What Is The Presence Of Masculinity In A Doll's House
Written Assignment on A Doll’s House
In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen showcases how toxic formations of masculinity as well as femininity can birth completely destructive and damaging relationships between men and women. Norway in the 1870s, presumably similar to every culture, was a sexist society that adopted stereotypical gender roles. In the play, the cultural perceptions of economics, food, art, and family, all being superficially tied to gender, contribute to the extinction of a marriage.
Ibsen’s play portrays the marriage between a traditionally masculine businessman who has just been promoted at his job in the bank, and an allegedly helpless housewife. The wife, Nora, is introduced as a “spendthrift” who is accustomed to wasting her husband’s money on unnecessary items like christmas decorations. The language used between Nora and her husband, Torvald …show more content…
Also putting into account the decency of Torvald’s occupation, it is possible to conclude that the Helmer household was in a comfortable financial position at worst. Even so, Torvald conjures the subject of their financial problems solely as a way to justify his control over Nora. “If you spend it all on the housekeeping and any number of unnecessary things, then I merely have to pay up again.” (Ibsen, 8) At the climax of the play, this ownership of this object switches when it is revealed that age Nora has borrowed money from Torvald’s business acquaintance to save her husband’s life. The fact that the supposedly helpless, sweet wife had pulled of such an elaborate scheme destroys Torvald’s ideology and leaves him with nothing to stand on to prove his superiority. Additionally, it shows the reader how a capable and intelligent women can dim herself down completely, to serve to the arrogant emotional needs of her
In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen showcases how toxic formations of masculinity as well as femininity can birth completely destructive and damaging relationships between men and women. Norway in the 1870s, presumably similar to every culture, was a sexist society that adopted stereotypical gender roles. In the play, the cultural perceptions of economics, food, art, and family, all being superficially tied to gender, contribute to the extinction of a marriage.
Ibsen’s play portrays the marriage between a traditionally masculine businessman who has just been promoted at his job in the bank, and an allegedly helpless housewife. The wife, Nora, is introduced as a “spendthrift” who is accustomed to wasting her husband’s money on unnecessary items like christmas decorations. The language used between Nora and her husband, Torvald …show more content…
Also putting into account the decency of Torvald’s occupation, it is possible to conclude that the Helmer household was in a comfortable financial position at worst. Even so, Torvald conjures the subject of their financial problems solely as a way to justify his control over Nora. “If you spend it all on the housekeeping and any number of unnecessary things, then I merely have to pay up again.” (Ibsen, 8) At the climax of the play, this ownership of this object switches when it is revealed that age Nora has borrowed money from Torvald’s business acquaintance to save her husband’s life. The fact that the supposedly helpless, sweet wife had pulled of such an elaborate scheme destroys Torvald’s ideology and leaves him with nothing to stand on to prove his superiority. Additionally, it shows the reader how a capable and intelligent women can dim herself down completely, to serve to the arrogant emotional needs of her