Preview

A Doll House

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
973 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Doll House
The feminist movement started in the nineteenth century and still present and widely discussed to this day. With so many existing publications that touch this difficult topic. We don't know what books or stories first discussed the role of the woman and hinted at feminism. Based on the story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the drama "A doll house" by Henrik Ibsen, there is a theme of burdened womanhood and toxic marriages. These two stories are not the same, but they share some similarities. The first big similarity is in the settings. In the "Doll House" all the action takes place in the Helmer family house, where Torvald Helmer lived with his wife Nora and their children. We do know that Nora goes out from time to …show more content…
Despite their affection for their partners, deep inside they hate them for being trapped in a toxic marriage. Eventually, the women can't take it anymore and journey to freedom in quite different ways. When Torvald discovered that his wife is not as pure and perfect as he thought, he yelled at her, threaten to separate her from children, and asked to sleep in the different part of the house. For Nora, the moment was groundbreaking. She finally realized that she's nothing but a doll in her husband's hands and that she was never allowed to try grow or express herself. When Nora says that she's "Getting out of my costume" (Ibsen 837) she means that she's getting out of the marriage and starting a new life. Intending to truly discover herself and her role beyond "just" being a wife". The protagonist of the "Yellow Wallpaper" also grows to realize that her marriage is far from perfect. Unfortunately, her path is not as easy as Nora's. John convinces her that has to control herself all the time, keep her emotions and her wild imagination shut down, which according to him was good for her health. Heroine's only escape is her journal and the yellow wallpaper in her room. The wallpaper symbolizes the woman's state of mind. The more time she spends starting at the patterns on the wall, the more clearly she can see the shape of the woman trapped behind the bars. Eventually she tears the wallpaper down and help the woman. You could say that the madness set our heroine free. It is her way to finally be herself and leave her controlling

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Before examining the specifics of feminist literature, we must explore the situation these women lived in. In her article "Women's Roles in the Late 19th Century" Dorothy Hartman writes, "It is evident from the conflicting opinions offered in literature of the period that women's lives were fraught with tensions. How-to manuals, magazine and newspaper articles set high, if not impossible, standards for moral rectitude, cleanliness and cheerfulness. The realities posed by the sheer number of tasks to be completed daily, monthly and yearly stressed even the hardiest of women." Without going in to specifics, this quote shows the pressures put on women by society in the 1800s. Everything, including products marketed to them, demanded that women live up to a bar that had been set too high for anyone to reach. While women were…

    • 1499 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The dull yellow wallpaper is linked to the narrator which implies that she is yellow and her sanity is being faded away. Her husband condemns her to the room and because of this she is losing self-control. The diary was one last hope of her gaining some type of authority for herself. She wanted to get well and made numerous suggestions to her husband, but he turned them all down. Once her husband took that privilege away too, her illness has an extreme downward spiral. The figure of the woman trapped inside the wall was a sign of the wife’s sanity being lost forever, but insanity made her gain freedom. Because of this, the wife could finally do as she pleased. Insanity broke the chain of oppression, in spite of everything she went…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Women have been mistreated, enchained and dominated by men for most part of the human history. Until the second half of the twentieth century, there was great inequality between the social and economic conditions of men and women (Pearson Education). The battle for women's emancipation, however, had started in 1848 by the first women's rights convention, which was led by some remarkable and brave women (Pearson Education). One of the most notable feminists of that period was the writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She was also one of the most influential feminists who felt strongly about and spoke frequently on the nineteenth-century lives for women. Her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" characterizes the condition of women of the nineteenth century through the main character's life and actions in the text. It is considered to be one of the most influential pieces because of its realism and prime examples of treatment of women in that time. This essay analyzes issues the protagonist goes through while she is trying to break the element of barter from her marriage and love with her husband. This relationship status was very common between nineteenth-century women and their husbands.…

    • 1667 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play A Dollhouse by Henrik Ibsen realism plays a major part in how the ending played out. Most stories have that happily ever after feel, but in A Dollhouse things are not as they seem. In the beginning it looked like it is going to be one of those stories with a happy family who seems to be the ideal couple with money, kids, and a nice house. However, as time goes by the plot starts to become more realistic; Nora starts to question her marriage and her sanity. In Brian Johnston’s essay, “Realism and a Doll House,” he discusses how verbal irony plays an important role in the play. The word ‘wonderful’ is used in a different context in each part of the book. The use of the word ‘wonderful’ in three different ways is a good way of foreshadowing the decline of Nora and Torbert’s relationship. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus starts out a proud man and then finds out that he slept with his mother, killed his father, and as a result was dethroned and banished. The mood of the play goes from light to darker as the play goes on and more is revealed. That is realism it is about the human condition; people’s mistakes, lies, and problems without sugarcoating it. Some people do not like reading books inspired by realism because it gives them a magnified look at themselves through the characters. So therefore, the human condition is what inspires plays like A Dollhouse and Oedipus the King into a metaphorical rendition of how human beings really are, and using the different context of words to create a sense of foreboding for the characters.…

    • 1555 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lives for women in 1892 were heavily controlled by men. Women were treated as if they were inferior to men. Charlotte Perkins Gilman brings light to this problem in a interesting way. Gilman herself, was in fact driven to near madness and later claimed to have written “The Yellow Wallpaper” to protest this treatment of women like herself, and specifically to address her physician. Although they never replied to Gilman personally, they are said to have confessed to a friend that they had changed their treatment of hysterics after reading the story. While real life aspects are apparent it’s the symbolism and subliminal feminist in her story to show how a woman’s role in society is limited with no control or creative outlet.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For hundreds of years, women are fighting a war of inequality in the male dominated society. “Feminism” is a moment started by women to end inequality in all fields of society. To fight this problem, and to find a possible way to end it, many great writers wrote very influential poems and stories. A very few writers who chose to write about feminism in the society were, Marge Piercy, “The Secretary Chant” and “Barbie Doll”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The yellow Wallpaper”, and Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Yellow Wallpaper, a semi-autobiographical novel written by Charlotte Perkins Gildman, first wave feminist theoretician, in 1892, is questioning the social norms that were presented in the 19th century. The author elaborates on the connection between gender division and the effect it had on women. It is interesting to see how and why the author, known for her social activism and involvement in a feminist movement, decided to portray male in the novel.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator’s descent into insanity is due to the subordination of women in society and occurs in isolation where the importance of self-expression is discovered. The narrator is driven to madness due to her isolation from society. After spending long periods of time in the room, she develops increasing signs of insanity and eventually sees women in the wallpaper. “I don’t like to look out of the windows even—there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast.…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, portrays a young married woman, Nora, who plays a dramatic role of deception and self-indulgence. The author creates a good understanding of a woman’s role by assuming Nora is an average housewife who does not work; her only job is to maintain the house and raise the children like a stereotypical woman that cannot work or help society. In reality, she is not an average housewife in that she has a hired maid who deals with the house and children. Although Ibsen focuses on these “housewife” attributes, Nora’s character is ambitious, naive, and somewhat cunning. She hides a dark secret from her husband that not only includes borrowing money, but also forgery. Nora’s choices were irrational; she handled the situations very poorly in this play by keeping everything a secret. The way that women were viewed in this time period created a barrier that she could not overcome. The decisions that had the potential to be good were otherwise molded into appalling ones. Women should have just as many rights as men and should not be discriminated by gender; but they should also accept consequences in the same way without a lesser or harsher punishment.…

    • 3445 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the nineteenth century, women in literature were often portrayed as submissive to men. Literature of the period often characterized women as oppressed by society, as well as by the male influences in their lives. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents the tragic story of a woman’s descent into depression and madness because of this oppression.…

    • 1895 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Doll House

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the play A Doll House written by Henrick Isben several social issues were revealed. Considering the time period, women had little to no rights at all. They were basically expected to have no voice, and to just keep a happy home. The main social issues that are portrayed in the play mostly stem from a high level of disrespect for women that are presented in several different ways.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Doll's House

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In A Dolls’ House the stories’ two main protagonists Nora and Torvald Helmer which is a married couple experiences many things while being married. And in most cases money brought forth the bulk of their problems, which eventually caused the relationship to split apart. However many people looked at the couples’ relationship from the exterior and thought it was legit. Another character in the play, Nora’s close friend Ms. Linde views the Helmers as a married couple who lives comfortable enough to afford things that she usually cannot. Even though the Helmers’ household is taken care of financially, it is in disarray due to lies, and deceit. On the outside it looks fine as Nora could be compared to a doll; looking nice and well kept together. In reality Nora has hid from her husband that she have been repaying a debt for years from when her and her husband took a trip to Italy. The reader also learns that Nora secretly forged the signature of her deceased father. Out of all the things that happened within the story Torvald eventually finds out about what’s been going on and is outraged. He calls Nora a hypocrite and a liar and complains that she has ruined his happiness. He declares that she will not be allowed to raise their children. And as a result the married couple are separated. The symbol “doll house” really help functions in the work of revealing the characters because it shows Nora as a doll who you would think is squeaky clean and flawless, but deep down inside is…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story that can be reviewed in a feminist lens. The Yellow Wallpaper paints a picture of a woman’s place in 1911, and how she was treated with her Postpartum Depression. She was locked in a room by her husband John which leads her to insanity because she never got the treatment she needed. The theme of feminism is very clear through John the protagonist’s husband, the thoughts of Jane and the environment in which the woman is forcefully placed. Combined, all these describe the imprisonment of woman and the power in which men had over them.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Feminism is base on the assumption that women have the same human, political and social rights as men, furthermore, that women should have the same opportunities as men in their personal choices. A feminist text will be written by woman, and it will point out deficiencies in society regarding equal opportunity. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman is a great example of a feminist text; telling a story about a woman’s against male thinking and society norms. In the short story, the woman is completely isolated and has no say in anything that regards her own life. Her husband John does what he believes to be what’s best for her, but in fact, is the complete opposite. It is this sequestration, brought…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Woman's Slavery

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Nora Helmer was originally portrayed as a mindless and shallow woman using descriptive language. Torvald, Nora’s husband, called her “my Squirrel” and “my little skylark” showing how she was completely his. However, she was soon shown to be a devious but naïve woman. Women were not allowed to handle a their own estates, but when Torvald became ill and needed to go to Italy to recover Nora forged her dead father’s signature on a document and took out a loan in order to save her husband. She was intent on keeping this loan a secret from her husband because she knew that he only liked her for her shallow and pretty self not and he would not like an independent woman. Her secret eventually came out and Torvald hated her as an independent woman and he hit her. He said, “Before all else you are a wife and a mother.” Nora was trapped into a false marriage and was also trapped into her role as a 19th century woman but she overcame this challenge after much difficulty when she left her husband and her marriage and told him that she would be her own woman.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays