Meaning In A Doll's House

The meaning of life is to find the meaning of life. Is it not? We all go through each day trying to figure out which road out the infinite amount of paths will lead us in a better direction where happiness is prominent and society is flawless. However, not every single human being is going to fit on that narrow, one-lane highway to success. Bad choices, accidents, fate, family matters, society, temptation, anger, rage, addiction, and loss of hope can all be deciding factors in opting to choose that wrong path to self-destruction. The adverse thing is, once you've traveled so far down the road, you get so discouraged that you feel like you can never turn back or make up for the "lost time."

Meaning in one way or another colors every mental state, because it is the foundation of every conscious level. We don’t always focus specifically on the sense of import in every experience, but it is precisely this sense of meaning, whether conscious or unconscious, that turns each and every experience into a conscious experience in the first place. Thus, no conscious experience is a completely meaningless experience, because without some level of meaning the event cannot be experienced as “conscious” at all. Numerous metaphors can be used, the fact that meaning may be thought of as the seed from which each and every conscious experience grows, or meaning is the spark that ignites the flame of consciousness. It is these metaphors that fulfill the theory that life without purpose is not life at all.

Author Margaret Trudeau once said, “I can’t be a rose in any man’s lapel” (“I Can’t Be”). This quote expresses exactly what was going through many women’s minds during the 1800’s in Norway. Women had let their husbands control their lives for ages before the 1800’s. Soon, they could no longer stand being the rose in their husbands’ lapel. The women of Norway longed for freedom and began to rebel. Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll House, displays what women were going through during that time. The three act play is about Nora, a seemingly typical, submissive housewife, and Torvald, Nora’s condescending, banker husband. In his

What is the meaning of life? According to Chris McCandless living free and not conforming to the natural way of life is the meaning to life, as shown in the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Similar to Chris McCandless, Ralph Emerson believes that following your dreams and making your own trail is the meaning of life according to his short story “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Emerson. The purpose of man's existence is to avoid conformity and following one's own instincts and ideas.

In The Meaning of Life, Richard Taylor argues that meaningless lives our lives that consist of a repetitive cycle of struggles that do not give us any purpose. Taylor describes a meaningful life as one that has a purpose, and is creative and unique to that specific person. Also, the meaningful life is lived in a good and just manner. In The Meanings of Lives, Susan Wolf argues lives that are not involved in an activity that brings positive value are meaningless lives. A person that has a meaningless life by the standards of Taylor can still have a life that is going well for them. Their well-being is not dependent on whether they have a meaningful life or not. Wolf believes that meaningfulness is an important factor in a person’s well-being. Well-being is present when a person’s is living a life that is going positive according to themselves. A person who lives a life that is meaningless as a result of being repetitive and pointless can still have a life that is going well for them.

For example, it might be told in the first-person from the point of view of Isabel, Kezia, Else, Lil, or Aunt Beryl. In a well-developed essay, describe the effect of the current point of view.

What is the meaning of life? This has been a topic that has been greatly debated and discussed for as long as anyone can remember. Many people believe that happiness is the key to life and living a good life. Although achieving happiness can be difficult and it is another topic that no one really has a clear definition of and no one knows how to truly acquire it and can actually differ from person to person. John Steinbeck actually asks a question about happiness and in the story Cannery Row by John Steinbeck there are many different characters who… seem to have quirky personalities. While these characters do seem to live a tough life and don’t seem to have very much as far as money they are actually happy and content with their lives.

In Richard Taylor’s chapter “Meaning of Life”, he concluded that objectively, life is meaningless. He stressed his opinion by arguing that life tends to be a cycle of goals that cumulate to nothing. These goals require sequences of exhausting work and attempt that will continue throughout the rest of life but will have no meaning. As one goal is reached, the next is sought out for, forgetting the one that was just achieved. I do not support Taylor on his objective meaningless of life. Life has a meaning, even if it is just being alive, we were created by God and he has a plan for us. Goals help us become better people and they are important to us. Taylor explained that we can find meaning in our lives when a will is put behind our actions. This means that meaningfulness can be found within the veins of anyone. I agree with Taylor, that our actions should be of interest to us, yet his account fails to show that they will make our lives have a meaning. There is no validation, that a change of the state of mind will cause our lives to achieve meaning.

The climactic clash between Nora and Torvald jolts Nora into facing the truth about their marriage and she immediately sees through the illusion of happiness that existed in their marriage. Nora realizes that her relationship with Torvald has never been one between a wife and her husband; instead it resembles the relationship between a child and the child’s doll. This leads to the resolving moment of the play where Nora decides that she is going to leave Torvald and her children and venture out into the world to finally live as a human being and not as someone’s plaything and by doing so she resolves the conflict between her and Torvald.

Nora's second, and strongest, break from society's rules was shown by her decision to leave Torvald and her children.  Society demanded that she take a place under her husband.  This is shown in the way Torvald spoke down to her saying things like "worries that you couldn't possibly help me with" (Ibsen Page #), and "Nora, Nora, just like a woman" (Ibsen page #).  She is almost considered to be property of his: "Mayn't I look at my dearest treasure?  At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me - that's all my very own" (Ibsen page #)?  By walking out she takes a position equal to her husband and destroys the very foundation of society's expectations of a wife and mother.  Nora also breaks society's expectations of staying in a marriage since divorce was frowned upon during that era.  Her decision represented a break from all expectations placed upon a woman by society. Throughout the play Nora is looked down upon and treated as a possession by her husband. She is

The author brilliantly uses contrasting examples of what meaning is not to extract her argument on how to obtain meaning in a life. Her first example involves someone who spends day and night watching television and drinking beer. While those two activities in themselves aren’t bad, the fact that this person is living in “hazy passivity…/…unconnected to anyone or anything, going nowhere, achieving nothing,” is certainly not a life of meaning; and she refers to this as

But, what about the children? One of the reasons I think Nora’s decision was best for her because she was never really happy. She was never able to do or say anything that might tick Torvald off. At the end of the story, she even says that she went straight from being a daughter to being a wife. She never had the time to find herself or who she was.

In Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House”, we see that the character of Nora acts out to solve a crisis in her life. Through her life Nora was¬- care of financially by her husband Torvald who is the breadwinner of the family. Nora goes behind Torvald’s back and takes out a loan from the bank using her father’s signature to cover the cost of Torvald’s health and save his life. During the time, females were not permitted to do an act that involved money without the consent and approval of her male counterpart. After finally her choice to Torvald, Nora expected gratitude and was given anger/criticisms instead.

Macaroons: nora ! Nora! Please don’t leave me and go… why did she leave me half eaten? what is going to happen of me now!! Torvald detests me, he was always against Nora eating me………why did it have to be me?

When Henrik Ibsen decided to write the play “A Doll’s House’ he could not have thought of a more appropriate title. The title is a perfect reference to the main character Nora as well as the relationship she has with her husband and children. In the play we learn that Nora has cultivated a world for herself like a Doll’s House, where people are merely figurines meant to be manipulated and put into place; rearranged in the appropriate fashion whenever it suits her fancy. In doing so she has deliberately and blissfully made herself both the orchestrator of the play time and a willing participant herself. With her children and acquaintances she is the puppeteer, when she is with her husband she plays the subservient role of the doll bending to his will and wishes. This behavior manifests throughout