A Doll House: Irreconcilable Views of Men and Women

A Doll House: Irreconcilable Views of Men and Women

Throughout history, men and women's roles in society have created them to have irreconcilable views with each other. Their opposing opinions are based on different outlooks regarding various aspects of their lives. The way a person views themselves depends on their culture and the time period and which they live in. One issue that causes clashing of ideas between men and woman is their responsibility to their family. An individual's duties to their society and family play an important part in generating conflicting thoughts among the two genders. Honor and respect are other key factors that affect a person's point of views on an assortment of topics and subject matters. Also, divergence in moral judgments is an element of transforming petty disagreements into incompatible living situations. In the play "A Doll House", written by Henrik Ibsen, the idea that men and woman have irreconcilable views of self, family, duty, honor and morality is illustrated through the characters' personalities, personal hardships, and relationships with one another.

In the past, a woman's position in society was limited compared to that of a man. Women were considered property of men and they had no say in any important matters concerning family and other issues. In her article "Woman in the Nineteenth as Seen through History and Literature", Mary Ann Mason Burki states "In the nineteenth century [...] a married women had almost no legal rights to her own property or to her wages if she worked" (197). Since the world used to always be considered male dominated, women had a lot fewer freedoms and rights then men. The holy matrimony was the biggest and most significant accomplishment that a woman could dream for, because without a husband by her side she would be deemed unfit and would bring shame to her family. The husband would be in control of everything in her life, and he would own all her worldly possessions. Even the children that she conceived were considered property of her husband. In the 19th century, men still had an unfair advantage over women in many areas of life. The playwright, Henrik Ibsen, commented on the topic on hand by stating, "A woman cannot be herself in contemporary society, it is an exclusively male society with laws drafted by men, and with counsel and judges who judge feminine conduct from the male point of view" (qtd. in Ferguson 230). Ibsen's statement held true for the age in which he lived. Men ruled and governed most of the humanity throughout the world, including the civilizations in Western Europe during the Victorian epoch.

Ibsen's tragicomedy, "A Doll House", is about a middle class family in the late 1800's. The drama depicts many situations characteristic of what someone in those times may have experienced in real life. The range of circumstances discussed throughout the play portrays the dire and dismal predicaments of women during that era. The females in his theatrical production were trapped in diverse quandaries, and they were forced to make vital and strategic decisions in order to persist with their lives. The choices that they were compelled to undertake could never have been understood by their male counterparts because the men had no clue what the life of a woman was like. The men believed that women's lives were filled with trivial and frivolous events. They could not appreciate the weight and value of some of the things that their women would do for them, nor could they truly comprehend the sacrifices that had been made on their behalf.

There is no doubt that how one perceives oneself to be is unlike the slant that others have on identifying them. The specific culture that one is brought up in or resides within has an influence on the way they classify and recognize themselves and others. In the past, a woman was brought up to believe that she should do anything in her power and forgo any pleasure of her own just to please her husband. In "A Doll House", the character Nora Helmer does just that in order to help her spouse through troubled times. Unfortunately, her husband, Torvald, never realizes the things that she had given up to save his life or just to satisfy him. She views herself as someone who should always be there for her man because she thinks that he is a generous man, and she trusts that he loves her and would always be there for her. However, her husband simply looks upon her and behaves towards her as if she was nothing more than a doll, "I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa's doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it great fun when I played with them. That is what our marriage has been, Torvald" (Ibsen 939). He is not conscious of her feelings, and merely treats her as a foolish entity rather than as a human being capable of innovative and worthy thoughts. Therefore, their notions of self are contradicting because she views herself as a vital component of the family, while he deems her as a nothing more than a bird "My little songbird must never do that again. A songbird needs a clean beak to warble with" (Ibsen 906).

Family roles differ from society to society, but in many parts of the world family roles are entrenched in particular cultures. The way one reckons their family in their mind fluctuates from person to person in their household because of contrary outlooks on numerous issues. Husband and wife obviously have different obligations to their family, but the husband can many a times have an arrogant approach and attitude towards his wife because he dwells in the magnitude of his accomplishments and takes no notice of the wife's affairs and endeavors. In "A Doll House", Nora and Torvald's personalities represent contrasting standpoints on several principal family problems that surface. Nora's devoted mind-set to her family constrains her to carry out deeds that she is not proud of, but is persuaded to commit due to her strong dedication to her family. Throughout the play, the audience witnesses her loyalty to her husband and her family. The end is a shock to most people because "For a middle-class woman in ordinary circumstances, Nora had done the unthinkable" (Gray 1430). People thought about how could somebody who is steadfast and trustworthy to her family abandon everything for her own selfish desires? To answer this, one must consider the way her husband participated in ruining her undying affection and commitment towards her kith and kin. He never valued her contributions to the family, and when he discovered her secret he became infuriated with her, even though she did