Introduction
Throughout history, women’s position in society has been a contested issue. The play “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen pursues a feminist theme on the place of women in a society dominated by men. Feminism is a movement that has been struggling to raise the social status of women by advocating for gender equality in society. Throughout the play, Ibsen exposes the struggle and obstacles that the protagonist of the play (Nora) has to face in her quest to attain equality. As a proponent of feminism, Ibsen believed that women could revolt against the patriarchal society when empowered through education. In the process of revolting and advocating for women’s rights and equality in society, Ibsen’s choice of words challenges the reader to critique and question the status of women in a patriarchal society. The author takes a feminist step to advocate for the rights of women and the status quo through a play.
Main body
Dramatic plays are some of the tools that advocates of feminism use to criticize the patriarchal society. Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” is a representative feminist dramatic play that seeks to highlight the challenges that women face when they try to resist masculine society. Throughout this essay, the reader will understand the obstacles that a woman faces in her effort to break free from social power created by a masculine society. Modern struggles that women face such as inequities in payments, the struggle to access freedom, and a biased society that has restricted women’s freedom are rooted in the history of humanity.
Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” addresses the topic of money and the struggle that women are forced to contend with when they try to spend money. In the first act of the play when Nora arrives home and tells her husband to go and see what she has bought, he is quick to judge and tell her that she is a spendthrift. He says, “Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again?” (Ibsen 33). Torvald is not comfortable when he learns that his wife has spent money on Christmas expenses, even when she had thought that it was a better moment to spend the money. Throughout the play, the audience hears Ibsen’s feminist voice through the words used by Nora and the responses that Torvald makes when responding to her quest for freedom.
Scholars have described money as the source of social power. Bennett explained that money as a tool of social power can be used to suppress women’s freedom in a patriarchal society (198). This statement is true when reflected in the context of Ibsen’s play. In the second scene of the play, Nora narrates her first experience and how she was happy when she worked to earn money. She compares her earnings to being a man (Ibsen 10). The statement implies her struggle to be free and desire to earn like a man, even though she had worked overnight for money.
Ibsen is determined to tell the audience that women do not have freedom similar to what men enjoy in society. Instead, their freedom is only relative to what men can achieve. In the last scene of the play, Torvald resolves to a demeaning language and calls Nora names when he learns that she forged her father’s signature to take a loan. He calls her “a hypocrite, a liar- worse, worse,- a criminal” (Ibsen 44). Even though the two have lived together for eight years, Torvald does not consider Nora his equal. The unequal distribution of money as explained by Lerner (28) gives the man power over the woman. Women have to remain submissive and endure all scolds as seen in the case of Nora in this scene.
Apart from fighting for equality and empowerment of women, feminists have also fought against the masculine society’s approach of limiting women’s freedom in the name of protecting them. Bennett criticized the notion that women are vulnerable, especially in instances where men are encouraged to protect women against violent society (54). Vulnerability renders women weak compared to men who have the right and power to explore the world and engage in activities that are reserved for men.
In Ibsen’s play, Nora decides to break free from the notion of vulnerability by walking out of her marriage. When Torvald intercepts and reads the letter addressed to Nora, he intrudes on her privacy and ends up ruining the relationship. Nora believes that she has had enough and decides to walk out of her marriage. This marks the beginning of her freedom after she realizes that she cannot endure more of her husband’s emotional torture. Even though Torvald is protective, the audience learns that women can make conscious decisions and walk out of doors that have enslaved them.
Ibsen thinks that men are equal to women, and there is no need to objectify or belittle women as children. Throughout the play, Torvald refers to Nora as “Little singing bird, skylark, and squirrel” (Ibsen 44) Even though these terms are supposed to express love towards Nora, they belittle her and indicate that her husband does not consider her his eagle. She is similar to a pet when he looks at her, and this could be the reason he uses these terms to describe Nora. Ibsen is also of the opinion that women have played a role in earning the lower position that the patriarchal society has created for them. Ibsen exposes this when he uses Nora to show the power that women can have when they decide to stand and fight for their rights. At one time when Nora is quitting her marriage, Torvald cries, apologizes, and asks Nora that they should just live as brothers and sisters (44). The self-determined Nora tells Torvald that she is going to live alone, reflect on religion, and seek education that will free her from the traditions that have suppressed her freedom (Ibsen 47). The same point is discussed in detail by Bennett, who accuses society of using religion to suppress women’s freedom (168). Unless women are educated and empowered, they will not know of the opportunities that await them in the world.
Enlightened women have the power to break from masculinity and experience the world from a new perspective. When Nora discovered that her father and her husband had wasted her life and forced her to live in denial, she started recounting how she had been treated as a doll. In the last act of the play, Nora states “…He called me his doll-child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls” (37). Unfortunately, the situation did not change. She explains that she was just transferred as a doll to the hands of her husband (Ibsen 46). Nora demands an apology from Torvald and her father as she claims that they have committed a great sin against her. In response, Torvald explains that Nora should have been happy for the past eight years they have lived together. Torvald’s response exposes the defensive nature of men as they strive to keep women under control. Torvald thinks that happiness is the only thing that a woman would ever want from a man. He does not understand that there is something more that the woman has been yearning for, freedom in a patriarchal society.
Conclusion
It is evident from Ibsen’s play that the theme of feminism was used to unearth the struggle of women in a masculine society. The play introduces the audience to the challenges that women went through in the past as they fought for freedom and independence. Ibsen assumes a feminist position in the play to show that men can empower women. Though written more than a century ago, the text echoes the theme that is still relevant in contemporary societies. The playwright evils associated with masculinity and how demeaning women undermine social progress. The audience learns that women can break free and revolt against social power if they are determined. Nora is one such hero who comes to their senses with reality after discovering that she has been treated like a doll throughout her life. She has to step out of the comfort of her husband when she learns that both her husband and her father have sinned against her. They have wasted her years. Freedom is not given, but it has to be taken by force. Women hold the key to the door that leads to their freedom. Unless women take charge as seen in Nora’s case, they will dwell in slavery. It is a struggle that has lasted through centuries and can only be challenged through determination.
Works Cited
Bennett, Judith M. History matters Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.
Ibsen, Henrik. “A Doll’s House.” Drama & Theatre, 2021, pp. 1-50.
Lerner, Gerda. The Creation of Patriarchy. 1986.