feminism theme

Question 1

interpreted

Answer 1

as a defence of feminism and that made Ibsen seem a male traitor

Question 2

the play is claimed to be

Answer 2

advocating women’s liberation, a matter still under discussion

Question 3

sympathetic portrayal of women

Answer 3

one who refuses to obey her husband, leaving her home and her children caused a sensational impact when it was first released

Question 4

Ibsen

Answer 4

called himself “more of a poet and less of a social philosopher” and that he wasn’t “even sure what Women’s rights really are”

Question 5

Nora represents

Answer 5

the middle class, 19th century daughter and wife, who is protected from hardships of the outside world

expect to suppress her own desires, in favour of her husband’s

Question 6

theme

Answer 6

of self-liberation throughout the play

Question 7

Nora and Helmer

Answer 7

are victims of their socials roles as husband and wife

in an attempt to behave with social conventions, their marriage is based on an illusion

Question 8

their relationship

Answer 8

both deceive each other and themselves, both consciously and subconsciously

Question 9

Helmers actions

Answer 9

show Nora that he is subservient to petty, social values which to him are more important than his feelings for his wife

Question 10

Nora’s protector

Answer 10

once the danger has gone, he tries to be her protector again

“I shall watch over you”

Question 11

the law

Answer 11

Nora is shocked to find out that she is a criminal for trying to save her husband’s life

Question 12

Helmer’s nicknames for her

Answer 12

skylark, squirrel, squanderbird, songbird, little bird and little creature

demeaning and dehumanising

Question 13

body language

Answer 13

“tiptoes across to her husband’s door and listens”

“takes her playfully by the ear”

“plays with his coat buttons”

“wags his finger”

Question 14

basis of feminist movement

Answer 14

is that the western world is fundamentally patriarchal

created by men and judged by men

Question 15

women were thought

Answer 15

to be unintelligent and many accepted that

Question 16

western literature

Answer 16

often reflects the masculine bias

Question 17

female characters

Answer 17

can be viewed as models of the “second sex” idea by writer Simone de Beauvoir

Question 18

Mary Wollstonecraft

Answer 18

18th-century revolutionary writer, argues in her essay ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ that women are taught “outward obedience” from infancy

Question 19

Wollstonecraft argues

Answer 19

that men try to secure the good conduct of women by reducing them to a state of innocence and childhood, seen with Nora and Torvald

Question 20

the female figures in the play are

Answer 20

depicted as socially and psychologically dependent on men

Mrs Linde had to leave a man she loved to support her family and the Nurse had to give up a child conceived out of wedlock to get a job

Question 21

expectations of women

Answer 21

The play plays with our expectations of the women, we expect Nora to be happy and incident, but it turns out not to be the case.