After reading "A Dolls House" by Henrik Ibsen, I felt that I had a better grasp of the relationship between men and women in the Victorian era. The man was all- powerful in this time; women were well in the background, subservient and dependent on men in all areas of her life. It was surprising to me that women were not allowed to sign legal documents, such a personal loan without a man's signature. Total dependency had to be a tough pill to swallow for strong willed women. I am sure that many clever and cunning women were able to manipulate the men in their lives, letting the man believe that they were in full control of the relationship.
However the majority of women who were not able to assert themselves as forcefully as I am sure they wished. Men were able to run the household through kind or cruel intentions. In Nora's case Torvald was a kind man, however it seemed to me that he was always belittling her with subtle, gentle verbal abuse that Nora absorbed like a sponge. Nora tolerated these actions as long as there was security for her and her children. Women of this era married mainly for security rather than love. If there was love in a marriage it was a by product of chance and a blessing, not the usual state of affairs between men and women.
When Nora finally realizes that Torvald is not a man of honor the need for security and dependence is broken. Nora prays for a "miracle of miracles" hoping that Torvald will come to her rescue and be her Knight on a white horse and save her from dishonor for the illegal loan she signed for. She prayed that Torvald would take the blame and leave her blameless and spotless. Even though she states at the same time that she would not let him take the blame for her actions, she wished that he would place his reputation and the line for hers.
In this Nora is a remarkable woman. She only wants Torvald to make the gesture so she can respect and look up to him, to see that he is a man of honor and strength. But she sees that he is a hypocrite and with that the break in their one-sided marriage is complete. She realizes that she does not know who she is but she is determined to take the journey and find out what kind of women she is. She must leave her "doll house" and go out in the real world and find out what she is made of.
I feel that Nora will find that she is a better person than most people that she knows in her sheltered and pampered life. The decision to leave her husband and children was shocking in her day and how the people must have gossiped. Wagging their fingers at her saying "For shamed, for shamed." Nora was not even truly raising her children; she had Anne Marie for that task. Nora simply entertained the children in a superficial relationship. She no longer respected Torvald; she did not even know who she was. She had to leave to find Nora, the Nora that never was, so she had to go.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In the Victorian era, men were more socially accepted because of their gender. They had more social power because society gave more trust, responsibility, and rank to men. The choices women made were based on the men they lived around. Males were the dependents of the woman’s future, whether it was as family, or workers. Yet this was the perspective of everyone, it was not always fair, nor true.…
- 631 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The woman coming out on top. Torvald has tormented his wife Nora and made her feel like a tiny little unimportant thing, just living in his world. She has dealt with him being selfish in their marriage, and treating her so badly that in the end it even lead her to thoughts of suicide. After the thoughts of suicide, she soon realized that she can erupt from this shell that Torvald has essentially built around her. Nora knows that she has to grow up so she can be the mother that her kids will need in the future. So she tells her husband she is leaving. At first her husband does not let this happen, but again in her feeling of new might, she makes her own decision and leaves him.…
- 582 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Moreover, a very intriguing ironic parallel can be drawn between Nora and Torvald, when Torvald finds out about Nora’s forgery, he exclaims “Now you’ve wrecked all my happiness—ruined my whole future. Oh, it’s awful to think of. I’m in a cheap little grafter’s hands; he can do anything he wants with me, ask for anything, play with me like a puppet—and I can’t breathe a word. I’ll be swept down miserably into the depths on account of a featherbrained woman” (1292), which is a complete role-reversal of the literal control Torvald has over Nora, because all of those years she was his ‘puppet’. A supplementary illustration of dramatic irony is when Torvald says that he will willingly sacrifice his happiness and dignity if some danger were to threaten…
- 886 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Ibsen ideas about gender and societal roles is Ibsen concerns about the position of the women's not society is brought to life in the story A Doll House. He believed that women had a right to develop their own individual but in reality their role was often self sacrificial. Women was not treated as men,either in relation to their husband or society. Women could not conduct business or control their own money they needed the authorization of the men who owned them husband, brother. Son, or father. Women wasn't even educated either that's why men think they are better than women that's why they have so much control over them. Torvalds defines his life of what society finds acceptable and respectable. Krogstad life has been affected by society…
- 167 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
An ideal marriage consists of communication and honesty, but in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen the Helmer marriage is quite the opposite. At the beginning of the play, Nora conformed to obeying her husband and she was naïve in hoping that her husband would sacrifice his reputation for her. She even forged a check to borrow money from the bank to help Helmer with his illness. She thought that this would be a good way to show her love and ability. Their weak marriage later revealed that Helmer never really understood her and he was ashamed that she had concealed this secret. This event awakened Nora’s true personality and she finally realized that their marriage was fake and weak. In the play A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen uses symbolism to portray how Nora is forced by societal norms to mask her true personality through her lies and secrecy, which shows her transition into an independent woman, further emphasising that self knowledge is needed for an authentic life.…
- 607 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The movement of the doll was a influenced by a play about a woman who became self-motivated woman being in a woman-denying man's world. Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20 of 1828 in a city known as Skien in Norway. His was a Norwegian playwright best known to “ A Doll’s House” among his many works. Ibsen was frequently known as the most influential playwright of the early twentieth century and his work was controversial and inspiring. He is also referred to as " the father of realism and is the founders of modernism on theatre. Several of his dramas were considered controversial and scandalous to his many in his time. The European theater expected to model strict morals of family and propriety but he did the opposite. Henrik Ibsen is widely…
- 940 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Victorian Britain was in almost all ways a period of oppression and exploration of women. Women in Britain during the Victorian age were seen largely as second class citizens in a so called “man’s worlds.” Women lacked the right to vote and the own property and inherit money once they were married, and where seen as the property of their husband to do almost anything that they so pleased. Though there are many reasons for why we can see that Victorian Britain was a time of exploration for women, in this essay the main points that will be focused on will be, women in the workplace, the role of women in marriage and the view that society had on women and their role within society. After looking at these points one will clearly see that Victorian Britain was a period of oppression and exploration of women.…
- 651 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Renzo Gardini ENC1102 Prof. Duasso March 15, 2015 The Victorian Era was a time of firm roles for both women and men. Women’s tent stay home there whole life, while men supported the family and stay outside working all day. During the evil day, men were tempted by other women, alcohol, sex, and other evil that present. The women’s were vulnerable to their men, having food on the table, and give men hope during the evil days.…
- 1163 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, was first performed in 1879 in Denmark at the Royal Theatre. It is a play that goes against the social norms of the 19th century and exemplifies women in a questionable way. The play would not be what it is today without the unique theatrical components that made it a provocative and realistic drama. A few of these realistic components include its feminism point of view, Christmas setting, New Years, the living room environment and the rebellious attitude of one the main characters, Nora.…
- 405 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
At the start of the play, Nora seems humble and responds positively to her husband’s humor and lightheartedness. “[smiling quietly and happily] ‘You haven’t any idea how many expenses we skylarks and squirrels have, Torvald.’ ‘You are an odd little soul. Very like your father. You always find some new way of wheedling money out of me,”… (Ibsen, pg.8). Ibsen’s view of human life was much tilted toward men in this play and he did a good job making the wife very doll-like in her husband’s eye. “She is to live for his sake only, to have no other thought than of him, no feelings, no opinions, save those which are his” (Jaeger, Henrik Bernhard. Henrik Ibsen: A Critical Biography. Benjamin Blom, inc., New York 1972, pg 240). She is excited about all the money that Torvald’s new job will…
- 3445 Words
- 14 Pages
Good Essays -
The period known as the Victorian era in England, from 1837 to 1901, had gender roles that drastically defined the difference between a man and a woman. These differences were based on the theory that “men possessed the capacity for reason, action, aggression, independence, and self-interest. Women inhabited a separate, private sphere, one suitable for the so called inherent qualities of femininity: emotion, passivity, submission, dependence, and selflessness, all derived, it was claimed insistently, form women’s sexual and reproductive organization”. 1 Following such principles allowed men, allegedly controlled by their mind or intellectual strength, to dominate society, to be the governing sex, given that they were viewed as rational, brave, and independent. Women, on the other hand, were dominated by their sexuality, and were expected to fall silently into the social mold crafted by men,…
- 1802 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Respect is an old fashioned virtue, and it lies at the centre of one 's ability to achieve happiness and success. Respect can be defined in many ways, but it ultimately means "honor or esteem; consideration or regard." As a marriage counselor, it is my job to explaint the role of respect in a marriage as it relates to Nora and Torvald Helmer in Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll House. Respect for each other and for yourselves is essential for a healthy relationship.…
- 429 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In the Victorians society men where more educated, powerful and rich hence they dominated women. Women were subjugated to the home as housewives whilst their husbands earned money for the family. This gave the men even more power over women, both before and after marriage. Therefore, this led to the society ignoring and exploiting of women 's rights and abilities, and social status.…
- 2115 Words
- 9 Pages
Better Essays -
“Finally, research on Ibsen’s life proves that, all claims to the contrary, his intentions in A Doll House were thoroughly feminist” (Templeton).…
- 7391 Words
- 30 Pages
Better Essays -
This quote ties directly into the theme of “Women vs men” Nora did not like the fact the Torvald wouldn’t sacrifice his honor for her, because she was his wife. When people get married, the make vows to stick with each other through thick and thin, but obviously Torvald has let her down with his confession. Nora states that millions of women have sacrificed their honor for their husbands, which proposed that women tend to do more for their husbands, than what their husbands are willing to do for them. Why was it okay for a woman to sacrifice her honor, but it was frowned down upon, when a man was expected to sacrifice his honor for his wife. This goes back to the Society in which they both lived in. A man was expected to be noble at any costs,…
- 208 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays