Summary:
Examines feminism, gender roles and family roles in "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen.
"BAM!" a dramatic door slam ends "A Doll's House", a play by Henrik Ibsen. In this play, Ibsen makes many hints about the roles of society and how the female gender was treated at the time. From this play you can observe what Ibsen believed about the roles of society, equality between males and females, and the idea of feminism. "A Doll's House" is actually a play where one can see how things were at the time and what Ibsen himself believed about the central issues.
Ibsen portrayed the roles of society very well in this play. In the beginning of the play, Nora acted like most women of the time: she succumbed to anything her husband said and obeyed all orders directed to her by her husband. She was the "ideal wife". Her husband insulted her numerous times in the beginning of the play and patronized her endlessly. He even accused her of having too much sweets and gaining weight. "Has my little sweet tooth been indulging herself in town today by any chance? ..."
Later in the play, Nora transforms into how Ibsen and his wife, Suzzannah Thoreson, believe women should act and be portrayed as. She realizes that all her life, she has been simply acting as a decoration for the Hemler household and even compares herself to a doll, who gets played with, first by her father and then by Torvald, and she claims that that is the reason she had not achieved anything during her lifetime. "I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That's how I've survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. It's because of you I've made nothing of my life." By the end of the play, she has become a tougher, more independent woman. The play ends with her leaving and the door slamming behind her.
Torvald Hemler portrayed how people believed men ought to be at the time. He held a firm belief that his image was more important than anything. When he first found out that Nora had borrowed money from Krogstad and had forged her father's signature, he reacted by saying, "From now on, forget happiness. Now it's just about saving the remains, the wreckage, the appearance." "A Doll's House" clearly shows us the roles of society played by men and women of the time.
In this play, Ibsen also shares what he believes about the equality between men and women of the time. In the beginning of the play he, again, portrayed what most households were like at the time: the man controlled everything, including the female. At the time, wives were simply chattel and were nothing more than property. Because of this, most women were not educated and were as naïve and innocent as children.
Nora, in the beginning of the play, talked and acted like a child ("oh. pooh!") and, like a child, had no concept of how anything really works. She demonstrated this by sharing her definition of freedom to Mrs. Linde in the beginning of the play: "Free. To be free, absolutely free. To spend time playing with the children. To have a clean, beautiful house, the way Torvald likes it." She believed in miracles, as she mentioned them several times in the beginning of the play. Later, when Krogstad sent the Helmer household a letter informing Torvald about Nora's loans, Nora believed another miracle will soon happen to put a stop to all of that. "Something glorious is going to happen." As Torvald was reading the letter sent by Krogstad, she began to see her position in her marriage with more clearness and began to find the power to free herself from her repressive husband. It was first apparent that she had lost her innocence when Torvald asked her if she'd changed out of her fancy ball gown and she responded by saying "Yes, I've changed". Later she told Torvald that he must sit and have a talk with her and informed him that she "no longer believes in miracles." She leaves the house forever at the end of the play and this is perhaps Ibsen's way of implying that women, like men, can live on their own.
Ibsen also comments on the idea of feminism. Mrs. Christine Linde is a character that he uses to show that women can do things without a man. After Mrs. Linde was widowed, she took care of her dying mother and young brothers. It was because of her that her mother's last years on Earth were quite easy and her brothers would have a bright future.
Nora, of course, is the other character Ibsen uses to show his idea of feminism. Nora first appears naïve and childish, yet later she musters up the courage to leave her home, her husband, and her children. Ibsen shows that if she can leave Torvald, then women of the time could leave their unhappy or abusive marriages.
"A Doll's House" shows Ibsen's view on a variety of topics. Ibsen presents what he thinks about men and women's role in society, equality between genders, and feminism. "A Doll's House" is truly a modern classic and will be held as a model for women's rights for years to come.
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