Doll House Essay, Research Paper

Feminist Criticism

Through the eyes of society in the late 1800s, women were seen only as

incompetent pretty little nothings. Keeping an eyeful watch on the house, starting their

pre-destined act of motherhood, and becoming followers on the narrow path behind their

husbands were the duties of a woman. In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, he criticizes the sexist

ways women were exploited in 1879, during a time known as The Victorian Era.

Nora’s character, in A Doll’s House, represents the treatment that every woman

was subjected to during The Victorian Era. As pure little play dolls for their husbands,

women were treated in extremely childish ways. Such as the scene demonstrated in

A Doll’s House when Nora is caught in a lie, telling her husband no one was present at

the house when indeed Helmer saw that Krogstad was there. Helmer wags his finger at

Nora and says, “ Never must my little songbird do a thing like that! Little songbirds must

keep their pretty little beaks out of mischief; no chirruping out of tune!” (Ibsen 949). In

the public eye, by men, women were essentially looked at as one man’s honoring trophy.

By other women they were looked at as one man’s wife, who would never be able to be

independent or survive without her husband leading the way.

Nora starts out in the play as the typical woman of her time, flowing through the

house with hums of sweetness. However, she is sneaky by hiding such things as the

macaroons, the Christmas tree, and presents. She also hides riskier subjects such as the

forged unpaid loan she took out for her husband’s life, and the blackmail presented by

Krogstad, leaving her with the challenge of finding herself. A challenge that the majority

of women back in this era would not think twice of attempting. Nora becomes very much

aware of all the damage that can happen with her family concerning the blackmail. For

the time Nora was present in, it would be logical for her to either reveal the truth to her

husband or commit suicide, but instead she runs to other alternative solutions. Nora tries

to undertake actions that were not very appropriate for women to take during the late

1800s, and her fears end up leading her to hide the truth of the blackmail from her

husband. However, when Helmer discovers the letter, Nora loses herself, her power of

control, and is forced to face the music.

This next scene in the play, when Helmer becomes aware of the secret, represents

the reaction a typical man would give to his wife back in the Victorian era. As the truth

of the letter lies revealed, Helmer becomes obsessed with the deterioration of his

reputation. To Nora, he unveils his true self and heartlessly tells her how she is a

hypocrite, a liar, an unfit mother, and coldly says to her, “…how you have ruined my

entire happiness…jeopardized my whole future.” (Ibsen 974) When in fact she did it so

he could be alive to have a future. Regardless of how Helmer shoots down his wife with

horrible putdowns, he still insists on staying together and hiding the truth. This made it

clear to Nora that rather than being in an honorable marriage, Helmer was more

concerned with the political aspect. Then when the I.O.U. was delivered, he rejoiced

because his reputation was saved. Yet Nora had already seen his real feelings and

realized that she was never truly loved by this stranger. So without staying a night more,

Nora leaves her life behind to take care of herself; independently. Which was completely

unheard of for women to walk out on their husbands and kids to start a new life during

the Victorian era. Women were just meant to sit and be pretty, to be simple and allowed

to do nothing!

In Ibsen’s A Doll House, he clearly attacks the dishonorable way women were

treated during the Victorian era. However, throughout the play Nora becomes strong and

at the end it appears that she makes a stand against every stereotypical way women were

looked at, only as a wife, mother, child, and basically pretty little nothings. It’s obvious

that at the end of the play Nora has had enough, walks out the door and leaves behind the

feminist criticism that she had to endure.