Confining Roles in “A Doll House”

Confining Roles in “A Doll House”

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House delves into the lives of a husband and wife that conform to stereotypical gender roles and focus explicitly on money, rather than their relationship. Although this play was written in the 1800’s, its story is still prevalent in modern day society. It is more often than not that women have been demoted to positions of lesser responsibility and power because of their gender. This play illustrates this through Nora and Torvald’s relationship. Torvald constantly belittles his wife’s intelligence in regards to money through name-calling and comments in reference to gender.

             From the beginning of the play, the main focus is money. Despite Nora’s introduction as a woman that is solely dependent on the money of her father and husband, she later displays a sort of independence by taking control of their financial situation. After her husband falls ill, Nora borrows money in order to fund their stay in Italy. In this moment, Nora “acts as the man” in the relationship. She takes charge of their financial situation, a role normally set aside for men. Nora “locked [herself] in and sat writing every evening till late in the night… sitting and working like that, earning money.”(472-474) She demonstrates her intelligence on how to handle money and take responsibility for her family. Here, Nora breaks out of her gender confinement because she does not resort to the demands of her husband. While she makes immense amounts of progress by not falling victim to the stereotypes of female roles, she takes a step back by lying about where the money came from. Nora lets the fear of her husband’s loss of masculinity overrule her desire to break from female stereotypes.

            While Nora does demonstrate responsibility by overseeing her family’s financial situation, she confines herself to her husband’s childish view of her in her conversations with Mrs. Linde. Nora refuses to think through her thoughts before she expresses them. She makes comments that disregard all sensitivity towards her childhood friend’s finances. Nora also expresses her sympathy for Mrs.Linde’s husband’s passing only now, three years after its occurrence. This confirms her childlike character and here she holds true to her husband’s view of her.

             While many stories lose their meaning as society progresses and evolves, several issues that are central to the play’s plot remain prevalent in today’s world. Gender confinement and financial issues are still issues that people deal with constantly. While Nora does not completely break the role of being her husband’s subordinate, she does take strides in the right direction. On the other hand, Torvald reinforces his stereotype by calling his wife by childish names.