A Doll's House: Changing View Of The Role Of Women

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in order to emphasize the need to reform their role in society.
Definite characteristics of the women's subordinate role in a
relationship are emphasized through Nora's contradicting actions. Her
infatuation with luxuries such as expensive Christmas gifts contradicts her
resourcefulness in scrounging and buying cheap clothing; her defiance of
Torvald by eating forbidden Macaroons contradicts the submission of her
opinions, including the decision of which dance outfit to wear, to her
husband; and Nora's flirtatious nature contradicts her devotion to her
husband. These occurrences emphasize the facets of a relationship in
which women play a dependent role: finance, power, and love. Ibsen
attracts our attention to these examples to highlight the overall
subordinate role that a woman plays compared to that of her husband. The
two sides of Nora contrast each other greatly and accentuate the fact that
she is lacking in independence of will.
The mere fact that Nora's ...

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woman.
Nora's child-like manner, evident through her minor acts of disobedience
and lack of responsibility compiled with her lack of sophistication further
emphasize the subordinate role of woman. By the end of the play this is
evident as she eventually sees herself as an ignorant person, and unfit
mother, and essentially her husband's wife. Edmond Gosse highlights the
point that "Her insipidity, her dollishness, come from the incessant
repression of her family life (721)." Nora has been spoonfed everything
she has needed in life. Never having to think has caused her to become
dependent on others. This dependency has given way to subordinateness, one
that has grown into a social ...

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