Each century defines its own standards of how people in a relationship should treat one another. In the theory of cultural studies, people often look at the differences in how relationships were maintained and handled according to the current day and age. The play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen clearly illustrates how relationships were in the eighteen hundreds. He plainly articulates that, during those times, a man was the head of the household and a woman was only good for complying with all of the man’s morals. The play is based on this idea and is shown through Torvald’s abusive mannerisms towards his wife Nora due to the nineteenth-century relationship principles. Relationship standards differ from century to century based upon interminably
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In today's time period of history, relationships are based on mutual respect and communication, but in the time era Ibsen wrote the book, the relationships were solely based on “the wife's responsibility to provide her husband ‘a happy home’” (Robinson). So, if someone was to place in juxtaposition Nora’s marriage with Torvald to a modern, two thousand seventeen, marriage it would look controlling and patronizing. According to present-day people, that would have perfectly fit the definition of an abusive relationship; but to those in the eighteen hundreds, they only knew of relationships that were unhealthy. The people of the nineteenth century were taught that men were the head of the house and needed to provide for the family. To show appreciation for the husband, the women were supposed to take care of all household issues to uphold a ‘happy’ home. This differs greatly to mainstream contemporary relationships because a sizable majority of women in today's day and age will not allow for a man to hold absolute control over them. Henceforth, justifying that when looking at today's relationships compared to the past hundreds of years, people have made extensive progress, but have not completely rid of the male-dominated role in
In today's time period of history, relationships are based on mutual respect and communication, but in the time era Ibsen wrote the book, the relationships were solely based on “the wife's responsibility to provide her husband ‘a happy home’” (Robinson). So, if someone was to place in juxtaposition Nora’s marriage with Torvald to a modern, two thousand seventeen, marriage it would look controlling and patronizing. According to present-day people, that would have perfectly fit the definition of an abusive relationship; but to those in the eighteen hundreds, they only knew of relationships that were unhealthy. The people of the nineteenth century were taught that men were the head of the house and needed to provide for the family. To show appreciation for the husband, the women were supposed to take care of all household issues to uphold a ‘happy’ home. This differs greatly to mainstream contemporary relationships because a sizable majority of women in today's day and age will not allow for a man to hold absolute control over them. Henceforth, justifying that when looking at today's relationships compared to the past hundreds of years, people have made extensive progress, but have not completely rid of the male-dominated role in