Conformity In The Doll's House

To explore the deeper implications of gender conformity, one must first approach the broader expectations of society itself. Long-held traditions maintain a particular status-quo, in turn dividing groups into roles meant to limit the possibility of any social borders being crossed. The so-called norm, therefore, becomes interchangeable with the confinement of individuals into categories of race, gender, and class. In regard to the divide seen between men and women specifically, the latter has found themselves in a secondary position to the former. Best summarized by Toril Moi in her essay on feminist critique and theory, “man is the universal and woman is the particular; he is the One and she is the Other” (Moi 264). Thus, one’s experiences …show more content…
Both are the youngest of their sisters, and both are able to manifest their similar desire to push past the limits imposed upon them. Whereas Kezia extends an invitation to the Kelveys, Else is the one to accept it even as Lil initially resists a possible upset of the status-quo. Likewise, both Kezia and Else alike find an interest in the little lamp of the dollhouse, a poignant symbol of one’s inner-potential. Though “there was something inside that looked like oil and moved when you shook it” (394), the miniature furniture piece lacks the actual ability to be lit. Yet its capacity to be more than just a prop is what draws Kezia to it, even as Isabel and the other school girls would rather focus on everything else about the dollhouse. Consequently “nobody paid any attention” (397), already too stuck in their ways to consider a new way of thinking. Only Else remarks upon the lamp later on, she herself eager to break away from the constraints of social