A Doll's House ||

 

A Doll's House

By Henrik Ibsen

 

Hey people, today we are going to be discussing 'A Doll's House' by Henrik Ibsen. In my personal opinion, A Doll's House is a story to be amused by very much. Even more so when it is seen with a different perspective, a feminist one that is.

Before we discuss the play, what is your opinion on the story?

 

The three act play is short in my opinion, but with a good moral teaching. The story revolves around the protagonist Nora and her struggle to maintain a great secret to herself. The secret on how she cared for her husband and family in a way that was not to be possible by a woman at that time; hence, the conflict of the story. Why is it that Nora must keep her secret from others? Why is it that Nora is to carry alone with her burden, until Kristine is told of the matter. The answer is simple, oppression. Nora is a woman and cannot for a loan, less so without the permission of her husband. Why is it that a woman must ask permission to take upon herself a burden of the sort? Is she not her own person, with her own needs and free will? No, she was not. She was a sheltered child by her father and later her husband, both treating her like a possession more than an individual. A “doll” as she stated.

 

            Torvald, her husband, treats her like a child, and is entertained by her childish behavior. Now, I very much understand that individuals like being nurtured and the sort, but belittling one’s self and act in a manner long deprived of individuality and dignity is insulting. Regardless, the part that set the play from the oppressing tone towards women is the true reason to why the play is entertaining. You see, the fact that Nora acknowledges that she is pampered and what she believed to be right for so long was no more. Nora, after so much struggle to seek her husband’s and her wellbeing, and her secret is known by her husband, comes to realize that her marriage is no more than a game of dolls, where she is to do what her husband tells her, to act, to never know what it is like to be her own person. And it is then that she leaves, she becomes that individual, she seeks to care for herself and want nothing given to her. This is how women’s true color bloom, showing how a woman is capable of everything and is property of none.

On a final note, why is it that Torvald says, “Ah! The miracle of miracles-?!” as “A hope springs up in him.”?

 

Looking forward for your answers.