Eng. 102
5 March 2015
Ibsen’s A Doll’s House as Feminist Statement
In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen tackles several issues. However, the main themes that have stood out in this work, and for which it has been famous (critically acclaimed and criticised in equal measure) are the themes of marriage and gender roles. The book has mainly been reviewed from a feminist stand-point. While some have argued that the book is a triumph for the women, others have argued that Nora is a joke, a far-diminished woman. But even others argue that, to understand A Doll’s House, it is best to not read it with a feminist mind-set, as nothing more than an entertainment, as a “celebration of the art of theatre” (Reis 3). However, A Doll’s House still remains a feminist statement, except that it grew out of a society so patriarchal Henrik might probably not have done better even if he wanted to. In other words, this evaluation looks at the relevance of the lacking feminist statement in this text based on the context (that is, time and space) that inspired it.
Exploring the themes of marriage and gender roles, Ibsen’s work bore a cultural relevance of the 19th century (Reis 3). Ibsen presents the main character, Nora, as a doll by assigning her all that a doll does. Nora lives a perfect life, as perfect as life could be. This way, it seems as if she is protected from life’s harsh realities. Of course, life does not shield her from the reality of death;she loses her father. But the death does not necessarily changes things. She seems to have found the husband who will continue from where the father left off, so that Nora has somehow lost her father (the real one) only to find him in her husband. She dances for him, plays little games with him whenever it is necessary, and agrees with whatever choices that he has to make concerning the family without seeking her opinion. In return, he rewards her with money, which he gives her whenever she asks for it. Templeton (30) sees her as “childish”.
However, this is too perfecta life, an unrealistic life. Ibsen paints Nora to disgusting levels, and it is in this disgust that Ibsen seems to say a lot. In fact, Ibsen seems to draw sympathy for Nora. Nora, as we learn, is a doll who seems to live a perfect life, but it is not her perfection. She is trapped in her house, conditioned by the expectations of her husband that she plays the perfect wife and mother and carry herself with morality, and even look it in appearance. However, Nora does discover a will of her own. She learns her true identity, seeking salvation in the outside world. This new outgoing habit of Nora is evident in her dressing, the macaroons and tarantella dresses.
Ibsen’s representation of Nora seems relevant with the times. Nineteenth century was a period when women were still stifled by the patriarchal society of the times (Reis 3.). However, this was also a period when women were increasingly restless, looking to enter the public space, including social, economic and political arenas. Housewives (or house dolls), like Nora, would have been increasingly restless within the domestic space, inwardly pushed by what their colleagues werealready doing, and the success of those who had already made it nudging forward those who were still left behind (again, like Nora). But despite the evidently starting-to-pick-up woman power, the society in which Nora grew was still heavily patriarchal. There were still rigid definitions of what constituted a woman and man, what roles they were expected to play. From the play, one sees the ways through which women are perceived through their many roles especially in motherhood and marriage. Torvald, for instance, had a very narrow definition of the roles that Nora should be playing in the family. For him, a good woman should be a good wife and mother. These are the woman’s (Nora’s) “most sacred duties” (Ibsen …). Such mentality is a clear definition of male chauvinism in this society. Torvald is also a representation of the male gender in that society and thus, his behaviour mirrors the behaviour of the men in that society. He claims that Nora has wrecked his happiness and future. He says, “From now on happiness doesn’t matter; all that matters is … the appearance” (Ibsen …). He does not want to be personally liable for the morality of the children, regardless of the fact that the children belong to him.
But it is not just Torvald who is concerned with this Nora’s morality. Even some critics have questioned her morality, and others see her as a flawed character for a feminist symbol (Templeton 35).Maurice Valence describes her as ‘not especially feminist’ (cited in Templeton 35). There is a clear relationship between Torvald and the critics (people outside) the text; they both question Nora’s morality because she- and all women for that matter- should be the epitome of societal morality. It is, perhaps, the stifling society that makes women shaky and seemingly undecided. Like Nora, they are unsure of what to do with it, or whether it is real to begin with. Regardless, Nora’s instability might be the hope for her, that she can still be something beyond what people see. In fact, she seems to have triumphed or at least she is starting to. This is best epitomized toward the end of the book when she says quite triumphantly, “Yes, Torvald, I have changed my dress.”(Ibsen. 3.255.659). Against Torvald’s clam that her husband and children are Nora’s “most sacred duties” (…), Nora retaliates. She says, “I have other duties equally sacred …Before all else I’m a human being” (Ibsen …).
Writing Experience
According to Stanford (10), one of the key issues to take into consideration when interpreting a work of literature is the literary tropes used and how they help bring out the theme. Once that theme is established, the next question concerns the relevance of the theme and how it is represented on the basis of . In this respect, Stanford seems to focus on how the work serves or is served by the context in which it is created. In this respect, Stanford (11) considers the questions of time and space; that is, how the theme fits with the times as well as the place in which the work is created.
First, as a work of literature, as noted above, I had to consider that the work carried some other deeper meaning. The first important sign is the title, A Doll’s House. This title is rather strange considering that the story is really not about a doll- not in the real sense of the word. This was the first clue that the title is a metaphor for something else. The answer would lie in finding the characteristics of a doll and how these were evident in a real person. Reading through the text, it becomes clear that Nora is not really living. She is more like a human puppet with her husband, Torvald, as the puppeteer. However, what makes her much of a doll is the fact that she plays to her husband’s tune, doing his bidding when he asks, as he asks- at least until she decides to search for niche.
Feminist movement and theory being in the mainstream today, it makes sense that the modern reader will instantly see the feminist-related theme in this story. The question that follows then is how the text tackles that theme. This is what led me to investigate further from other external sources, which helped me come up with my thesis. More specifically, I noticed how much previous reviews were divided on the feminist statement in A Doll’s House. As already noted, some believed it was a statement of triumph, while others thought that Ibsen’s statement was more diminishing. Still others evaded the question altogether, arguing that the text should not be viewed as merely entertainment without any feminist intentions, conscious or subconscious. But I thought that to evade the question was escapist. There is no way a work of literature reviewed in the 20th and 21st centuries (whether written in these two centuries of centuries before) could escape the feminist question. Therefore, I decided to tackle the feminist theme.
Even then, however, I had to be realistic that Nora was not that well-represented as a symbol for the liberated women. However, on further investigation, I saw that Nora may have been a key symbol for women at the time. The 19th century saw the increasing rise of women, with the term ‘feminist’ first used later in the century. However, it was still a shaky time for feminism, most especially for housewives- for there were a few who had broken the domestic yoke with increased entry into key economic and political arenas. Still, under the circumstances, Nora still showed elements of emerging liberation in the mind, the desire for much more than just being a mother and wife. In the face of these circumstances, that Nora may have been an unsure feminist statement is irrelevant. She was merely the product of the society (the context) in which she grew, but most importantly, a mind starting to get out of that shell.
This is the standpoint I had to take. From then on, I had to focus on paying attention to organization, staying on point and making sure my argument was clear. But most of this focus came in the subsequent drafts during editing. In the first draft, I was too submerged into writing I did not pay much attention to the work.
In the end, writing this paper was very educating. I got the chance to read a great play that I had not read before. Ibsen’s play is very educating and represents the actions of people in the society, things that still go on in our day to day society. One realizes that the literary representation of a society that Ibsen lived in when he wrote that play is not so much different from the society we are living in after all.
Works Cited
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. Waiheke Island: Floating, 2008. Print.
Stanford, Judith. Responding to Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays and Essays, 5th Edition.
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2006. Print.
Templeton, Joan. “The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen.” PMLA,
104.1 (1989), 28-40. Print.
Reis, Laura M. A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. New York: Penguin Group Inc., 2008. Print.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|