A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen - 868 Words

In most societies, the person who holds the most money is considered to hold the most power. In the case of the household, the person who holds the most power is the person who handles the money, and in our man-centric world, it is usually the man who holds both money and power. In Henrik Ibsens play A Doll’s House, the theme of money is used to establish power roles between the characters of the play, and how the theme contributes to typical gender roles in the 19th century. A womans duty in the 19th century was to exhibit â€Å"piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity,† This was the â€Å"cult of true Domesticity† in the 19th century (Radek). Depending on their social class, women in the 19th century were seldom allowed to handle money. Lower class women, however, were allowed to work as servants in a masters home, nannies, factory workers, and in dire situations, prostitutes, but most strived for family centered jobs (Radek). The protagonist, Nora Helmer is characterized as the perfect doll wife, one that keeps the home presentable for her husband and takes care of the children. She fits the innocent stereotype of 19th century women in the play, with her childlike nature and her slightly ditzy behavior. Torvald Helmer, Nora’s husband, is characterized as the head of the household, who works and is in charge of legal matters and managing money. Torvald can be seen as the antagonist in the play, because he keeps Nora below him with his nicknames for her, like â€Å"LittleShow MoreRelatedDoll’s House by Henrik Ibsen1126 Words   |  4 PagesHenrik Ibsen wrote the book, Doll’s House, in the late 1870s about the life of the common woman in Norway during the 1870s. The book gave society an inside of look of the life women in general. Woman during this time were oppressed and men were contemptuous towards women. Women that opposed their husband were considered mentally insane and sent to a mental institution. The book is about a domesticated woman named Nora. Nora lives in a house with her husband and their three kids. Nora main job toRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen1725 Words   |  7 Pagessuffrage, took place from 1848-1920. In the drama A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, readers are presented with what seems to be the perfect little American dream home. Anti-feminist values are presented immediately in the first scenes of the play and carry out until the end. The play was writte n in 1879, a time when the feminist movement was just starting to take shape and become well known. The drama A Doll’s House has feminist themes that indicate Henrik Ibsen to be a supporter of the feminist movement throughRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen1492 Words   |  6 PagesA Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen was written in 1879 during the Victorian Era. The story is written as a play to be performed on stage. The two main characters Nora and Torvald Helmer are upper middle class husband and wife, but it boils down to social expectations. Conflicts arise when women are under their husbands rule for everything and society pressure to keep up appearances. Torvald Helmer is the antagonist to Nora, his wife, because he is mostly concerned about his reputation, he is the supremeRead MoreA Dolls House, by Henrik Ibsen1539 Words   |  7 PagesThe themes of â€Å"objecthood† and â€Å"feminine liberation† in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House as conveyed through the characterization of Torvald and Nora, diction, stage directions and structure in two integral scenes. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House conveys the story of a wife’s struggle to break away from the social norms of late nineteenth century middle class Europe. Throughout the play, Ibsen focuses on Nora’s characterization and experiences and thus this leads the reader to perceive her as the protagonistRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen1556 Words   |  7 Pagesprevalent in a variety of literary selections. This paper will focus on animal imagery in Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House by using the reader response strategy. In the play A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen, animal imagery is used in the development of the main character Nora. It is also later found that the animal imagery is a critical part in understanding who Nora is and how other characters perceive her. Ibsen uses creative animal imagery to develop Noras character throughout the play. The animalRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen1829 Words   |  7 Pages Henrik Ibsen, writer of his most famed play A Doll’s House. Ibsen emphasizes on small-town life in this play. A Doll’s House takes place in the 1880s in Europe/Norway and based on a married couple, Torvald Nora, who are considered to be middle class. The main character Nora in Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, seems to give this false installment of her identity. She is both unpredictable and childlike. The entire first and second act she spends giving this hidden subtext that she is unreliableRead MoreA Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Essay961 Words   |  4 PagesIn 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 whomRead More A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen Essay842 Words   |  4 PagesA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen â€Å"A dolls house† was written by Henrik Ibsen and produced by famous actors during the time of the 1800’s; in fact it was the year of 1879 to be precise. It was around this time that many different Social, cultural and historical moments were changing through time, leaving the end result to change not only one country but had an effect on most of the world. For this section of the work I will be carefully discussing with you the issues of; * Social events Read More A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Essay1111 Words   |  5 PagesA Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen The play â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen is about a wife that is hiding a big secret from her overprotective husband. The play takes place on Christmas Eve till the day after Christmas. Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer have been married for 8 years, yet Nora is hiding something from Torvald that she thinks would ruin everything if he found out. It opens up with Nora coming home and decorating the house for Christmas and making preparations. They have 3 children:Read MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen834 Words   |  3 PagesMr. Krogstad, a former employee of Torvald is the leading antagonist in A Doll House. He clearly has an agenda and a lust for power. Krogstad’s lust for power gives the reader a sense of subtle rage because Krogstad only wants what’s best for him and his family but he exploits Nora for his own gain. Krogstad advances the plot by controlling Nora through a loan, while illuminating both main characters, and reinforcing the themes of confusion and lost love. Krogstad influences the plot in a very