role of women theme

Question 1

economically advantaged

Answer 1

Nora is economically advantaged to the other women in the play, but Torvald is still the dominant partner in their relationship

Question 2

nora’s abandonment of her children

Answer 2

can be seen as a self-sacrifice

she chooses to leave them for fear of corrupting them

Question 3

her passivity

Answer 3

allows Torvald to objectify her

Question 4

possessiveness of Torvald

Answer 4

frequently adds “my” to all his pet names

calls her his “dearest property”

Question 5

status symbol

Answer 5

to Torvald

he planned to handle the scandal by stripping her of her spousal and maternal responsibilities but would’ve kept her in the house for appearance’s sake

Question 6

Nora is manipulative

Answer 6

shown by Mrs Linde fixing her dress, her seductive behaviour around Dr Rank and her whining to get money from Torvald

Question 7

Master-Slave Ideology

Answer 7

by Friedrich Hegel- Firstly Nora acknowledges Torvald as her master and assumes the role of slave, dependent on master. The later she realises the masters dependency on her, which leads her to supersede him and be free of him

Question 8

the Madonna/Whore Dichotomy

Answer 8

it is unlikely that Rank, unlike Torvald, would need to fantasise that Nora is a virgin before making love to her

Question 9

the conflict between

Answer 9

love and law, between heart and head, between feminine and masculine is at the center of the play

Question 10

subject matter of dolls house topical during the 19th century

Answer 10

Agitation for women’s rights had been mounting steadily all over Europe and America since the French Revolution. Women did not have a right to property, could not easily divorce and would loose custody of her children.

Question 11

female emancipation

Answer 11

Robert Brustein

Ibsen was “completely indifferent to (female emancipation) except as a metaphor for individual freedom”

Question 12

many 19th cent literature texts

Answer 12

highlighted the limitations of women’s lives, their restricted opportunities and society’s expectations about their role

Question 13

he suggests that a

Answer 13

yawning gap exists, for both sexes, between their true selves and society’s expectations

Question 14

Nora’s behaviour can sometimes be

Answer 14

deceitful and manipulative - she lies about the macaroons, she makes sexual “promises” to persuade Torvald to retain Krogstad at the bank and she flirts with Rank

Question 15

Ibsen has been seen as

Answer 15

“an apostle of the cause of women” - Louie Bennett

Question 16

Rossetti’s poem ‘Twice’

Answer 16

“a woman’s words are weak” - reflects Torvald’s attitude to Nora and women in general

Question 17

idea of the ‘new woman’

Answer 17

came about in 1890s - rebellious and independent

like Maude Clare

Question 18

1880s-90s

Answer 18

new professional and social opportunities for middle class women - new women’s colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, move unchaperoned and join suffrage movement

Question 19

woman’s rights?

Answer 19

Michael Meyer believes that rather than being about women’s rights it is about the need of every individual to find out what kind of person they are and strive to become it