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Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play A Doll's House is almost certainly not as shocking to those who read it today as it was when it was first published. In many ways, general public attitudes have caught up with Ibsen's own so that his play now appears to express what many people feel. And yet this must not blind us to the fact that his play was very much ahead of his time in so many ways - especially, of course - in the way in which women are depicted. Ibsen uses the gap between appearances and what is real to make us question why reality is the way it is and what we might do to change aspects of the world that we do not like. He asks us to ask ourselves why it is that a woman should be treated like a doll rather than an independent human being who can think for herself.

The 1879 play tells the story of Nora Helmer. She is sheltered and petted and expected to act like a sweet but unintelligent pet first by her father and then by her husband. Nora commits forgery to get money to save her husband's life and he discovers this fact after she has repaid the sum. His behavior towards her when he discovers what she has done - and it is important to remember that she has acted only out of concern for his welfare and has shown both courage and initiative in doing so - is patronizing and unkind. She acts entirely out of love for him, but his response to her actions make her realize that he has never actually seen her as a real human being on her own but rather as a pretty doll.

The transformation that we see in Nora as a character is in some measure a direct reaction to the behavior of her husband and is also in some measure the function of a hidden, almost alchemical reaction within herself. But it is also the result of the ways in which other characters in the play - including Dr. Rank, Anne Marie, Christine Linde and Nils Krogstad - interact with her. She learns to see herself not simply through her husband's eyes (and by extension through the e...

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Henrik Ibsen. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 18:56, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1688293.html