Theme - Gender Flashcards
• a doll house exposes the restricted role of women during the time of its writing and the problems that arise from a drastic imbalance of power between men and women. Throughout the play Nora is treated as a child and torvald specifically uses ornithology to persistently belittle and infantilise Nora. While the treatment mildly frustrates her, early in the play she even calls herself “little Nora” and attempts to play the perfect obedient wife and model woman of the Victorian code. Though as the play progresses, we as an audience can see the small clues that she is not entirely happy with her social status as a woman. In the final scene she tells torvald that she doesn’t want to be his “doll wife” anymore. Her radical solution to fixing this issue is to completely leave the domestic life behind. Nora’s decision suggests that she, and the play, see the issue as only partially with torvald. The more fundamental issue is with domestic life as it was conceived and lived at the same time. In the way it legally and culturally infantilised women and made it impossible for them to be recognised or treated as full individuals. Meanwhile, the men in the play are driven by the desire for respectability and higher status. This is what actually breaks down Nora’s marriage as we recognise torvald is more fixated on how he is viewed by society rather than how much he loves his wife.
“I would never ________ of doing anything you didn’t want me to do”
Dream
• within this passage of the exposition of the play we, from a basic level, see Nora playing the perfect, obedient wife. On one level it conveys the love Nora has for torvald and her acceptance of gender roles, suggesting she adores torvald so much that she is willing to give up her agency for him. However, in reality, she is lying to him. As we know that she ate the macaroons prior to this passage and also disobeyed him in the major transgression of borrowing money much earlier in their marriage. Nora has thus deceived torvald by exaggerating the nature of the phrase. The nature of it adds tension to the lie and suggests that the role Nora is trying to play is unrealistic and impossible. Therefore hinting at her refusal to play it.
“But it was ___________ fun all the same, sitting there working and ___________ money. Almost like being a _____”
Tremendous
Earning
Man
• Nora explains to Mrs linde how she has been secretly paying back the money she borrowed to fund the trip to Italy and by avoiding spending money on herself. This quote reveals a more selfless and mature side to Nora, who has been previously treated and and behaved like a vain and spoiled child. This shows how she truly does love her husband despite the fact she deceives him. Ibsen suggests that Nora’s deception might be neccasary because torvald does not trust her. Just like many other men of the Victorian era women in general were not respected or considered trustworthy. This passage contains the first element that Nora might actually be dissatisfied with trying to fulfill the traditional role of a perfect and obedient wife. Thought it also shows that the role is essentially unobtainable, foreshadowing the decision she makes at the end of the play to become autonomous and independent.
“When a _______ _______ she must make the best of things”
Poor girls
“A ______ better at coping with these things than a _________”.
Man
Woman
• Nora, desperate for a solution to the fact that krogstad is blackmailing her; she offers to go to dr rank as he is a man with power and money. On one level, her reasoning for going to dr rank is valid. He is in a considerably more powerful position than Nora, with financial means and legal rights that she does not have due to the societal constructs that women are deemed unequal in parallel to a man. On the other hand, the quote also suggests how Nora has internalised this sexist idea that women are unsuited to handle serious matters. Despite her efforts in paying back the loan she borrowed which took skill and hard work. Nora still convinced that she needs a man’s help in order to find a solution. But as the play progresses Nora cannot gain any help from another man, hence why she ends up leaving for a more independent life.
“You can’t frighten me! A ________ little ___________ thing like you”
Precious
Pampered
• in krogstads plan to reveal her deceit to torvald, Nora threatens to kill him. However he does not take her seriously. Krogstad in this passage reflects the way torvald treats her as he calls her a “little thing” thus belittling infantilising and dehumanising her all at the same time directly implying she is a “doll”, with no agency, power or individuality. The rest of the characters also do not believe that Nora has the mental or physical capability to enter the world on her own however they are gravely mistaken by their underestimation, as revealed by Nora’s drastic actions in the third act of the play.
“All my life I have _________. That has always been my one great joy. But now I’m completely alone in the world and feeling horribly ________. Nils, give me __________ and something to work for.”
Worked
Empty
Somebody
• Mrs linde has suggested that her and krogstad should marry. Trying to explain to him that her life feels meaningless without anyone to work for and take care of. This quotation shows that Mrs linde empowers a traditional idea of womanhood. Unlike Nora who feels ambivalent about a life totally dedicated to her husband, Mrs linde feels fully dedicated to this path. This is evidenced not only in her speech to krogstad but also in her original choice to marry another man whom was wealthier than krogstad. However, it was a necessary act in order to financially provide for her mother and brothers. By including the differentiated views that both Nora and Mrs linde have on selfless womanhood, Ibsen shows that women do not have one single relationship to femininity and traditional values. The message of the play was not for the
Purpose of showing audiences that all women should live independently as nots decided to, but rather women should be able to make their own choices based on their own preferences.
