A Woman of No Importance and a Dolls House

The main character, Nora, in Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll House” is a character that had been held back and repressed by the patriarchal society she existed in. Throughout the play it can be seen that most of the issues and struggles the character, Nora, faced were created and brought on by the men who were in her life. From the very beginning it is evident that Nora is as an undermined and restrained woman. Nora’s husband, Torvald, is her overseer. Torvald treats Nora like a child. He gives her nicknames like “squirrel” as if she is a little animal that only scurries about. When Nora wants money she must ask Torvald for permission to borrow some. Torvald also calls Nora a “spendthrift” as he does not trust Nora with money and believes she just wastes it on useless things. Torvald’s little nicknames for Nora seem to dehumanize her and make her seem less than her husband. When Nora suggests to Torvald to borrow money until he gets paid, Torvald responds “how like a woman! You know what I think about that. No debts! Never borrow!” (Ibsen 884) as if to indicate all women are incompetent and don’t know how to handle money. Although Nora is a victim of a destructive patriarchal society, she is also an example of what it meant to be a part of the feminist movement. Feminism is a movement and ideology that believes in the establishment of economic, political, and social equality of the sexes. At

A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest were both written in the late nineteenth century at a period in time when gender roles in society were not only significant to the structure of society but were restrictive and oppressive to individuals. This was particularly true in the case of women who were seen as the upholders of morals in polite society and were expected to behave accordingly. A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest challenge society and its inclination to categorise and expect certain behaviour of individuals based on their gender.

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer is a traditional “angel in the house” she is a human being, but first and foremost a wife and a mother who is devoted to the care of her children, and the happiness of her husband. The play is influenced by the Victorian time period when the division of men and women was evident, and each gender had their own role to conform to. Ibsen’s views on these entrenched values is what lead to the A Doll’s House becoming so controversial as the main overarching theme of A Doll’s House is the fight for independence in an otherwise patriarchal society. This theme draws attention to how women are capable in their own rights, yet do not govern their own lives due to the lack of legal entitlement and

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House are both literary works in which women show radical actions deviating from society’s norms. The two women from their respective works, Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice and Nora from A Doll’s House, are both seen as alienated from their own society in a way that allows them to explore social values. Elizabeth is constantly trying to find love in a world where marriage for women exists with the sole purpose of financial stability and Nora is sick and tired of being “a doll” to Torvald

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House are both literary works in which women show radical actions deviating from society’s norms. The two women from their respective works, Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice and Nora from A Doll’s House, are both seen as alienated from their own society in a way that allows them to explore social values. Elizabeth is constantly trying to find love in a world where marriage for women exists with the sole purpose of financial stability and Nora is sick and tired of being “a doll” to Torvald and wishes to have more freedom in her life.

In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, pointedly captures the reality of the Victorian Era within the play. Nora Helmer, the protagonist of the story, represents the typical women in society during that era. The audience’s first impression of Nora is a money obsessed, childish, obedient house wife to her husband, Torvald Helmer. However, as the play progresses one can see that Nora is far from being that typical ideal trophy wife, she is an impulsive liar who goes against society’s norm to be whom and what she wants. Her husband is illustrated as the stereotypical man during the 19th century, as he is the dominate breadwinner of the family, who too deserts his position as the play reaches its end. A key theme that is brought to light in A

A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, creates a peephole into the lives of a family in the Victorian Era. The play portrays a female viewpoint in a male-dominated society. The values of the society are described using the actions of a woman, Nora, who rebels against the injustices inflicted upon her gender. Women’s equality with men was not recognized by society in the late 1800’s. Rather, a woman was considered a doll, a child, and a servant. Nora’s alienation reveals society’s assumptions and values about gender.

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

   In his play, A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen depicts a female protagonist, Nora Helmer, who dares to defy her husband and forsake her "duty" as a wife and mother to seek out her individuality. A Doll's House challenges the patriarchal view held by most people at the time that a woman's place was in the home. Many women could relate to Nora's situation. Like Nora, they felt trapped by their husbands and their fathers; however, they believed that the rules of society prevented them from stepping out of the shadows of men. Through this play, Ibsen stresses the importance of women's individuality. A Doll's House combines realistic characters, fascinating imagery, explicit stage directions, and

The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate

Nora is a character who undergoes radical change over the course of the play. Initalay introduced to us in Act One as a playful housewife who is faithful and submissive Nora State “I would never dream of doing anything you didn’t want me to.” (Act 1) This shows some of the gender dynamics of marriages in the 19th century and also assists in portraying Nora’s husband Torvalds hold over her independent thought. Torvald calls Nora by pet names his "little squirrel," his "little lark," and, worst of all, a "featherhead," Nora shows no reaction to this behavior (1.5-1.16). Nora seems quite innocent and childlike in her behavior treating this as terms of endearment rather than insulting due his refusal to treat her as an equal. Her husband Torvald chides her for her reckless indulgences with their finances but little does he know she is carrying a secret. There is tension building between Nora and her husband as it comes to head.There is a clear acknowledgment here that both Nora and Helmer have been blinded by their self-theatricalizing fantasies. Without letting Helmer off the hook, Nora acknowledges that she

Women were valued very little by nineteenth century society. The treatment of these women was also extremely negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfill domestic duties. Literature of this time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society. Henrik Ibsen uses Nora Helmer in A Doll House to portray the negative treatment of all women throughout society during the nineteenth century. Many women characters throughout American literature reflect the same conflicts and attitudes of Nora in Ibsen's play A Doll House.

Deception must always have a motive. In the play,"A Doll's House", Nora is a deception machine, lying left and right to everyone,most importantly to her husband Helmer. She does anything possible to distract him from a letter in his mailbox, since that letter has the text to expose Nora's crimes of forgery. But there is more than meets the eye with Nora and her lies. To the naked eye, not much can be said about this conflict.

Nora is the character in A Doll House who plays the 19th woman and is portrayed as a victim. All of the aspects of this quote can be applied to the play A Doll House, in Nora’s character, who throughout much of the play is oppressed, presents an inauthentic identity to the audience and throughout the play attempts to discovery her authentic identity.

During the Victorian Era, living in the middle class, many people were strongly influenced by society, especially in Europe. People felt that they needed to look perfect in the public eye and everything they did had to be something that society would approve of, otherwise it was out of the question. Henrik Ibsen uses the main characters of Nora and Torvald, in his play, “A Doll’s House” just as Leo Tolstoy uses the main characters of Ivan and Praskovya, in his novel, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, to convey what it was like to live in a middle-class society in nineteenth century Europe. By showing that society