A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen is not only relevant these days, but A Doll's House paints a dark picture of many contemporary families today. Most of the central ideas are still prevalent in today’s society. There are still women today that feel …show more content…
trapped by their marriages, still run away from their marriage’s leaving children behind, and still feel that it is important to do more then get married and have children. On the other hand, there are also still men who control their wives and treat them as if they are less viewed in society. One of the reasons that I feel that A Doll’s House still exits, is that many women like Nora still feel trapped by their marriages. Some women, I’m sure this might be more common in upper class societies, fell that they are not equal to their husbands, just like Nora felt. They don’t receive all of the prestige and praise that their husbands do, and they wonder what their role is in the marriage. Many women of today still feel like they are a “doll” with nothing of importance to do. They have nannies and babysitters who can take care of their kids and maids who take care of their house. On another note, although it is a lot more common now if not even a more accepted part of today’s society, women still run away from their marriage leaving children behind. All thought it would not be as shocking today’s society as it was in Nora’s time, there are still many cases of a wife leaving her family. I'm sure that everyone knows somebody that this has happened to, where the mother has not only run out on her husband but also her children. Nora ran out because she felt by her lying that she wasn’t able to teach her children anything, and that her part in their lives was bringing them more harm than good. She felt as if her children were “dolls” just like her and by her leaving she would teach then to be more independent. I’m sure that there are many women that leave their marriages today because of guilt and low self worth and those are exactly the feelings that Nora was experiencing. Apart from female, there are roles for men to play in the society.
Men are suited to political, economical and intellectual roles. They are expected to be strong, active, and to be a role model to the society. Torvald was trying to play this role, but he did not succeed. On the surface, Torvald was a stereotyped Victorian man. He was a powerful man and a typical master of the house. He had a secure job and a happy family. He was also a moral, emotionally distant and tasteful person. Nonetheless, his illness, his unreasonable worries about being killed in accidents and his anger towards Krogstad who called his Christian name implies that he was a fragile, coward and small-minded. Therefore, Torvald failed to play the "masculine" role of a sturdy oak. He was only a hypocrite who wanted to show off his happy family life. However, after he came to know Nora 's crime, he tried hard to maintain his image of being the lord of the house. He didn't want Nora 's fault to ruin his role of a respectable man, which he played throughout his
life. In today's society, many women are in a situation similar to Nora's. Also, many men are in a situation similar to Torvald's. Although many people have accepted women as being equal, there are still those in modern America who are doing their best to suppress the feminist revolution. Torvald is an example of men who are only interested in their appearance and the amount of control they have over a person. Those are the men that are holding society down by not caring about the feelings of others. But Torvald is not the only guilty party. Nora, although very submissive, is also very manipulative. She makes Torvald think he is much smarter and stronger, but in reality, she thinks herself to be quite crafty as far as getting what she wants. However, when the door is slammed, Torvald is no longer exposed to Nora's manipulative nature. He then comes to the realization of what true love and equality are, and that they cannot be achieved with people like Nora and himself together. When everyone finally views males and females as equals, and when neither men nor women overuse their power of gender that society gives them, is when true equality will exist in the world.