Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll 's House

Torvald would never have thought she were capable of it, since during that era it was unrealistic of women to leave their houses but rather put up with the difficulties they faced. Ibsen highlights society's domineering outlooks of marriage and the interactions of two people naïvely pretending to be in love. Throughout the play Ibsen reveals the fragile attributes of his characters to help enhance the play-like nature of their relationship, the role of women, and Nora's course of self-discovery.

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

Ibsen’s character Nora in A Doll’s House, shows gradual development throughout the play to support his theme that above all else, you are human; even in marriage both parties should be given the equal opportunities, rights and respect. While Nora may at first seem happy with her life inside her “doll house”, she begins to recognize that she must find herself, and stop being a toy in the lives of men.

Henrik Ibsen shared this sense of change happening inside the society and proclaims it within the pages of the play “A Doll’s House (Lee 631).” The main protagonist of the play, Nora Helmer is afflicted with gender inequality. The play starts with Nora in a state very fundamental to what many would consider absolute joy. She is unaware of her current condition of oppression. Her state of ignorance can be credited to the way that she has been confronted with few upsetting and tragic obstacles. Without trials and hardships people once in a while will understand any need for change in their lives. Ibsen comprehends this idea and highlights it with many examples that happen in the play from the conflict with Krogstad and his posing threat of black-mailing to the rising awareness of Torvald’s disparaging relationship with Nora.

Ibsen details the parallels between Nora and Krogstad as they both committed their crimes for love. Thus, in the first conversation between Nora and Krogstad, Ibsen establishes Krogstad as the cunning antagonist and the extremity of Nora’s crime to build up the climax of the play whilst continuing to portray Nora as childish.

The character of Nora goes through the dramatic transformation of a kind and loving housewife, to a desperate and bewildered woman, whom will ultimately leave her husband and everything she has known. Ibsen uses both the characters of Torvald and Nora to represent the tones and beliefs of 19th century society. By doing this, Ibsen effectively creates a dramatic argument that continues to this day; that of feminism.

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” is a play that gives insight to the way of life in the Victorian era. What starts out as a story of a man and his lovely wife, begins to evolve into a story of Nora and her role as a woman in society at the time. The role of gender has always been a means for strife between man and woman. Despite the current times, there is still a wedge between expectations of a man or woman. During Victorian times, that wedge was much larger and the roles of Torvald and Nora were well defined by society. These gender roles within “A Doll’s House” became the driving force for the story and ultimately became renowned as a feminist play.

“A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view.”(Author Commentary 296) Henrik Ibsen’s A doll house reflect a general household of doll like characters with a wife , husband, three children and a nanny. Nora, wife and mother of three decides to leave her family in pursuit of self purpose and self identity after withstanding blackmail which opened her eye to how her husband and men in her society value and view women individuality. This quotation from Henrik Ibsen above reflects his awareness of the male dominance in just about every aspect of the laws and societal views during the nineteenth century. Ibsen addresses the idea of women being ridiculed and judged by men, from only a mans’ point of view by introducing his interpretation with issues of gender biases and male superiority in his works, A Doll House and Hedda Gabler. During the 1800s women gradually began to gain independence and contribute to the workforce and take on more responsibility. The oppression of the 19th century Norwegian society on woman forced them to sacrifice their true identity and desires ultimately pushing them to rebel against societal standards and imposed expectations in attempts to gain self-efficiency and purpose.

and it is revealed that he is the one she borrowed money from and the

"Human rights are women 's rights, and women 's rights are human rights," says Hilary Clinton. The message was clearly portrayed in the famous literary work of 1879 in, “A doll house” by Henrik Ibsen in artistic way. Henrik Ibsen brings up one of the aspects of gender role and society norms as it was during the nineteenth century. The ideology in the nineteenth century of Norway’s was that men are hypothesized to be a breadwinner, where women need to take care of their children and stay home. Ibsen presents Helmer’s house as a middle class family, where Nora and Torvald seems to be living a happy marriage life. Nora and Torvald have an abnormal relationship from the audience point of view of the present. As the play progresses Nora’s Identity shifts from being a “Doll” in a house to being a strong, fearless, powerful, and Independent women. Ibsen delivered an influential vision for self-empowerment in the role of Nora, and shows that weakness and strength are the function of being human not the function of gender.

The play A Doll House was written and published in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen and is set in 19the century Norway. Having discussed Norway’s perception of women, religious beliefs, political and economic development over the 1800s as well as the life of Ibsen himself and his play’s influence on feminism in Norway. Personally, I found that I lacked cultural knowledge of women in Norwegian society during this time while reading the play. I learned that women in Norway’s patriarchal society lived their lives according to the societal expectations at the time. They were expected to tend to their husbands or fathers needs but had to make sure to be independent on male figures. Both married and unmarried women had gender-specific roles and responsibilities whereby they had little rights to do otherwise until well into the 20th century. This led to the discussion of feminism in Norway. The subject of feminism was mentioned to have been increasing in popularity since the mid-1800s. Since Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was written for the cause of women, it had a huge influence on progression of feminism into the 20th century by raising awareness on contradicting Norway’s society norms. It was important to discuss the culture and context of the play since its plot and premise was based on a real-life event because Nora was based on a friend of Ibsen’s, Laura, whose husband sent her to an asylum following her fall into debt on his behalf. Political and economic development of the time was

The Norwegian playwright and dramatist, Henrik Ibsen, wrote several plays on social drama where he opposed the accepted traditions of the nineteenth century. Some of his most famous plays on society versus women were A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler, and Pillars of Society. Ibsen supported women and feminism, contrary to societal norms by creating strong women in the forms of Nora Helmer, Hedda Tesman, and Lona Hessel from his plays.

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.

In the late of 19th century, plays about the conflict between society and family life are especially enjoyed by many people. Of all the best-known, most frequently performed plays, “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen stands out for its unique theme: humanism. With “A Doll’s House”, Ibsen successfully demonstrates his humanistic worldview through the characters’ personalities.