A Doll's House by Henrik Iben Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A Doll's House by Henrik Iben - Essay Example Most of Henrik Ibsen’s plays revolve around the struggling of people for an authentic identity for themselves. The backdrop of this struggle is a tyrannical society in which individuals struggle between their duty towards themselves and towards their families and society in general. One such woman is our protagonist Nora who represents such women who are repressed by society. Nora’s husband is Torvald Helmer, who is a rather controlling type of individual and treats her as one of his responsibilities and he is the one that portrays her identity. Most women in those days were not educated and so were easily relegated into a corner and never came out to voice their opinion. In this deductive essay, we are going to make an investigation on the theme of identity and how it was reflected in ancient society. Women in the 19th century were expected to be the typical stereotype subservient housewife, but one would be surprised at the turn of events in Henrik Ibsen’s play . Nora Helmer, who is the chief protagonist of this play, has all the characteristics of this stereotype woman, who does not possess an identity of her own and hence is depicted as an oppressed individual who possesses an inauthentic identity because of the societal demands of those times. In the beginning Nora is seen responding to her husband’s teasing and does not seem to care about her doll- like existence and with no identity to call her own. In sharp contrast to Nora, we have the contemporary woman of today with a world of difference in their attitudes and reactions to such a situation. Modern women in our present society has her own identity because she has made herself so strong, powerful and full of confidence in all that she does. However, as the play progresses we find Nora shedding some of her inauthentic identity by playing a more specific role in the family. The author highlights various facets of her intelligent and courageous nature which is far from the †Å"silly girl† her husband made her out to be. One such incident that was highlighted was the loan she had taken to preserve her husband’s health after forging her father’s signature, which proved that she was quite intelligent and possessed qualities that were beyond mere wifehood. However, Nora was quite inexperienced in many ways and did not understand the ways of the world, because she always lived under the care of her father and later on her husband. This statement is very clear when she tells her husband Torvald in no uncertain terms that, "I've been your wife-doll here, just as at home I was Papa's doll-child."(1608) However, as the play progresses, we find a great change taking place as Nora emerges as a strong and confident individual who refuses to be a doll any longer and rejects the false union of marriage and the burden of motherhood. This image of Nora identifies with the image of today’s strong and confident women, who like to live life acco rding to their own terms and not remain a scapegoat to be targeted at all times. The changing phase of Nora, is further augmented when she connects once again with her childhood friend Mrs. Linde who suffers the loss of her mother and husband. Mrs. Linde was a very down to earth person whose life was a big struggle due to poverty. Her adherence to the norms of society provides a perfect foil to the impetuous nature of Nora. Linde is a perfect foil to Nora’s lively exuberance in addition to her feminist ideas which explode towards the end of the play. Mrs. Linde is an archetype of the woman of those days, whose qualities Michael Meyer has described as â€Å"stuffy Victorianisms. Kristine Linde is in fact a sharp contrast to