Martha Ibsen Research Paper

Many of Ibsen's plays contain criticism regarding marriage, which portrays a dominant and complex female character that are generally trapped in unhappy and unsatisfied marriages due to the Victorian era traditions (Richard Chang and Richkie Chiu). Hedda Gabler (1890) is one of his well known plays, that contains a family's character with that role. Hedda plays the role of the primary female character, she struggles to find her spot in her new life, and adjusting to her dominant side, due to that she will never become

Mary Kehily (2008) acclaimed article, ‘Taking Centre Stage; Girlhood and the Contradictions of Femininity across Three Generations’ explores the manner in which societies conceptualization of femininity is largely contextually dependent. Through the tri-generational study of three women in the same family, Kehily (2008) provided readers with commentary on the three waves of feminism that consequently shape each generations sense of girlhood respectively. The narrative follows the shift from women as a subordinate gender in the 1960’s and 70’s, to femininity later reconfiguring itself through the second wave of feminism that led to the ‘new femininities’ accessible to young women today. The malleable and evolving nature of femininity has resulted in various contradictions within the discourse of feminism. With a naturalization of some of the older norms of femininity, elements of continuity and change have resulted in a broad understanding of the feminine subjectivity. Thus in order to understand the present, it is essential to examine the past and the way femininity has shifted, reshaped and repeated over time.

Women have historically had a rocky relationship with governmental, cultural, religious, and social rights. The Women’s Rights movement has been in effect since approximately 1792, with the publication of the first feminist work, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by British writer Mary Wollstonecraft” (“Women’s Rights Movement”). While social changes have occurred and more progressive laws have been put into place throughout the years, there is still not equality between the sexes. Additionally, gender roles in different countries differ greatly. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the major causes and concerns of the Women’s Rights movements throughout the decades, as well as denote the differences between more progressive societies and their less accepting counterparts.

During the Enlightenment and Revolution era, women did not have equal rights like men. All over the world women were expected to do certain things and act a certain way while not doing others. A woman is mocked and ridiculed if she does not follow these standards.Women’s roles were based around duty and obligations; thus, their rights were not political, gleaning from their roles as housewives (Give Me Liberty!, 242). The roles of women between the 16th to the 18th centuries were mainly to be housewives and were seen inferior compared to men. Throughout time, they gained a greater variety of job opportunities as well as increased education, and the women’s roles still did not carry the same weight as the men’s.

The 19th century was an important period for women especially in Europe and North America. It was a crucial time for demand for change and women were at the forefront of it all. Viewed only as a homemaker, women found it difficult during this time to show society what they were capable of. Limitations on their capabilities created by gender stereotypes called for change. To understand the significance of the 19th century for women, one must consider the conditions women were living in that desperately needed reform, review the issues they were faced with, and look at the women leading for a much-needed change.

In Hedda Gabler Ibsen presents Hedda as a tormented and difficult character who seems to delight in causing offence to others. She is shown to act in a way that offends all those closest to her, especially her husband and his Aunt and at times it is hard for the audience to have any sympathy for her. Critics over the years have referred to her as the “female Hamlet” as her behaviour is full of contradictions and her dissatisfaction with the situation she finds herself in has repercussions that not only damage her family, but are catastrophic for her former close friend Lovborg, also ending with her taking her own life, and that of her unborn child. Ibsen shows through dialogue, action and symbol that Hedda is the opposite of all that a

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the early feminists’ focal concern was women’s suffrage. During this time, most women in the United States did not have many economic and political rights. Back then priorities of women were to take care of their homes, families, and husbands. These earlier feminists, also known as the first wave feminists, simply wanted a voice and this led to the women’s suffrage movement. By 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment finally passed and gave women the right to vote (Kotef). This successful movement influenced women everywhere in the world and continued to powerfully inspire women throughout the 20th century (Kotef). By the latter half of the century, the second wave of feminism arose. It included the voice of African-American women because this wave occurred during the civil rights movement. Second wave feminism also included important issues such as sexual and reproductive rights, legal abortions, birth control pills, and the passing of the Equal Pay Act (1963). All feminists live to create ideologies and movements that support the equality of women, but it is clear that second wave feminists were substantially different in their aims than earlier feminists (Gizberg). The goal of this paper is to analyze the main elements of second wave feminism and compare it to the works of earlier feminists. This will show the multifaceted development of second wave feminism.

One of the social issues dealt with in Ibsen's problem plays is the oppression of women by conventions limiting them to a domestic life. In Hedda Gabler the heroine struggles to satisfy her ambitious and independent intellect within the narrow role society allows her. Unable to be creative in the way she desires, Hedda's passions become destructive both to others and herself.

In the play Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen has clearly shown the audience how the end of the 19th century has influenced his own portrayal of his characters and their role in society. It is important to take into consideration the expectations placed upon women at that time and to understand the limited roles they had to play in society. However in Ibsen’s play, he has decided to show an ideal society by giving a greater amount of freedom to women by showing them to be more independent. These ideologies have been shown through the character of Hedda Gabler and the play is a reaction to how society would react to a woman with such ‘liberties’. Through the setting of the play, the feeling of entrapment of Hedda Gabler is going to be explored: a feeling

Coming into the nineteenth century, women were looked at as feminist. “Feminism,” as we know the term today, was nonexistent in nineteenth-century America (Cruea 187). Feminist describes as someone embracing the beliefs that all people are entitled to freedom and liberty within reason. Gender, sexual orientations, skin color, ethnicity, religion, culture or lifestyle should not be considered as a form of discrimination. Women roles, in the nineteenth century, were to take care of the cooking, cleaning, caring for the children and making sure the husbands were comfortable after long days of work. As years pass, women begin to find work, attain a voter rights and even began owning properties, which begin to separate them from the men of

The reign of Great Britain’s Queen Victoria is famous for both scandal, and a desire to fit within the molds of society. These societal expectations extended far east of the English channel, into Norway, and into the life of Henrik Ibsen and his work. His play, Hedda Gabler, gives a true insight into the tight social constraints. Because Hedda wanted the curtains closed, the play’s true light source was Mrs. Elvsted—or as Hedda demanded to call her—Thea. Her light was not always a beautiful morning sunrise, it was quite often a dim streetlamp. She took risks that would be simply detestable during the Victorian era. Thea leaving her husband, then having an open relationship with Eilert Lovborg, would be a social death sentence during that time. Though she is so scandalous, the reader cannot help but to like her. Ibsen choosing to make his most likable character the one with the life which most opposes society reveals his opinion on the world he lived in.

The play Hedda Gabler tells a dramatic but realistic story of a woman forced to live in a world that was built for men. The playwright Henrik Ibsen uses this dramatic play that he has written, to make a statement about the terrible treatment of women, and their lack of independence. We can see his statement from the very start of the play, by just looking at the title, which uses Hedda’s maiden name instead of her married name. Ibsen wants her to be portrayed as her own person, and not just as the wife of her husband. Ibsen uses many literary elements to make his point, and to help the audience understand and feel what he wants them to. The time and setting in which the play was written, as well as the realistic characters,

The reflection of women in literature during the late eighteen-hundreds often features a submissive and less complex character than the usual male counterpart, however Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler features a women who confines herself to the conformities that women were to endure during that time period but separates herself from other female characters by using her intelligence and overall deviousness to manipulate the men in her life and take a dominant presence throughout the play. Hedda challenges the normal female identity of the time period by leaving the stereotype of the “quiet, subservient housewife” through her snide and condescending remarks as well as her overall spoiled aristocratic demeanor.

During the 19th century, women were controlled by a male dominated society. The women were in pure agony knowing that there was no faith for them to have a crucial change in civilization. This could often lead to “clinical depression” in which a human could feel lonely, empty, confounded and miserable. In this time period, women’s role in society was to be simply mothers and wives. A world where women had rights, control, and power was a fantasy. According to Hall, he states, “Key to all feminist methodologies is the belief that patriarchal oppression of women through history has been profound and multifaceted” (Hall 202). In other words, it is known that the male takes complete cruel supremacy over the years in our history. In The

Henrik Ibsen is a very common and almost an essential person if you where to judge him by his plays. Ibsen plays are a symbolic representation of how to deal with the reality of social issues. Social issues can be manipulated and used as a powerful political weapon. During this period writers would commonly form information in order to gain the attention and support of the public. Henrik Ibsen understood human nature, he played a crucial role in exploring and illuminating society by uniting honesty and the reality of life, through his work. Writing as a psychologist, Ibsen could quickly sway others when it came to understanding his creative work. His relationship with human life formed an intense social and abstract perspective, which is the essence of art. Ibsen 's work as a writer mainly symbolized a long writing style that reflection on people 's need to live in a more advance mental way. Ibsen wrote about the contradiction between ability and the aspiration between will and possibility. Ibsen commonly uses a great deal of desperation in his work. Within the darkness of his work the conflict mainly surrounded humanity and the individual tragedy of one 's true self. Ibsen would use symbols that represented how the social issues within his work would be part of reality. His plays allowed a combination of the feminist social issues and reality. The subjects were expressed in both “Hedda Gabler” and “A Doll 's House” is extensive and diverse.