Preview

Dolls House an Madea Comparrison

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
732 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dolls House an Madea Comparrison
Like men, women have always played a specific role in society. Depending on the perspective of the viewer, one may say that the role woman have should change dramatically. In Ibsen’s play, A Doll House, legendary Greek playwright Euripides’ play, Medea and Eavan Boland’s poem “A Woman’s World,” the idea of a “woman’s place” and the appropriate conception of a “Woman’s World” is challenged. In all of these pieces of literature, women are faced with inevitable misogyny and unjustified predetermined inferences of character. Both Ibsen’s and Euripides’ pieces have these women challenging the idea of what their roles in society should be. In Medea the hatred used to strive for equality or revenge for being forced to accept the role of a woman is far more extreme than Ibsen’s Nora who takes on a more subtle approach is searching for self-worth, respect and equality. In “A Woman’s World” Boland’s message is used to show women their fault in accepting this overly domestic role in society. Bolan is trying to show woman to be more determined to find personal success, rather than simply living vicariously through the success of their husbands. In this poem the author urges women to search for equality and respect in love and society, just like the Nora and Medea in their stories. In A Doll House equality is eventually seen as a necessity for Nora’s love with Torvald. It’s the only thing that could keep hope for their marriage. When Nora’s finally realizes her potential as a woman, or rather a human being, her husband is shocked at her new frame of mind, and Nora is forced to leave him. Nora’s epiphany for a better life for herself is something the Boland is trying to give to her readers. “Our way of life has hardly changed since a wheel first whetted a knife. Well, maybe flame burns more greedily and wheels are steadier but we’re the same.” In this quote Boland explains that since the very beginning, even dating back to a nomadic period a woman’s role has essentially

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In novels and play writes such as Barbara Kingsolver’s, The Poisonwood Bible and Euripides, Medea, the theme Role of women arises: women in many societies are subjugated and displayed as the inferior gender, when they are truly the strongest; they carry all the pain and suffering of society, the wars and the deaths; thus they are the pedestal that keeps everyone up. In order to reveal theme Kingsolver and Euripides make use of literary devices such as symbolism, imagery and diction. Using all three literary devices Kingsolver reveals that women such as Orleana believe that they are just rag dolls that are pulled, pushed and just there, even so realize how strong they really are; that if it was not for them their children would not be able to live. Medea on the other hand represents all the pains and struggles of women and is attempting to inform all women that they have the power and must stand up for themselves.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It also conveys the idea that women were not considered as important as males because it is to be the way they truly are. Lastly, this also may have signified that women were all viewed as the same and that differentiation was only amongst men. From this, women were to only serve as housewives and that was the sole priority for them to do. The perspective of the author shows that the roles of women in high society were dignified and they had no freedom towards any other activity than this sole purpose. The audience is to be shown how women were denied privileges and their continued roles as…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In A doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, the main character Nora is part of a very successful marriage. Her husband, Torvald, has a very economically stable job therefore making it unnecessary for Nora to work. However, Nora is not treated as a Woman. On the contrary, she is being portrayed as a doll. “Is my little squirrel bustling about?”(1282). He often speaks to her in a superior voice making his dominance known in their relationship. She decides to take matters into her own hands by leaving her husband after she is blackmailed by Krogstad for borrowing money from him. During the time period in which this play has taken place, it is frowned upon to disobey a man. However she goes the extra mile and leaves her responsibilities as a mother.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nora is unhappy with her life and wants to walk away from thing. In this book “A Doll House” showed how women were treated in the 19 century men were always in charge of the women. In my opinion women should have just as much control as the men did. Everything should be equal. I don't think gender should determine if your in charge or not. In this play marriage is displayed as one person controlling the other. Marriage extent are to bring a man and women together as husband and wife. Not to worry about financial problems there suppose to be happen and create a bond…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In many cultures, such as European in society, women are perceived as the primary caretaker of the home among other oppressive notions that pertain to them. They were in charge of organizing social events, maintaining the family’s reputation, cooking, and cleaning occasionally with assistance from their children. They were considered to be of less value than their male counterparts and, thus, were not permitted the opportunity to have a role in politics, religion, and society. Since the time of Shakespeare, the majority of gender inequities in society have been abolished, and a new era of complete equality is on the horizon. However, there are barriers of ignorance, whose sole purpose is to hinder progression, that people have yet to break. Women have made efforts to gain equality in society since the 1800’s as seen by the writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the first great feminist treatise. It listed and discussed her grievances concerning gender inequality and had a total influence on the art of travel writing as well as the Romantic Movement. A sign of this progress in society, other than women’s introduction into several facets of society (i.e. entertainment, business, politics, etc.), is the adoption of gender role reversal, partly due to its comedic portrayal in television but also its necessity in some homes. As expected, there were some who were more conservative towards gender equality such as, William Shakespeare which was seen in his gruesome play, Macbeth that used this idea of general role reversal to oppose this idea.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Our society’s gender roles are constantly evolving and changing, all in the name of “progressive thinking”, though not all for the good. With a new “social norm” appearing every few years or so, it comes as a surprise that it has been a relatively short time since women have broken through their defined roles to be seen on the same level as men on a social basis. Many of history’s pages are written from a patriarchal perspective, opening the way for the female protagonists and complimentary characters in Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” and Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” to make us rethink those gender roles through the events that occur during the plays and through their own complexity, providing interesting points of comparison and contrast between the plays and challenging audiences to think about gender roles in a new way.…

    • 1940 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Madea and Marriage

    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages

    “We women are the most unfortunate creatures” (Euripides 695). This worn-out grievance has poured through the vocal chords of all women since the first pains of childbirth, but more importantly the atrocious day men began to pervert the customs of marriage. Prominence and provocation clothe the declaration as Medea, a forlorn woman abandoned by her husband, explains the status and circumstances women of ancient Greece were subject to desolately endure. Scholars are blinded by the era of great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, but the institutions and governments built by these “great men” denied the admittance of women into their institutions and therefore closed the door to potentially incredibly intelligent minds. All women, even those leading satisfactory lives, were subject to the unfair laws and barriers men created. Although women have been cast into the depths of submission through out the course of history, Medea daringly broke the ideal perception of weak and ignorant women in the Greek tragedy, Medea, where she made an aggressive speech by mournfully proclaiming,…

    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Female emancipation and the struggle for women of existing within a predominately patriarchal society is a prevalent topic in literature. Female heroines are portrayed variably across all eras and genres of literature and yet the use of a melancholic and isolated female protagonist is arguably inescapable as writers continually refer back to a critical portrayal of women in their work. From Chaucer’s presentment of the Wife of Bath as an old hag to John Donne’s plea in his poem ‘Loves Alchemy’ that one should “Hope not for mind in women”1; or one of Shakespeare’s female protagonists, Ophelia driven mad arguably due to her unrequited love for Hamlet. There is a tendency in literature, with particular reference to Shakespeare’s…

    • 3108 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “O women, of all creatures that live and reflect, certainly it is we who are the most luckless” (Euripides, 230). With this speech Medea reflects on the women roles that were set up in ancient Greece. The word “luckless” meaning out of luck, cursed, jinxed, doomed, and ill-fated really shows that the gender system put in place did not have success and enjoyment for the women in mind. This social system closely parallels the one that was established during the Elizabethan Era or the time period in which William Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream which also takes place in ancient Greece in Athens. In both Euripides’s play Medea and Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream the difficulties presented for women by the societies at the time cause the women to…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medea's Irony

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages

    It is through drawing on the experiences of women, particularly the social and economic injustices they face, that Medea earns our sympathy. Medea compares women to slaves with no control over their money or bodies as she explains, “We must save to raise a dowry; then the man that agrees to marry us becomes master of our bodies.” (Euripides p.16) and also notes the importance of ensuring one’s husband does not “ever think he’s trapped in the marriage.” (Euripides p.17) The stark contrast between the female and male experience of marriage is used by Medea to highlight the inequality faced by women. She does this again by explaining the irony in men telling women that they are “lucky to live safe at home while [men] take up their spears and go…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Similar to the way media portrays women in today society, Ibsen play “A Doll’s House” is controversial for its time in literature, because Ibsen understood the challenges women faced during that time, and exploits it in his writing, likewise to the United Nations who are actively raising awareness to the degradation of women in today’s society. Susan Glaspell’s play “trifles” grasps the notion that women in the early nineteen hundreds were considered to be innocent caretakers, while on the other hand turns the back to women when it comes to equality in marital relationships. Understanding women’s rights during the period the plays were written in, is a critical piece to understanding why the authors choose to write them in the fashion they…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women roles have drastically changed since the late 18th and early 19th century. During this time, women did not have the freedom to voice their opinions and be themselves. Today women don’t even have to worry about the rules and limitations like the women had to in this era. Edna in “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin and Nora in “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen were analogous protagonists. The trials they faced were also very similar. Edna and Nora were both faced with the fact that they face a repressive husband whom they both find and exit strategy for. For Nora this involved abandoning her family and running away, while Edna takes the option that Nora could not do-committing suicide. These distinct texts both show how women were forced to act during their marriage and towards society during this time.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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 situations very poorly in this play by keeping everything a secret. The way that women were viewed in this time period created a barrier that she could not overcome. The decisions that had the potential to be good were otherwise molded into appalling ones. Women should have just as many rights as men and should not be discriminated by gender; but they should also accept consequences in the same way without a lesser or harsher punishment.…

    • 3445 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Medea the Feminist

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The role of women in Greek society is a major theme in Euripides’ Medea. In ancient Greek society, women are frail and submissive according to men, and their social status is considered very inferior. Feminism is the theory of men being treated differently than women and the male dominance over women in society. Because of Jason’s betrayal of Medea, she is a challenge to the traditional views of ancient Greek society based on her actions. She wonders about the differences between the treatment of men and women and the active roles they play in society, such as the woman’s role to bear and nurture children. Medea ignores those feminine qualities and questions Jason’s sexist ideals. She internally struggles between self independence and motherhood. Euripides uses Jason’s affair with his new found wife and Medea’s obsession with wanting to bring much pain to him to display a feministic point of view in his play.…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen

    • 7391 Words
    • 30 Pages

    Being claimed and lauded by propaganda feminist, some critics argued that Ibsen’s intention in writing the play is not to resolve gender inequality and to liberate women in the society but rather just to illuminate it and reveal a moral issue faced by every person in his life (Cliffsnotes).…

    • 7391 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics