Modern Period brought about many transformations in economy, politics, sociology etc. which were reflected in literature such as Drama as well. Literary works are opened for different discussions and point of views. By the dawn of the twentieth century women’s roles and position in the society had changed a lot. The women entered the public and also were allowed to work, but it wasn’t accepted by the male dominate society yet. Two important Modern Drama’s masterpieces written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw; a Doll's House play written in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen, and George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion written in 1913, depicts the men’s view toward women and their position in the society. Also it is perfectly …show more content…
In each play we have two main characters; in ‘A Doll’s House’ Torvald and Nora who are married and it’s been many years that they are living with each other, on the other side we have Henry and Eliza in ‘Pygmalion’ who have a teacher-student relationship, but it is clear that the attitude of Torvald and Henry is very similar most of the time. Henry as a teacher, encourages Eliza with chocolates to accommodate her with himself, while Torvald, with a father-like behavior, ignores Nora’s rights and demands such as forbidding her to bring her favorite sweets into the house. Moreover, both men name Eliza and Nora not only with their own names but whatever make them satisfied; Torvald calls Nora as his "little songbird" or his "squirrel", but Henry calls Eliza anything that occurs to him like a "squashed cabbage leaf." besides, by considering the conversations between Torvald with Nora, and Henry with Eliza it becomes clear that none of the men ever consider their partners as an adult by entering a serious conversation to them, as if they have lesser intelligence and understanding. Second, the judgement of men toward women is somehow shown in the plays. Torvald and Henry both misjudge Nora and Eliza, and it can show the fact that even the society of that era misjudged women in general. Consequently, both Pygmalion and A Doll's House are about women trying to find their position in the minds of Torvald and Henry that resist it as unfair; so it can be relevant to the begging of the time when women demand their rights in the society. Talking about the attitudes of the male character in ‘A Doll’s House’, declares that Torvald thinks of Nora only as a wife and a mother, not as a woman. She is only a doll for her husband. The setting in the whole play is a room which is a cage for Nora and she’s been keyed in. This condition is because Torvald thinks he has the right to possess his wife. It was a good condition to
A Doll’s House is an example of a literacy work with numeral possible themes. The idea of the play is an expression of the need for women to escape from the confinement and restriction that they faced in nineteenth-century European society, it is supported by the condescending manner in which Torvald treats Nora and by his frequent references to the respective value of men and women. Another theme is in order for a marriage to be successful, the people involved should know and trust each other, show view each other as equals, and should have separate identities. Related to this idea is the theme that
In the plays A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, the male characters propagate stereotypes and make assumptions concerning the female characters. These assumptions deal with the way in which the male characters see the female characters, on a purely stereotypical, gender-related level. The stereotypes and assumptions made in A Doll's House are manifest in the way Torvald Helmer treats his wife, Nora, and in the way Nora acts to please her husband. These include the beliefs that women are lesser people, childlike in their actions and in need of being controlled. Nora knows as long as she acts in accordance with the way she is
In “A Doll’s House” play people can see how authority can destroy a happy marriage. This play is about a husband (Helmer) who imposes his authority over his wife (Nora). At the beginning of the play this couple seems to be a perfect couple, a lovely and caring husband and lovely, loyal and caring wife and mother, but inside their customs is just an unhappy couple. Nora doesn’t have her owns opinion or thoughts she must leave behind her husband decisions and beliefs. Everything begins to fail when she decides to do something without her husband knowing, Helmer get sick and Nora trying to save his life borrows money from Krogstad. When everything comes out to light, Nora meets the real Helmer the one who’s cruel, deaf, and insensitive.
Throughout the course of time, women have been discriminated against and have been viewed more as objects than humans. Both authors, William Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen, express the inequality of women throughout the two plays. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen expresses how women are degraded by society. Henrick characterized Nora Helmer as an average, “stay at home mom” who takes care of the children, and has no job to provide for her family. Throughout the story the reader sees how Nora fuels the play and also helps develop the plot. Although in Othello, Shakespeare presents women using the same approach, on the contrary, Shakespeare gave women more freedom, as we see in A Doll’s House, Nora is isolated from the outside world, while in Othello, Desdemona and Emilia are free to wander without supervision. Through the duration of both plays, the reader becomes aware of the characters flaws, Nora and Desdemona both demonstrate flaws as they become naive and allow their trusting and reassuring nature to deceive them. Also, both Torvald and Iago speak and view women in a prejudice manner, additionally; both male characters view women as possessions. Finally, the female characters disregard males dominance in the current society as the reader sees Nora and Emilia have a different approach on men, rather than being obedient as other women do in that current society.
During this period, women were subjected in their gender roles and were restricted over what the patriarchal system enforced on them. Everyone was brought up believing that women had neither self-control nor self-government but that they must capitulate to the control of dominate gender. The ideology that “God created men and women different - … [and they should] remain each in their own position.” (eHow, Ibsen's Influences on Women's Rights) is present in A Doll’s House with Nora’s character, as she is seen as the ideal women during the Victorian Era, who is first dutiful as wife and mother before to her own self. Whenever Torvald gives Nora money, she spends it on her children so that they are not “shabbily dressed” (Act 1). Though she loves her children it is all the more shocking when she leaves them.
As act I of “A Doll’s House” begins, the scene is set to impress the audience “with vivid descriptions of a room “furnished with taste, but nothing too extravagant”. (Ibsen) The first to enter is Nora. Nora walks in with her arms full of bags after shopping, and her husband, Torvald calls from another room to make sure it is her he hears coming through the door. Torvald sets limits on Nora’s spending; he treats her as both a child and a doll. The way in which the characters in the play treat, and react to one another, shows the selfish intentions in which the expectations of society hold of them.
The Play A Doll House is acted out in three different acts which all provide insight on the feministic world in the early 1900s. From the beginning of the play the readers can see how Torvald is strong successful banker who has just received large promotion, while he treats his wife like a child like doll. He calls her names such “sulky squirrel,” “sweet little lark,” “song bird,” and “little scattered brain” (Ibsen 785). These names portray Nora a weak individual who is nothing but an unintelligent housewife and can suggest that Nora is
Henrik Ibsen one of his most famous literature works “A doll’s house” and Kate Chopin’s short story “The story of an hour” portrays to the Victorian era, when women didn’t have rights at all. Both authors were born in an era where they saw or lived a women’s life, and many women faced many aspects in life, such as being submissive to their husband’s, they were viewed as possessions than as people, and they lived a life that they weren’t satisfied with during the Victorian age. Even though Ibsen did not live the life of a woman, he still saw how woman were being mistreated, in spite of being a male he knew that woman’s were taken for granted. Ibsen’s play corresponds to his point of view of how women were seen as manipulated as “dolls”, and Chopin’s story “The story of an hour” was based on how women values were not tolerated. Both literature works consist of two women that were easily maneuvered by their husband’s that have little concern for their beliefs or feelings. Both characters, Nora and Louise lived a life where their words are meaningless to men, their reputations were not important in a society where men were seen as superior than women. Both works of literature, “ A Doll’s house” and “ The story of an hour” uses similarities and differences aspects to portray to the Victorian era that resemble in their writings.
In the book A Doll House by Hendrik Isben, he produces a production that shows how women were treated through the example of Nora. Many of the events that occurred normally would not occur in out era. In our day and age women, men, and every race are equally treating, but in the play, Doll House not so much.
The theme of power is expressed through the title of A Doll’s House, as when one plays with dolls he or she has complete control of what occurs. The relationship between a person and their doll is a direct act of subjugation, only the doll is not alive and has no choice in the matter. With the binary opposition of phylogeny versus misogyny present in the stage production, a question of the work is who is the one controlling the household. Ibsen had the character of Torvald believe he was in command of what occurred in the house; however he (Ibsen) provided more evidence that Nora was really the one who kept everything together. For example, Nora was speaking with Mrs. Linde that she obtained much needed money without consulting with Torvald first, as she lied to him saying it was given to them by her father. Mrs. Linde replied saying “a wife should not borrow without her husband’s consent” (Ibsen 88), meaning she had fallen into the belief that women are below men, which Ibsen is proved to be false in this play.
A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, creates a peephole into the lives of a family in the Victorian Era. The play portrays a female viewpoint in a male-dominated society. The values of the society are described using the actions of a woman, Nora, who rebels against the injustices inflicted upon her gender. Women’s equality with men was not recognized by society in the late 1800’s. Rather, a woman was considered a doll, a child, and a servant. Nora’s alienation reveals society’s assumptions and values about gender.
In “A Doll’s House”, Torvald and Nora each have a unique role in their marriage. Torvald treats Nora as his little doll, or plaything, while Nora treats him as the man of the house who has the authority to do anything he wants. These ideas form because the society within the play does not allow much freedom for women. According to this society and culture, a women’s role is depicted by the man she is with, the female character’s all exemplify Nora’s assertion that women have to sacrifice a lot more than men. In this play, Nora, Mrs. Linde, and the maid all hold sacrificial roles depicted by the society they
In “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen was created during 1800s time period. This play helps shine a light on the gender roles of the 1800s while also creating a twist that was uncommon for this period. During this time period, women were left home to oversee the domestic duties, while men went to commuted to work (Hughes). Men were seen as physically superior but morally inferior to women; which is also portrayed within this book (Hughes). This play marks the beginning of Henrik Ibsen’s realist period, which he explored the ordinary lives of small-town people (Kirszner and Mandell 881). This “modern tragedy” helped make Ibsen famous internationally because of the real-life story it captured (Kirszner and Mandell 882). Henrik Ibsen uses an array of literary devices to help keep the reader captivated from beginning to end. Three of the most prominent literary devices used by Henrik Ibsen are symbolism, foreshadowing, and an array of themes. These literary devices help transform a basic play into a complex story of lies and deception.
Although the era’s in which these two plays are set, both women still live in a male dominated society. This was a problem in both era’s and a problem which both writers wanted to highlight to the audience. This is truer in A Dolls House, and is influential in many of ideas of the play. The problem which causes the split between Nora and Torvald is because of Nora taking out a loan without his consent, this shows how women were sexually discriminated against in the time in which the play was set, as they were not allowed to do certain things which men could, for example it was nearly impossible for them to have a well paid job, resulting in Nora having to go behind Torvald’s back to make some money. Similarly in A Streetcar Named Desire there is clearly a
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House caused a sensation in 1879. During the 19th century, theatergoers were used to plays with fanciful plots that led to happy ending. Ibsen revolted against this and created a play A Doll’s House, which was the first modern drama. It was so shock to people, because it showed women’s inner life and their different, true side from what people wanted to believe and what they thought of. With his exclusive play, he shows his views of women’s struggles, strengths, and desires.