The role of being a husband in both A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Fences by August Wilson is failed to a certain extent due to the fact that they cannot meet the expectations of their wives. By failing to do so, they both damage their relationships. In Fences, we learn that Troy Maxon’s failure as a husband started when he cheated on his wife, Rose, with another woman, who soon became pregnant with his child. In A Doll’s House, Nora would do anything to save her husband, Torvald, but that that feeling wasn’t mutual, and in the end, Torvald shows Nora who he really is, someone she did not expect him to be.
In Fences, we learn that, when Rose and Troy first met, Troy told Rose, “Baby, I don’t wanna marry, I just wanna be your man”
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Rose may have thought an affair was possible in the early years of their marriage, but after eighteen years, those expectations have changed. His excuse for this affair was that it got him “…away from the problems and pressures” in the house and that he could “…be a different man” (Wilson 180). “I can sit up in her house and laugh. Do you understand what I’m saying. I can laugh out loud…and it feels good,” said Troy (Wilson 180). Rose responded, “What the hell was I there for? That was my job, not somebody else’s” (Wilson 180).
Troy doesn’t understand the role that he plays as a husband. He doesn’t understand that, just because he hit a bump in the road, it doesn’t mean he can do whatever pleases him. Rose explains to him that she’s had problems and pressures in her life as well, but she decided to be strong and hold on to Troy no matter what, because that is her responsibility as a wife. “…Don’t you think it ever crossed my mind to want to know other men? That I wanted to lay up somewhere and forget about my responsibilities? That I wanted someone to make me laugh so I could feel good? You not the only one who’s got wants and needs,” said Rose (Wilson 181). Even those Rose knew Troy wasn’t the finest man in the world, she stood by his side as a loyal and loving wife. Troy failed to meet the expectations of being a husband and keeping up with his responsibilities as one. Rose knew finally saw that after the announcing of his affair
Troy's lack of commitment to finishing the fence that Rose wants put up represents his lack of commitment in his marriage. He doesn't understand that Rose wants to keep the family close because he never truly had a close family. He becomes a womanless man. “From right now… this child got a mother. But you a womanless man” (79). Troy pushes Lyons away by refusing to hear him play his "Chinese music" (48). He also damages his relationship with his other son, Cory, by preventing him from playing football and rejecting his only chance to get recruited by a college football team. The “fence” also depicts that Troy is disowning Cory when they get into an argument and Troy kicks him out on to the streets. Troy states that Cory’s things will be on “the other side of that fence” (89). As a result, Troy ends up driving everybody away just like his father. The “fence” acts like a physical divider between the Maxson’s household and the outside world because Troy doesn’t bring anything others would normally have into his house and Rose does not want any outsider intruding her family.
When Troy sheepishly says, “...we can figure it out” (Wilson, Fences, 68) when it comes to him impregnating another woman, she boldly fires back, “All of a sudden it’s ‘we.’ Where was ‘we’ at when you was down there rolling around with some god-forsaken woman? ‘We’ should have come to an understanding before you started making a damn fool of yourself.” (Wilson, Fences, 68) Rose is a strong woman whose definition of a Good Life is one dedicated to protecting her family so even though she can boldly tell Troy everything he has done wrong she still puts family first and helps raise Troy’s baby and lets Troy live in the house.
Rose does all she can to keep Troy in good situations and not let him make a fool of himself. “Troy what is wrong with you this
The members of the family that makes the most effort to keep the family level is Troy?s wife, Rose. The narrator tells us that Rose is a gentle woman. She cares a great deal for her family and her husband, despite the challenge of making her home a positive environment under the strains of a man with such impossible qualities. The author explains her reasons for enduring Troy by saying that ? her devotion to him stems from her recognition of the possibilities of her life without him: a succession of abusive men and their babies, a life of partying and running the streets, the Church, or aloneness with its attendant pain and frustration? (526; I, 1). In light of the fact that Troy is a good man and provides for their family in a way of his duty, Rose loves and supports him and ?either ignores or forgives his faults, only some of which she recognizes? (526; I, 1). Despite his love and respect for his wife, Troy acts extremely disrespectfully towards Rose. Due to the lack of love and respect that Troy was shown as a boy, he does not know feelings to his family. He talks down to his wife as if she were a child, while at the same time he declares his love for her to his friend, Bono. Troy?s fault, however, in declaring his love for his wife and family. He says, ?I love Rose? (555; II, 1), but when the time comes for him to show his love, he only disrespects her. When Rose asks Troy what he and Bono are talking about one
The author reveals that untruthful behavior can result in permanently damaging predicaments. After cheating on Rose, Troy finally explained to her, "Then when I saw that gal [Alberta]...she firmed up my backbone. And I got to thinking that if I tried...I just might be able to steal second” (45). The phrase “... I just might be able to steal second” shows how desperate and thoughtless he was. Troy lied to Rose for a long time, and it hurt both of them very much when he finally had to confess. Through this event, Wilson showed
Troy tries to subject Rose to his misogynist mentality in his belief that Rose should answer his every demand. A part in the play that exemplifies this is when Troy calls upon Rose, when she doesn’t answer him as soon as he intends her to. He says, “You’re suppose to come when I call you woman!”(Wilson 1.4.21). Troys response to Rose not being there immediately during his time of need verifies his expectation of his wife being of service to him.
In the opening of the play, the main characters are developed to be very stereotypical archetypes. Troy is the money earning, hard-assed, head of the house and Rose is the gentle and caring mother. Through metaphors, Wilson can contradict these initial character developments and reveal the character 's true intentions. In the opening of the play, Troy 's character is “... fifty-three years old, a large man with thick, heavy hands; it is this largeness that he strives to fill out and make an accommodation with” (1.1.1). His appearance implies that Troy has an ego larger than himself and strives to fill up the missing space in every way possible, but is not showing his struggles. In a heated argument with Rose Troy says, “It’s not easy for me to admit that I been standing in the same place for eighteen years” (2.1.70). In other words, Troy is perceived to be a self-sufficient and progressive man, until now. He reveals his vulnerabilities and says that although he puts on a front of accomplishment, he has felt
Troy makes himself appear to be more of a suave, debonair gentlemen to Rose by fabricating events from their past. Despite Troy’s attempts of romancing her, Rose knows better than to believe Troy’s mendacity. In Act One, scene one, Troy tells the story of how he met Rose. ”Baby, I don’t wanna marry, I just wanna be your man” (1333). Rose says, “Troy, you ought not talk like that. Troy ain’t doing nothing but telling a lie” (1333). Troy tries to make himself appear more engaging than he really is. Troy's lying makes him seem more gallant than he really is. He also talks about how he defeated Death. In Act One, scene one, Troy says to Rose and Bono, “I wrestled with Death for three days and three nights and I’m standing here to tell you about it” (1336). Every story Troy tells, he emphasizes the fact that he is such a stout and audacious man. Troy assumes that people actually believe his over embellished stories.
For instance, Rose is portrayed as a matriarch figure that has held the family together. According to Wilson, the extremely figure exhibited by Rose came in a large part from his mother (Wilson 6). Secondly, the fact that a child figure is introduced in the play is aimed at ensuring that maternity can become a central theme in the play. Wilson has presented the audience with the character of a strong maternal figure, Rose, who not only gives birth to Cory, but also plays the role of a supporting wife to her husband, Troy. She appears to handle all the financial matters in the house, even though she is not in any formal employment outside the homestead. She is in charge of all the cooking, shopping, and washing. She constantly monitors Troy’s finances and scolds him like a mother. Thus, Wilson presents a woman whose maternal roles have superseded her marital roles. It is this behavior that could creates the drift between the two and pushes Troy to start an affair with Alberta. If Rose was the submissive stereotypical woman as some critics portray her, it would not be expected of her to accept the child that her husband brings
As Bono says, “Some people build fences to keep people out…and other people build fences to keep people in.” This is why Rose wants the fence to be built. When faced with Troy’s infidelity she gets only a cursory, self-serving response from Troy. It’s hard to decipher why exactly she stays with Troy, but a very simple, valid reason would be that she has no other place to go, and feels a strong responsibility to try and care for her children. Eventually her compassion leads her to make an unspoken ultimatum to Troy: I can either take in this bastard child, or I can take in you. Troy misses this ultimatum and sees the well-being of the child, Raynell, as the only option.
Troy thought that he was a good husband to Rose because he provided her with food and a house. He wasn’t a good husband because he didn’t give her love and compassion. These two things are needed in a good marriage. She centered her whole life around him and he gave her almost nothing. When she had a problem, she couldn’t go to him. Troy also wasn’t faithful to Rose. He went off and had an affair with another woman. Rose was heart-broken by this. She couldn’t believe Troy could do this to her. She devoted her life to him and he goes and stabs her in the back. On top of that, Troy had a child with his mistress. The woman died giving birth. Troy asked Rose to take care of the baby. Rose did, what else could she have done? Troy was not a good husband.
Ibsen's A Doll House is set in the 19th century, but women are still seen as property of their husbands. They are restricted to household chores and child care. In the beginning of the play the Helmers are the typical family. Torvald Helmer, the husband, is the bread winner of the family, while his wife Nora stays home, plays with the children, and shops for items for the house and herself. Nora is the protagonist and readers are invested in her interests. From the start of the play readers can see that Torvald treats Nora like a child and is patronizing her constantly. His use of pet names and the rules and restrictions he places on her are not appropriate treatment for a fully-grown woman. Nora even admits to Dr. Rank "that with Torvald it's just the same as with Papa" (Ibsen, 240). She plays into the idea that he has some power over her by asking for his opinion on the things. Which may be a tactic to maintain her naive appearance. If she can lead Torvald to believe that she is incapable of simple things like dressing herself, he would never suspect her of being capable of fraud and deception. She even states at one point: "Torvald, I couldn't get anywhere without your help" (Ibsen 461).
I think it’s a perfect example of women in the 1950s because after the war, women still found themselves in traditional roles but were slowly breaking out of them. When the men returned from the war, many women wished to keep their jobs but instead became stay at home mothers who were expected to care for the children as well as cook and clean. Many ads and TV shows portrayed the perfect “wife and mother” that women in the 1950s were expected to be. Rose deals with Troy 's nonsense mostly because she feels she has too, and even after Troy cheated on her and had a baby by another woman she took care of the baby. An example of this is when Rose said “I told him if he was not the marrying kind, then move out the way so the marrying kind could find me.” This shows that Troy is unloyal, and Rose was always subject to his wild ways. Especially when Rose insisted on marrying him instead of
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
As one source comments, “But our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife” (Ibsen 76). The novel, “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, captures the life of a controlled house wife who has her life dictated for her and if not for her husband, Torvald, arrogance, she still would not have realized they way she was treated was wrong. After a careful analysis of the story, there was an important change in the relationship and feelings between Nora and Torvald from the beginning of the story to the end.