Realism and marriage in A Doll’s House. A marriage is only as strong as the values it stands on. The values present in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House are atypical of the marital values of the 19th century. A wife is to be subservient to her husband. As well as a wife is to be pure and is not expected to know what to do in most situations. A husband is to be upright and hardworking, keeping his family in the moral right. Nora and Torvald are the main couple within A Doll’s House, and outwardly they create the perception that their marriage meets the standards. Torvald is a hardworking businessman who is recently promoted. He manages his familial responsibilities by keeping his wife on a short leash when it comes to things such as sweets. Nora
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Focusing on Nora, who states Mrs. Linde is “carefree, utterly carefree” where she has to, “play with the children, and keep up a beautiful, charming home- everything just the way Torvald likes it!” Ibsen, 56. Nora speaks of the ideal situation for her. In the ideal world, she has time to play with the children, she can clean the house, and have everything please Torvald. These parallel the social expectations of a wife. Torvald speaks to Nora’s role as a wife when he says, “You loved me the way a wife ought to love her husband.” Ibsen, 107, verifying Nora as a wife. Continuing, “It simply the means that you couldn’t judge. But you think I love you any the less for not knowing how to handle your affairs?” Ibsen, 107. Torvald states that Nora has fulfilled the expectation of loving her husband unconditionally, while failing at another. Nora attempted to handle business on her own and Torvald is enforcing the stereotype that women are ignorant as to what to do in many business type situations. Similar to how Nora conveys the roles of women Torvald shows the roles of men. Through “The shame! I should have suspected something of the kind. I should have known” Ibsen, 105. Torvald implies that it is a role of a man to know everything that is conspiring in his house. Similar to how Torvald defines Nora’s role, Nora defines Torvald’s role: “Whatever you do is always right.” Torvald …show more content…
This is due to the imperfection of human beings, and the pursuit of perfection. Ibsen knew that the idealistic views for marriage in which he lived were unattainable, so he wrote a play from a realistic point of view to showcase this. Nora is the mother who tries to care for her children and keep up the home, who is too independent. As well as Torvald who reigns supreme in his home and provides for his family, who fails to see what happens in his shadow. These identifiable character flaws are relatable further enforcing why Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House using realism. In the end a marriage built on cracked cornerstones will never stand through the hardest
Focusing on Nora, who states Mrs. Linde is “carefree, utterly carefree” where she has to, “play with the children, and keep up a beautiful, charming home- everything just the way Torvald likes it!” Ibsen, 56. Nora speaks of the ideal situation for her. In the ideal world, she has time to play with the children, she can clean the house, and have everything please Torvald. These parallel the social expectations of a wife. Torvald speaks to Nora’s role as a wife when he says, “You loved me the way a wife ought to love her husband.” Ibsen, 107, verifying Nora as a wife. Continuing, “It simply the means that you couldn’t judge. But you think I love you any the less for not knowing how to handle your affairs?” Ibsen, 107. Torvald states that Nora has fulfilled the expectation of loving her husband unconditionally, while failing at another. Nora attempted to handle business on her own and Torvald is enforcing the stereotype that women are ignorant as to what to do in many business type situations. Similar to how Nora conveys the roles of women Torvald shows the roles of men. Through “The shame! I should have suspected something of the kind. I should have known” Ibsen, 105. Torvald implies that it is a role of a man to know everything that is conspiring in his house. Similar to how Torvald defines Nora’s role, Nora defines Torvald’s role: “Whatever you do is always right.” Torvald …show more content…
This is due to the imperfection of human beings, and the pursuit of perfection. Ibsen knew that the idealistic views for marriage in which he lived were unattainable, so he wrote a play from a realistic point of view to showcase this. Nora is the mother who tries to care for her children and keep up the home, who is too independent. As well as Torvald who reigns supreme in his home and provides for his family, who fails to see what happens in his shadow. These identifiable character flaws are relatable further enforcing why Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House using realism. In the end a marriage built on cracked cornerstones will never stand through the hardest