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How Is Ibsen As A Pessimism In A Doll's House

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A Doll’s House, written in 1879, is Ibsen’s one of the most famous plays. It shows the contradictory conflict between man and wife (Torvald and Nora). It also describes the process of Nora’s self awakening from being dependent on her husband to a breakup of their relationship. Nora, the main character, is beautiful, enthusiastic and so in love with her husband (Torvald) in the beginning of the drama. She makes a counterfeit of her father’s signature in order to pay Torvald’s debt and is willing to sacrifice for him. However, Torvald is a selfish and hypocritical capitalist. When he finds Nora’s guilt which will be harmful of his status in the society, he describes her as “a criminal” and is going to deprive her of bringing up the children (Henrik, …show more content…

Ibsen was born into a Norwegian society dominated by a philistine opportunistic middle class that enhanced his hatred of capitalism (Peter, 2012). Ibsen should be regarded as a pessimist who was restricted by his social class and could therefore only revolt against it through his plays (Kittang, 2006). A Doll's House can be viewed as an indictment of marital relations in a male dominated society under a capital hierarchy (Wixson, 2009). Although there are only five characters in the play, every character has his /her influence, each giving an impetus to the plot and prominence to the theme. In addition, lbsen arranges the plot of the play around Christmas which shows the contrast between the joyous celebrations and an individual family tragedy. The play begins with Krogstad, who is about to be dismissed from the bank by Torvald, using a bond as a threat to Nora in order to help him keep his job and it opens up the contradiction between different characters (Nora & …show more content…

The definition of a happy marriage would be the success of a husband’s career and social status with familial financial authorities. A wife needed nothing but her beautiful appearance and obedience to her husband (Cheng, 2010). Torvald and Nora are representative of this structure. With Nora’s leaving at the end of the play, even though it shows the path for her freed from her husband’s control, it does not offer the solutions of what exactly Nora needs to do. However, the play indicates that women can stand on their feet only if they are financially independent. Marriage is not the only answer for women to have a better life. Nowadays, more than 70 percent of Norwegian females have jobs which require them to have better education and working skills (Kravdal, 1992). In A Doll’s House, the law seems to be men’s exclusive right because women need to get men’s permission to get a loan. This leads to Nora’s counterfeit of her father’s signature as an endorsement which results in her husband’s distrust and the failure of their marriage. Yet, the situation was changed soon after because of the enhancement of women’s social status and education which positively brought about the first Norwegian females’ suffrage in 1913 (Blom, 1980). Women can influence the governmental policies

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