Position of Women in A Doll’s House Compared to Modern Day Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play, A Doll’s House, demonstrates the ongoing struggle of a woman to be of equal position to a man’s in terms of education, place in society, work, and respect. In this play, Nora Helmer, wife of Torvald Helmer, is constantly being treated like a child, and Torvald very clearly expresses that he is superior to her throughout this play. Nora is put in a very difficult situation when she secretly borrows money in order for Torvald to recuperate from a serious illness, and in order to receive this money she needs to forge her father’s signature. When he later finds out about the crime she committed, she expected him to take the blame for her and be empathetic, but
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Ibsen wrote, “To have a clean, beautiful house, the way Torvald likes it” (act 1). Nora says this as if she needs to please Torvald, while throughout the play, he never really tries to please her. 138 years later this is still relevant and is expressed when Evan Marc Katz writes, “It’s not your list of credentials that impress men – it’s how they feel about themselves when they’re with you” (Katz). Men still view themselves as superior and according to Katz, a woman’s values, intelligence, and her many other features are not as important as how she makes the man feel. This type of superiority and inappropriateness is also shown in the workplace. There is a widespread use of occupational segregation and sexual harassment towards women nowadays. Statistics accurately show these problematic issues. For example, “women are over-represented in clerical and support positions (63 per cent) and service and sales workers (55 per cent) compared to managerial occupations (33 per cent)” (UN Women. “Fact Sheet: Developed Regions). Women are also living in fear of attaining high-ranking positions due to sexual harassment issues. UN Women states, “In EU countries, 75 per cent of women in management and higher professional positions and 61 per cent of women in service sector occupations have …show more content…
However, I believe that there is still no real equality between the female and male sexes, and even though there have been advancements, the problem is still not resolved. Statistics clearly show that men still are favored in the workplace and in education. In 1879, when A Doll’s House was published, there was the image of an uneducated women who seemingly lived the perfect life when in reality, her relationship to a man was holding her back from achieving all she could achieve. Today’s women can relate to Ibsen’s Nora character because there is still that pressure of managing everything all at once, while still keeping a doll-like appearance. As seen in the Electrolux commercial, Kelly Ripa takes care of her kids, hosts a party, goes to work, goes grocery shopping, and prepares for a sleepover all while keeping a smile on her face and her appearance up to par (Kelly Ripa). This is the same as Nora’s struggle in Nora: A Short Film Responding to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House where she has to manage taking care of her kids and the household, while also keeping up appearances (Cracknell). While there is still inequality towards women, the advancement of the female’s position in society is progressing more and more every year. While the female’s position is continuously improving, it is still not equal with that of a man. I believe that women and men should have equal opportunities and
Ibsen wrote, “To have a clean, beautiful house, the way Torvald likes it” (act 1). Nora says this as if she needs to please Torvald, while throughout the play, he never really tries to please her. 138 years later this is still relevant and is expressed when Evan Marc Katz writes, “It’s not your list of credentials that impress men – it’s how they feel about themselves when they’re with you” (Katz). Men still view themselves as superior and according to Katz, a woman’s values, intelligence, and her many other features are not as important as how she makes the man feel. This type of superiority and inappropriateness is also shown in the workplace. There is a widespread use of occupational segregation and sexual harassment towards women nowadays. Statistics accurately show these problematic issues. For example, “women are over-represented in clerical and support positions (63 per cent) and service and sales workers (55 per cent) compared to managerial occupations (33 per cent)” (UN Women. “Fact Sheet: Developed Regions). Women are also living in fear of attaining high-ranking positions due to sexual harassment issues. UN Women states, “In EU countries, 75 per cent of women in management and higher professional positions and 61 per cent of women in service sector occupations have …show more content…
However, I believe that there is still no real equality between the female and male sexes, and even though there have been advancements, the problem is still not resolved. Statistics clearly show that men still are favored in the workplace and in education. In 1879, when A Doll’s House was published, there was the image of an uneducated women who seemingly lived the perfect life when in reality, her relationship to a man was holding her back from achieving all she could achieve. Today’s women can relate to Ibsen’s Nora character because there is still that pressure of managing everything all at once, while still keeping a doll-like appearance. As seen in the Electrolux commercial, Kelly Ripa takes care of her kids, hosts a party, goes to work, goes grocery shopping, and prepares for a sleepover all while keeping a smile on her face and her appearance up to par (Kelly Ripa). This is the same as Nora’s struggle in Nora: A Short Film Responding to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House where she has to manage taking care of her kids and the household, while also keeping up appearances (Cracknell). While there is still inequality towards women, the advancement of the female’s position in society is progressing more and more every year. While the female’s position is continuously improving, it is still not equal with that of a man. I believe that women and men should have equal opportunities and