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Women´s Role in A Doll´s House by Henrik Ibsen Essay

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Works in Translation Essay: A doll’s house How does the society in “A Doll’s House” depict the female character’s roles. 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 …show more content…

Unlike her friend, Nora, Mrs. Linde has more freedom to do what she wants, however she is not entirely satisfied. In this culture, a woman’s role is normally to do housework and to raise their children, but Mrs. Linde is exempt from this. She does not have to conform into this picture, but she is not content with her lifestyle until she meets up with her lost love, Krogstad. “I want to be a mother to someone, and your children need a mother. We two need each other.”1 This quote exemplifies that Mrs. Linde is only content with her life when she fits in the role of being a mother and a wife. One more female character in a Doll’s house that holds a sacrificial role is Anne-Marie, or the nanny. Although not much is said about her, she shares the same role as the other female characters in the play. Due to her not having a wealthy dad or husband, Anne-Marie was forced to leave her daughter to take care of the Helmer’s children. In this time period, leaving ones family and children was unheard of and frowned upon, so the decision to abandon her child in order to support herself, must have been really difficult. Another thing that these female characters sacrifice in this society, is job availability. Nora has to find little work to help her pay off her debt, but nothing really serious. Mrs. Linde really needs to support herself, but she has no other way to get a decent job. This compels her to ask her old friend Nora to help her acquire a job.

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