She knows that it was illegal to forge her father’s signature but feels that this crime should not apply to her because she had the good intention of helping her husband get well. This can be seen as an example of the subordinate position of women in society. Nora was thinking of the well being of her husband, while not thinking about the rules of the business world which is where men had all of the power at the time and even today. This is evident when Krogstad, the man she borrowed money from, comes to meet with Nora with the forged loan to discuss what she has done.

A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen, portrays the complicated marriage of Nora and Torvald Helmer. In numerous ways Nora is treated like a child or “doll” by her husband, and in turn, Torvald takes care of her physically, emotionally, and financially. While Nora is stuck in a patriarchal society, until she had a change at the play’s end, she played along and never had an objection. Nora’s sudden realization to start a new life and leave her family not only proves she is irresponsible, but also she does not know what she will face in the real world, and she cares about herself more than her own children.

When we think about dolls, we think about being very playful and childish. Nora Helmer is just that, a playful, childish person. She is in her own little dream world. Since Nora does not get out much and does not have a job, she is very clueless about the outside world. She is married and she has three children. Nora is married to Torvald Helmer. At the start of the play, Christmas is just around the corner, and Torvald is promoted at the bank. Nora is excited when she finds out about Torvald’s promotion Nora is a very dependent character in the beginning of the play. Nora is seen as a pushover by everyone. Her husband uses her and expects her to do exactly what he says, but that does not always happen. In the play Nora changes a lot throughout.

In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, pointedly captures the reality of the Victorian Era within the play. Nora Helmer, the protagonist of the story, represents the typical women in society during that era. The audience’s first impression of Nora is a money obsessed, childish, obedient house wife to her husband, Torvald Helmer. However, as the play progresses one can see that Nora is far from being that typical ideal trophy wife, she is an impulsive liar who goes against society’s norm to be whom and what she wants. Her husband is illustrated as the stereotypical man during the 19th century, as he is the dominate breadwinner of the family, who too deserts his position as the play reaches its end. A key theme that is brought to light in A

The society in “A Doll’s House” strives to take away Nora’s identity. She is not seen as an equal and the nicknames “my little lark” or “my little squirrel” strips away her dignity. His nicknames seem more

As stated by Torbjorn Tornqvist in an article published in the Cambridge University Press, “No wonder [Nora] relishes her secret knowledge that she has performed an act of extreme altruism…Seemingly totally dependent on her husband, Nora knows that at least once in his life Helmer has been totally dependent on her,” (Tornqvist

She orchestrates a deal with Krogstad and rather than leaning on her husband for support, she slowly pays down the loan by copying documents while telling her husband that she is decorating the house and preparing for the holidays. When Nora finally tells Helmer about what has been going on she says, “You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as your else, I pretended to,”(75), demonstrating that she does not even know who she is without Torvald. Her taste is his taste, and everything that she has learned about her- self and the world has come from him. Without Helmer’s presence, she has no sense of self and she realizes that she needs to become independent from Helmer in order to figure out who she is. During this revelation, Nora also realizes that her goal throughout life is to please Torvald and serve him and that she revolves around his wishes.

During the final scene Nora explains how Helmer has treated her as his “doll-wife, just as at home I was papa’s doll-child” as her life was transposed from one male’s hands to another’s (83). While it may seem that Nora is blaming the male figures within her life she understands that just like hers their roles have been passed down generation from generation with no regard for the consequences one might endure for following such rigid guidelines. And the only way she believes to stop living a predetermined life is to completely remove herself from Helmer and their children because as Nora declares “you (Helmer) are not the man to educate me into being a proper wife” because he simply does not understand the very nature of their relationship has been predetermined and that does not allow for any free will from either party (83). Helmer most likely grew up with a family dynamic very similar to the one he employs and justly continues with it because it is the only thing he knows and it is what he believes to be expected of him, he is as much of victim of society’s roles as Nora

In A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen focuses on the importance of women's roles and freedom in society. Widely regarded as a feminist paean, the play features two major female characters; the most prominent of whom, Nora Helmer, shatters her position as a subservient, doll-like female when she walks out on her husband and children with a flagrant "door slam heard round the world." Nora’s evolution, though inspiring, should not overshadow another crucial woman in the play: Mrs. Kristine Linde. Both women attain freedom in a society dominated by the adherence to conservative marital roles, but do it in different ways. While Nora reaches her consciousness and slams the door on her shackling domicile, Mrs.

As the story of Nora Helmer, and her struggles against societal norms begins to unfold, the reader is able to conclude many personality traits about Nora and her husband Torvald. Through the inclusion of timeless issues, the author, Henrik Ibsen, effectively portrays a female protagonist battling a male dominated society. Although the historical setting in A Doll’s House depicts a patriarchal society much different from today, underlying issues such as the search for one’s identity continue to pose a problem in the modern and more accepting world today. Through intentional inclusion of patriarchy, gender norms, as well as historical aspects, Ibsen introduces Nora’s journey of self-discovery and its progression throughout the play.

This drama questions the authority of man over woman. While the Victorian woman did not usually question their husband's entitlement to household authority, they desired trust and intimacy which made them less ready to accept husbands who treated them as inferior being which is reflected in Nora’s reaction in the last scene. Women were less educated which made them vulnerable in the society this also made living alone for the women very difficult as they had no source of income. Even if the woman was educated they were allowed to do low paying jobs only. During the Victorian period men and women’s roles became sharply defined than at any time in history. Men and women had their different spheres which were not allowed to mingle with each other. They didn’t interfere in each other’s matters. As we see in the drama Helmer has his own study where he was undisrupted. Women didn’t had any say in the decisions pertaining to their social well-being. Everything was decided by the male and the female had to follow it. Too many rules and regulations were imposed on women. Women were expected to engage in fragile and simple