Ibsen Criticizes Society

            In “The Doll’s House” Ibsen tries to criticize many of the problems he sees in his society through the relationships of many of the characters in his play. He often uses his characters to reveal the problems with in his society’s moral conflict. Through Nora’s relationship with Helmer we see how many relationships of this time were fake and dominated by financial concerns instead of a relationship based on love and trust. Nora finds that she has been married for many years now to a person she does not know at all. At first she seems very dependent of Torvald and is constantly doing as he says and undermining her self. They are both with each other simply for appearance. Torvald is with her so he can show her off to others, which is why he makes her dance in front of every one. On the other hand Nora is with him simply because it is the best thing for her. By being with him she is offered security, money, and a family that she can raise. This seemed to be very characteristic of marriages of this time period. There were many arranged marriages and this was wrong and Ibsen points it out. Ibsen also points out the flaws with society’s moral views many times. He depicts through Nora that many laws are unjust and should not have the consequences they do. Through the comparison of Nora and Krogstad we see the consequences of simply forging someone’s name even though they only did this to save their family’s but in the end it results in the destruction of both of their families. Krogstad commits the same crime that Nora did and has suffered greatly for it. It has been very hard for him to find a job and his reputation has been destroyed. Nora is not punished for her crime but it does result in the destruction of her family, even though it was intended to save her family. Torvald refuses to see the good in what she has done because it was against the law even though it was for his sake. Nora refuses to see the good in Krogstad even though they committed the same crime for the same reason, and Krogstad even states that “the law doesn’t ask motives”. The relationship between these three characters goes to show us society’s inability to see from another’s point of view. They all think of each other as selfish and immoral when in reality all they have done is good for each other. By stating that the law does not ask motives, Ibsen criticizes the moral views of his society. It is obvious that he thinks it is wrong that one can lose everything when their intentions were only to help. It shows how everyone turns on each other because they only wish to benefit themselves. In the end Nora realizes that Torvald doesn’t care about her only about his career and that’s why she decides to leave. No matter how much good is intended b Nora and Krogstad it is ignored because society views it as bad.

The Doll House

In “The Doll House” it is evident that Ibsen displays the expected gender roles of both genders. Throughout the first two acts Nora exemplifies the ideal house hold wife of the generation in which this play was written. We see her as immature and dependent on her husband Torvald. This is seen by all the pet names that he gives her. He continuously calls her his little “song bird” and “little skylark” and other names that depict her as small and helpless. She is also very obedient and does whatever Torvald wants or expects from her. We see that she alone is responsible for taking care of the children completely by herself which is known to be a womanly job. She is submissive to all of Torvald’s request including chores and also sex. These are some of the indirect ways that Ibsen displays how woman are viewed but he also does not hesitate to explain the gender roles directly through the dialogue of the characters. The way that Torvald talks, even directly to Nora’s face shows that society views women as helpless, dependent on men, and not equivalent to men. In his speeches Torvald often says the way Nora acts is typical of a woman indicating that all women are exactly the same, which is essentially why Nora leaves him in the end. He does not recognize her as an individual as she wishes and does not appreciate things that make her different. He simply uses her for appearance, raising the kids, and sex, all of which any woman could do. He never has a serious talk with her because he does not wish to know specific things about her only that she obeys him. Towards the end while Nora is getting ready to leave we see many of the common things that women expect of men. For example Nora is appalled when Torvald is not willing to take full blame for the incident in order to save Nora. He is not the brave hero that women look for in men. I also find it quite ironic that Nora is leaving Torvald because she wishes to become independent and to understand herself, when in reality her reasoning for leaving him is actually that he did not swoop in and save the day and make everything all better by taking responsibility for her actions. If Torvald had done this it would have shown that she is dependent on him and she would have been happy with having him being her superior. “The Wonderful” that Nora so often speaks of is a symbol of what women truly want. It is a vague image which shows that it is different for all women. “The Wonderful” that Nora wants is a strong, fearless, and dependable man. Although the life they live is fake and doesn’t show any flaws, if he still helps and loves her after he finds out her flaws they can live a life more true to themselves. Overall we see that many of the stereo types and gender roles that society has put in place are actually very false. He shows that men aren’t always the brave ones and that women can be independent and make decisions on their own and don’t need men to function. This is why it was such a controversial play.