Between Rights and Wrongs
A Doll’s House is a play published by the Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen, in 1879. It is mainly a three-act modern play which is viewed from a feminist perspective.
In his plot, he provided a clear sample of the stereotypical role of women as housewives. Nora Helmer, the wife of Torvald Helmer and the mother of three, symbolized a doll that does everything perfectly - cleaning the house, playing with her children, and entertaining her husband - briefly, “the ideal woman in society’s eyes”. However, things did not go as expected. After going through an eye-opening situation, Nora suddenly realized that she did not actually love her husband and decided to look for her own happiness. Ibsen tied up the plot by an ironic end as Nora left both her husband and children.
Some readers consider Ibsen’s desire to reflect women’s struggle and fight for their liberty appreciated, but feminism is not about leaving your children behind without a mother to raise them up in order to look for your life and satisfy your personal interests. Furthermore, they assume Nora is wrong and with no doubt late; she could definitely leave her husband, as it is her right to do so, but never the children.
However, others may contemplate that Ibsen did a great job in portraying women’s position in the 19th century and highlighting their sacrificial role in the character of Linde and Nora. Besides the fact that characters were not depicted in a real manner, ironically, the strong character, Linde, turned out to be the weak one; on the other hand, Nora, who was treated for 8 years as a kid, emerged as a strong and independent woman.
To sum up, expressing thankfulness to Ibsen for mentioning the following quote is a must: “no man would sacrifice his honor for love, she says, millions of women have”, since it carries a tremendous mixture of feelings that every woman could relate to.
Women's rights in the 19th century are shown through Nora's life, and the struggles she encountered to have a voice of her own, but I think that she is irresponsible and even selfish to leave her kids behind.
ReplyDeleteThe character of Nora turned out to be responsible throughout the events in the plot, as she worked hard to pay her loan, so, depending on my reading, I agree that she is selfish, but I find her responsible.
DeleteYour point of view concerning the ending is very interesting and highly appreciated, but I view it a little bit differently. Throughout the entire play, there is an extensive focus on the financial state of women; Linda's marriage for the sake of financing her sick mother, then being the breadwinner of the whole family, including her husband, Nora's commission of the forge in favor of her husband's health, and the struggle of paying it back to Krogstad are undoubtedly mentioned by Ibsen to voice a message. Accordingly, I perceive this message as follows: if women can't work, take a loan, or have an opinion, how could Nora be able to afford the living for three kids on her own? I know your opinion differs from mine, but what I got from Ibsen is that it is not about her desire of taking the children, but rather her ability to do so.
ReplyDeleteYour opinion really catches my attention and opens my eyes on a perspective that I didn’t think of. I totally agree that life was not easy or fair for a single mother in the past as it is now, but maybe if the author provided a simple quote or sentence to show the readers that Nora considers the existence of her 3 children, it would be really different.
DeleteThe fact that women used to be stereotyped as housewives at that time is pathetic. They lost most of their rights, and, in the story, Nora left her house when she was done with being a doll.
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed pathetic, I’m sorry that in some places in the world women are still suffering from inequalities.
DeleteI know Nora may seem selfish, but I can understand why she did that . One may choose to love themselves over others, and they should not be blamed for that.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your opinion; however, I do not agree with it. I believe that mothers should neither love nor choose someone over their own children.
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