Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll House

Societal appearance and acceptance is an utmost characteristic an average individual tends to underestimate. It may seem as if individual morals go against the social appearance, but in value, individuals perceive a need for an appearance to convey a sense of belonging. Within two diverse yet similarly realist drama's, A Doll’s House and Death of a Salesman societal appearance’s stands above all else. Henrick Ibsen's A Doll's House embarks on the gender fitting and domesticity of the Victorian Era at its worse as Nora Helmer's unrealistic marriage falls within her grasps, leading to rebellion. Arthur Miller, on the other hand, sets forth the "tragedy of the common man" through the tragic hero of Willy Loman and the “American Dream” in

The play A Doll’s House (Henrik Ibsen) is centered around the lives of the antagonist, Torvald Helmer and his wife Nora Helmer. Torvald is deemed as the antagonist based on the belief that he is a power hungry misogynist whilst his wife naturally becomes the protagonist, as her husband does not treat her as an equal. The entire play itself is submerged in the issue of individual versus society. Women and men during the Victorian Era were known to have two separate callings known as separate spheres. The idea of separate spheres is based on the ‘natural’ characteristics of men and women. It is said that women are weaker and more moral thus they are more suited for the domestic sphere whilst men were to be the breadwinner and labour all day.” Ibsen uses interpellation in his play to allow for an even deeper insight and understanding of Torvald Helmer’s life. Interpellation is an ideology/philosophical ideal that has two forms: Repressive State Apparatuses and Ideological State Apparatuses. Repressive State Apparatus deals with persons being subject to ideologies or certain principles solely because it is seemingly the norm whilst

Imagine living in a world where one is looked down on just for being a specific gender. Where people do not care what opinion one has about anything because they already assume there is no possibility of any thought in mind. It does not seem like an ideal way to live, but that is how women felt in Norway, as well as around the world, in the late 1870’s. Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play, “A Doll House,” demonstrates how women wore a façade in society when dealing with men, through the main character Nora. In the play “A Doll House”, the reader can have an idea on how some men in the late 1870s in Norway act towards women. After the people of Norway read and viewed the play, there was a lot of controversy over “A Doll House”, because of the main character Nora decisions. Ibsen himself stated that “for him the issue was more complex than just women 's rights and that he hoped to illuminate the problem of human rights” (Literature Resource Center).

In the nineteenth century, women were supposed to be housewives and mothers, and do whatever their husbands wanted. Men on the other hand were expected to live a public life, whether it was working in a factory or socializing. Women had no rights to say anything without their husband’s permission, at least which was the perception of society. The women duties were cleaning, cooking and taking care of the children, on their free times they have to sew clothes and doing laundry, so there is no social life for women. In the middle of the nineteenth century women when Henrik Ibsen 1 wrote one of his play, A Doll’s House: According to Shideler, Ross. A Doll’s House was published on “December 4, 1879

Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll House” was set in the Victorian era, a time where women were highly respected. Women in this time period did not work, they had nannies to take care of their children and maids to take care of their homes. Many women had no real responsibilities, they spent their time having tea parties and socializing with their friends. Henrik Ibsen dared to show the realism of the Victorian era while everyone else would only focus on the romantic aspect. In the play, “A Doll House” Henrik Ibsen challenges the traditional lifestyle of women in the Victorian Era by exposing the main character, Nora Helmer’s bravery, independence, and strong will.

A good book is a book that touches a reader’s heart by either being relatable or with great character development. Cheris Karmarae, a woman’s rights activist, stated, “Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” This statement is relevant to A Doll’s House and is relatable to the female audience. Not only does A Doll’s House incorporate relevant matters, it includes great character development in the protagonist, Nora. Her display of bravery moved many readers. Unlike A Doll’s House, Frankenstein, which is quite fictitious, may appear to not be relatable. From the summer readings assigned for Sophomore World Literature, A Doll’s House, a play written by Henrik Ibsen captures the reader’s heart while the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley was unappealing and uninteresting. Ibsen sets his play, A Doll’s House, in an era that captures the female audience as he shows the hardships of women that are relatable and brilliantly uses those obstacles for character development while Frankenstein loses interest as it is lengthy due to its tone and revels on details that are not relevant to the plot.

Attitude of Torvald and behavior of Nora leading to the downfall in the play A Dolls house by Henrik Ibsen

Set in late 19th century Norway, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House parallels the societal standards of the time, a patriarchal society. This resulting framework reinforces a strict social stratum that seeks to marginalize women and develop the rapport of superior to inferior. The drama presents an archetypical housewife named Nora Helmer who grows dissatisfied and disillusioned with her patronizing husband, Torvald. Content with the status quo of the time, Torvald embraces the schema of the “man’s role” in a marriage - interacting with Nora as her father would; his accomplishment of such an ideal is qualified through the quantifiable. Through indirect characterization, the theme of appearance v. reality, and a motif of beauty, Ibsen portrays

A Doll’s House takes place in the home of Torvald and Nora Helmer. Through conversation with Nora’s good friend Kristine Linde it is revealed that Mr. Helmer was ill around the same time Nora’s father died. Luckily Nora’s father left her enough money that Torvald and Nora could go on a life saving trip to Italy. But the truth comes out when we find out Nora’s father did not leave her a penny. We find out that Nora got a hold of the money through a loan but she signed her father 's name as the cosigner. It is important to Nora that this scandal does not become public as to not hurt her husband 's masculine ego. Unfortunately because her husband has become promoted, and her dear friend Kristine needs a job, a man named Mr.Krogstad will be fired. Mr Krogstad knows about the scandal and threatens to release the news of the forged signature. He will only release the news if Nora can convince Mr. Helmer to let Mr. Krogstad to keep his job.

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is based in the Victorian society of the 19th century. It assesses the many struggles and hardships that women faced because of marriage “laws” that were crucial during that time period. The society was male- dominated with no equality. Nora is the protagonist in A Doll’s House and the wife of a man named Torvald. This play is about Nora’s voyage to recognizing her self- determination and independence. She transforms from a traditional, reserved woman to a new, independent woman. Nora’s relationship with Mrs. Linde, Nils Krogstad, and her husband, Torvald, help her personality grow throughout the play, A Doll’s House.

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was ahead of its times in more ways than one. It was one of the first works of drama to undertake the social issues surrounding gender. Ibsen portrays, through his character Nora, that women continue to gain power in male-controlled societies. When the play was first introduced to the public it was shocking, simply due to Ibsen painting his characters as they would be in real life (or what Ibsen saw in his own life). In pre-modern Norway authors began “testing the norm” by writing about situations that, for their time, would have been unthinkable. These situations were based on questions similar to the thought that one day men would no longer be a dominating gender throughout society, and that women one day would perform similar tasks as men. These ideals were thought of as frightening, imaginary, and even comedic for their time.

In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, the roles of masculinity and femininity as apparent in Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer appear, though in a way one would not expect-- Nora being masculine and Torvald being feminine. Throughout the play, Nora is portrayed as defying societal standards of the Victorian Era, the time period which lasted from 1837-1941, by doing things that were not accepted by many people at the time, especially when she abandons Torvald at the end of the piece (BBC). From this, more masculine traits are presented in her characterization. In contrast, Torvald presents more feminine traits, especially proven by the aforementioned final scene, as he then realized how much he had relied on Nora for self-confirmation and his happiness. This is, additionally, present in Torvald’s use of pet names for Nora and treating her like a child, as a mother would to her child. In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, the roles that Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer are expected to appear as on the surface to fit into in a Victorian Society are challenged by Nora being more masculine, presenting traits like rebellion and independence and Torvald being more feminine such as being dependent on Nora and motherly.

In this play A Doll House, Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen exposes the social structure and the gender role of late nineteenth century. In this literary work, Ibsen attempts to inspire women to bring individualism and freedom to their lives from suppression. The play focuses on Nora Helmer, who struggles to live an independent life as a woman in a male dominant society. Nora sacrifices for her husband Torvald by secretly borrowing money to save his life. However, for Torvald, Nora was merely a “doll” which must follow his orders and fulfil his desires. This oppression on woman appears to end when Nora left Torvald on realizing deprivation of her identity. Thus, Ibsen in A Doll House portrayed the realism of gender roles and boldly reflected the message of women empowerment and resistance of gender inequality by contradicting the moral values.

In order to effectively portray a realm in which the protagonist is entrapped, Henrick Ibsen must use apparatus to contextualize the social and economical themes that prove instrumental in disabling a womans strength, demoting her to the rank of a mere child or fliting object. The view of a womans role in society has definately developed since that of the industrial revolution therefore allowing a broad analysis of why Nora came to the decision of leaving her husband and children and how Henrik Ibsen was able to effectively portay this. However conclusions cannot be made based on simple surface deductions. as artists and readers we are intrigued with dynamic, deeper meaning and decisions. This essay discusses the ways in which Ibsen employs instruments such as set, symbolism, imagery and stage directions to dramatically express the protagonists entrapment in A Doll 's House.

In the play A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, the convention of marriage is examined and questioned for its lack of honesty. The play is set in the late 1800s, which provides the backdrop for the debate about roles of people in society. Ibsen uses the minor character, Dr. Rank, to help develop the theme of conflicts within society. This, in turn, creates connections with the plot. Dr. Rank 's function in the play is to foreshadow, symbolize, and reflect upon the truth of life and society and to break down the barrier between appearance and reality.