Treatment Of Women In A Doll's House

In A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, people today can clearly see how Torvald mistreats his wife Nora. He treats her like a pet and calls her by little nicknames that are not appropriate for someone such as your wife. For example in the opening scene he says to her, “Is it my little squirrel bustling about?”(Ibsen), this is something people today find to be completely sickening but then it was a thing that was common and accepted. During the time it was written people acted in the exact opposite way people today do. This is all due to a change in the role of women in our society. Despite the large time frame between now and when A Doll’s House was written/first performed, we the viewers/readers still find it chilling in some way. Whether …show more content…
Today though, the disturbed feelings come from the fact that Torvald treats Nora like a slave and with lack of any kind respect. He commands her to carry out his every wish and tells her what she can and cannot do. If someone is in a relationship like that during today’s time we wonder what in the world they are still doing with that person. We believe no woman should have to submit to a man beyond her will. This to us is viewed as slavery. Now we see man and woman to be equal, although, it does not always play out that way in all circumstances. Human slavery is as much alive as it was during the time that this play was written even though that was not what Nora and Torvald’s relationship was viewed to be then, but today we have a totally different perspective on that matter. We stand up and fight for women who are in abusive relationships whether it be physical, verbal, mental, or sexual abuse. We do all that we can to bring awareness to it and put a stop to it. The feminism in this play though is basically typed out in bold. Ibsen denies this fact though and refers to it as being more humanist. When reading the play though we today can see it totally different, because we are searching for a more gender equal society today. Therefore, we notice the inequality very clear. “Some of the current generation of women acting, directing and adapting A Doll’s House have sought to reassert its feminist credentials.” (Rustin 3) They are wanting to bring it to light and show they have a problem with it, and if it is not changed around that they will not act in the play. This says a lot about our times now. It shows that women believe they have the power to change things. They do not have to just sit back and let gender inequality define them. We can fight for what we know is right and if we are not given the kind of treatment we