Gender Roles In A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen

In the play, A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, the theme of gender roles is a major issue throughout the play. During the period of the play (the late 1800’s), society’s view of gender roles was seen in the view of a patriarchal home; where the male is dominant over the female. The role of women in a patriarchal society leads to the sacrifice of a woman’s wants and desires, which create conflicts in the home and cause women to abandon of families. In a patriarchal society, women were forced to marry a man, have children, and to care for the household and the children. Women were forced to sacrifice their freedom and independence to obey and be controlled by men. In the play, Nora is married to Torvald, who views of the roles of gender are based …show more content…
In the play, the conflict of individual versus society is a challenge that Nora faces. Nora wants to find her own self-identity and independence but faces the views and gender roles of women of society (women should be obedient, and seen as weaker than men). In the last act, Nora states “I must make up my mind which is right-society or I”. (Act 3 scene 1). Nora has to choose whether to stay with her family and to accept the role of women in society or to abandon her family and reject the role of women in society and create her own independence and freedom. Nora also begins to discover that the treatment of women in society is immoral, but is confused on which decision she should make because she is use to the men in her life controlling her and being submissive to men. The literary element of conflict can be later seen in the play. When having a conversation with Mrs.Linde, Nora states “That nearly made him angry, Christine. He said I was thoughtless, and that it was his duty as my husband not to indulge me in my whims and caprices--as I believe he called them.” (Act 1, Scene 1). Nora faces the conflict of individual versus society because in this quote, Nora tells Mrs.Linde that when she asked Torvald if she can borrow money to help improve his health, he became very upset. This quote reflects society’s view of women because in society, it is seen as unacceptable for a woman to borrow money from someone else without their husband’s consent (which is limiting their rights as humans). When talking to her husband about her choice to leave the house, Nora states “I assure you, Torvald that is not an easy question to answer. I really don 't know. The thing perplexes me altogether. I only know that you and I look at it in quite a different light. I am learning, too, that the law is quite another thing from what I supposed; but I find it impossible to convince