Sachit Singh Juneja

Ms. Aarti Seth

10 March y

A Doll’s House
-Henrik Ibsen

To analyze the limitations of women in the bourgeois society

of the 19th century in “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen

A Doll's House is a three act play by playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was written during the
revolution in Europe. This play marks a milestone in the development of a new genre of real-
ism that adequately and accurately depicts life compared to the idealism and utopian thinking
of the previous era. The drama depicts the fate of a married woman who did not have the op-
portunity to discover herself in a world dominated by men at the time. Henrik Ibsen tells the
story of a married woman who thought she lived a satisfying life with her husband. However,
as the play progresses, the husband insults her for forging a signature even though she did it
for him. When her case was resolved, her husband tries to calm her down, but she noticed her
own identity in the “doll’s house and left him right away. Ergo, she is a modern woman fight-
ing against gender discrimination.
His plays of petit-bourgeois life and interpersonal dramas go one step further in present-
ing the realities of life. Not everyone was happy with this. Of course, the bourgeoisie loved to
present itself above the moral realm compared to the fallen aristocracy and the prodigal work-
ing class. Ibsen pulled the veil to these claims and showed how middle-class family relation-
ships can be controlled, patriarchal, manipulative, and even violent.
Ibsen's treatment of women was heavily influenced by Scandinavian women's rights
and movements in the 19th century. Naturalistic affairs and female questions were the focus
of his work. Women demanded equality before the law, financial independence, financial sol-
vency, and above all, the right to vote.
The naturalistic movement, especially by the time it arrived in the theater, was in line
with the struggle for women's rights and promoted demands for legal equality, financial inde-

A DOLL’S HOUSE 1
pendence, and the right to vote. Ibsen's women were portrayed without moral bigotry as char-
acters striving for authenticity against the subconscious pietism of men in patriarchal soci-
eties. The naturalistic emphasis on females created a pristine feature and aspect in the records
of theater, and Ibsen was the pioneer with his strong female character. In his social and realis-
tic drama, the view of female characters was comparable and weighted to that of male charac-
ters. By being opposed to a male-controlled society, women revolted against conventional
norms and order, but generally failed and waned from society.
Even though Male Protection for unmarried women ended in 1863 in Norway and
women had the right to live a financially independent life by 1866, the situation still looked
incredibly bleak for them. Nora’s decision to walk out of her marriage and find herself in this
huge world was a direct connection to this.
Ibsen’s female characters cannot be judged by any specific good actions compared to
the bad ones by the good faith they bring to their acts. Ibsen’s notion of freedom meant free-
dom from any and all kinds of despotism. To him, the inferior condition of females was like
the state of working men who were equally impoverished. According to Ibsen, female’s
rights and human rights were one and the same. For these reasons, he wanted to give his char-
acter, Nora, all these social and human rights that the community is not ready to give to a fe-
male. He saw women as human beings separate from men and not being dependent on them.

A thorough and deep examination of complex, influential women characters, especially

Nora Helmer, Mrs. Alving, and Hedda Gabler reveal important information about Ibsen. He
suggested that slightly liberated women, dominated by males throughout their life, has af-
fected their thinking; and stands in the way of complete and total autonomy. This ideology of
his is reinforced by numerous evocations of motherhood whether actual, imminent, foster, or
symbolical in his plays.
Maternity issues have been central to any feminist movement, as the ability of women
to give birth is the most important consequence of the physiological differences between
women and men. Motherhood is found in people who are not mothers who gave birth, but
real mothers who refuse to get pregnant, abandon their children, distribute them elsewhere,
raise them in a delusional atmosphere, or ignore them. Motherless women cause the conse-
quences of their own sacrifice by a strong social norm that equates anatomy with fate.
Ibsen described a mother in modern society like ‘certain insects who go away and die
when she has done her duty in the propagation of the race’.

A DOLL’S HOUSE 2
 Nora paved the way for the women's movement in the 19th century by closing the doors
on her husband and children. The same way as Nora appeared in the final scene, free from
her shackles, without any duty or obligation to the man she married or the children she bore;
likewise, we find the females in the modern world and marriage from beginning to end. The
free and unconstrained woman has taken her place by the door, always ready to leave, with
her baggage in her palm. The baggage and not, as before, the ring of obedience and fealty –
will be the sign of her part in modern marriage

Ibsen’s idea of an independent female was unique and extremely different. He desired
to create and establish that it is the self actualization of females that can provide them with
the courage they require, to attempt to attain liberation in a male dominated world; Ibsen
rightly said, “What you call freedom I call liberties; and what I call freedom is nothing but a
constant, active acquisition of the idea of freedom”. Women’s notion of liberation is still a
hot issue in the 21st century. Generally and all in all, women have come a long way while
trying achieve their freedom and liberation to live their lives on their own. But, in third world
countries, women are still struggling to achieve or even try to stand up for their human rights.
Ibsen visualized of having a society where females would be equal to their counterparts, the
males; their relationship would be based on fairness, justice, lucidity, and love. His feminine
dilemmas, struggles, and conflicts reflect every woman who is "gradually waking up from a
dream of a merry, grotesque, vain dream" in order to lead a free life.

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