John Updike’s “A&P” and Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” suggests that coming of age in the 60s is markedly different for young men and women. Updike’s Sammy is essentially on a quest for independence from an authoritative figure. The authority figure in question here is Lengel, Sammy’s boss at the A&P, who is portrayed as a “dreary . . . Sunday school” teacher, hides behind the “door marked MANAGER (288).…
In this scene Torvald says to Nora “I shall not allow you to bring up the children; I dare not trust them to you” (Ibsen). By doing this Torvald was essentially putting him in the role of taking care of the children and he completely stripped his wife from her womanhood. By Torvald doing this sudden act, he eventually destroyed the foundation of the family which led Nora to realize she could be treated better elsewhere. She didn’t need Torvald anymore. Even though Torvald does not realize it, he ignored the expected male role by destroying the identity of the family and changing what his role in the family would be in the…
Doll’s House Literary Analysis The play Doll’s House is not childish as it sounds; it reflects the reality of what oppression against women looked like in past. Nora, the play’s protagonist, struggles with situation where she unknowingly broke the law in order to aid her husband in ill by asking for money from other man; she tries to escape from her guilt by ensuring that Krogstad keeps his position in her husband’s bank, then tried to keep husband from reading the letter of their transaction, and ultimately she considered of suicide. However, the ending of play was surprisingly different than expected, and Nora had finally escaped from her “guilt” and lived a life where some people don’t know.…
Nora has committed a crime that not even her husband knows about. In Act II she is being blackmailed, and she is afraid the secret will get out to Torvald. Not knowing what to do, Nora seeks help from Kristine. Kristine helps Nora out by not revealing her secret. Deep down Kristine wants Torvald to find out about Nora’s secret because it would be the best for the both of them, but she keeps her promise instead.…
Finally, social construct of one being ruled out by society is juxtaposed between the lives of Nora and Mrs Linde where Kristine is the character foil of Nora. Her In medias res ‘’My mother was still alive: bedridden, helpless. I’d two younger brothers to look after. Hen he proposed, how could i not accept?’’…
Part 3: Men like Torvald in the 19th century weren’t subject to the same gender roles as women. They weren’t under the expectation that they would be pure, childish beings whose role was relegated to the household. Still, they had their own defined gender roles in society and marriage that were just as strict. These roles affected Torvald in a negative way as well, though the results of these negative effects were not the same as the results produced in Nora. Aside from being condescending to his wife, Torvald has other flaws connected to the society he grew up in.…
We learn that Torvald was once ill and in order to save his life they had to take a trip. This trip was expensive and even though the family is in the upper social class they did not have the money to take this trip. Back in this time period women were not allowed to barrow money without a man’s signature. The only time Nora tried to be an adult she went about it in the wrong manner, she not only lied about where the money came from but she forged her father’s signature without understanding the severity of forgery. The lack of understanding the consequences of her action could also stem from the fact that she had been coddled her whole life.…
However, Nora is still caged within her house and craves a sense of responsibility like a proper adult. Through deceit, Nora is able to achieve this by borrowing money to save Torvald’s life while still keeping her perfect dependent doll like image. If Torvald knew the truth, this breaking of the traditional roles would ruin “[their] beautiful happy…
In relating that she is proud of what she has done, she reveals that she longs to come out from Torvald’s shadow and contribute. As the first act continues, we are introduced Nils Krogstad, the man who leant Nora the funds necessary to save her husband. During a conversation with Krogstad, Nora intimates, perhaps inaccurately, that she has some influence over her husband, thus showing once more that it is important to her that she be seen as a contributor. In spite of her wish to be seen as her own person, she still has enough reverence for her husband, in the first act, to make clear in the aforementioned conversations that Torvald can never find out about her deal with…
Jorge Luis Borges, a 20th century author, declared, "I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. " Reading is a beautiful paradise that can take a person to a whole new world in a whole new time period. It promotes imagination and stimulates the mind. Over the summer, the sophomores of Oakland Catholic’s Honors World Literature Class received the pleasure of reading three stories: A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House was by far the most entertaining and interesting of the summer reading books, while the storyline of Sophocles’s tragic play Oedipus the King did not contain enough relatable content to be as engaging.…
His reputation is so dear to him in fact, that he wouldn’t even give it up in order to help out his precious “little songbird” when she’s in most need of his help. This is shown when he says, “there’s no one who gives up honor for love” (113). This statement emphasizes the reality of Torvald and Nora’s relationship and it shows that they aren’t the same as the couple they appear to be in front of others. Instead it’s more of a relationship between an owner and their pet.…
In the following quote, Nora shows us that her relationship with her husband would end if he found out that she got money without asking him because it would make her seem more powerful and successful: “...how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald with his manly independence to know that he owed anything to me! It would utterly upset the relation between us...” (Ibsen 21). This quote also shows us that their marriage is only alive if there is the dominancy of a male. Later, when the nurse brings the children home, Torvald says “Come, Mrs. Linden; only mothers can have such a temperature”, implying that only married women should take care of the children (Ibsen 31).…
While Nora did take the money to “save her husband’s life” she couldn’t tell said husband(1.415). Nora’s husband, Torvald, has a great aversion to debt and borrowing; “There can be no freedom or beauty about a homelife that depends on borrowing and debt“(1.21).…
In Helmer’s house, Nora does whatever it takes her to make Torvald happy such as wearing dresses of his choice, dancing, and doing other domestic duties. When Nora married Torvald, Torvlad’s financial situation was extremely serious that Nora has to work at odd jobs such as needlework and embroidery. At that time, Torvald got sick because he drove him terribly to work from day to night; therefore, doctor advised him to travel south. In that situation, Nora’s ego (a realistic and rational decision making component of human psyche) made her think logically about saving her husband’s life by borrowing money even though it was against Torvald’s and societies values to take a debt. She did not think about what was wrong or right, she borrowed money because that was the only realistic way to save her husband’s life and satisfy her…
Nora borrowed money from Krogstad to be able to finance a trip to Italy in order to save her husbands life. Nora does not want Torvald to find out about her secret loan because she does not feel that Torvald is capable of hearing the truth and she is aware of his dislike towards loans. " There's something constrained, something ugly even, about a home…