Essay on Gender Role and Ibsen Presents Women

Submitted By kellyanneplatt
Words: 858
Pages: 4
Open Document
‘Explore the roles of women in both texts. How far do you agree that Wilde presents the more traditional idea of ‘passive women’ whereas Ibsen presents women who defy expectations?
Victorian England made a clear division between gender roles of men and women. The only life for a Victorian woman was marriage and family, Nora exists solely within the house and her purpose is to maintain it. Young girls were brought up to be perfectly innocent, sexually ignorant and vain; ‘What wonderfully blue eyes you have ‘I hope you will always look at me just like that, especially when there are other people present.’ This reveals her as a vain woman concerned about her appearance in the eyes of others, throughout the play there are constant reminders of how superficial Victorian society was. It is also implying that Gwendolen wants men to look at her with desire, as if she specifically needs the male sex to validate her and to make her feel secure within herself. Wilde illustrates in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ how love is forced, and not heart felt ‘I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other's character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.’ This highlights how marriage in the Victorian era was more like a contract not a meaningful devotion, Wilde uses this to mock Victorian society and adds an element of humor. He also uses this to suggest that you don’t want to get to know the person you are going to marry because you probably won’t like them as they’re a product of society.
In many cases women were not allowed to choose who they marry ‘you are not engaged to anyone. When you do become engaged to someone, I, or your father, will inform you of the fact’ Lady Bracknell’s comments suggest that girls are not capable or experienced enough to prudently choose husbands. This further enforces the little level of intelligence women were perceived to have.
Women were expected to marry and to have children however; Ibsen questions this passive role of women using his character Mrs Lind, she’s unusual in the fact that she isn’t married and also works. He uses Nora to be the voice of society ‘and no children?’ This would be unusual as it was a woman’s job to have children and without it she doesn’t have anything ‘Nothing at all, then.’ as she hasn’t fulfilled her role or as many men would view it, her usefulness. A modern day audience would feel that Nora was being rude or that she lacks a phenomenological view. The pace of the conversation shows there is tension and it makes the audience feel uncomfortable as if they are intruding, Ibsen uses this naturalistic approach to give the audience an insight to what they characters are thinking and how they are behaving, whereas in the importance of being earnest they play moves around a lot, it’s not just set in the home like A Doll’s house.
In a Doll’s house from the outset Nora defies classic expectations women by doing things that would go against her husband; ‘takes a packet of macaroons from her pocket and eats one or two; then goes cautiously to
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Gender Role and Ibsen Presents Women

Essay on A Dolls House

Keohane April 19, 2013 The Changing of Gender Roles Women often have trouble sticking to traditional views on gender roles with the changing of culture. Today, there are equal rights for women to obtain the same education as men. Many women work the same jobs, and even sometimes hold higher positions than men. The traditional family is hard to define in todays’ American society because there are such a variety of types of homes. In many cases, women are the leader of the home, or are the only…

Words 900 - Pages 4

Dollhouse: A Doll ' s House and Torvald Essay

a Dollhouse Until the early 20th century women were not treated equally by their male counterparts. The role of a woman was to cook, clean, and take care of the children at home. Women in the upper class were treated as a prize, or even an accessory. These women were to be seen and not heard giving them almost no real value than their aesthetic presence. In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House this is a societal norm that is clearly shown to the reader. Ibsen portrays his lead character, Nora, as a woman…

Words 1543 - Pages 7

the truth behind ibsen Essay

Behind Henrik Ibsen During the 19th century, prominently known playwright, Henrik Ibsen develops his own opinion of women throughout both well-known plays A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler. When looking deeper into Ibsen’s work the reader is able to see that Ibsen was indeed an activist, advocating feminism. During a time period where there was so much emphasis on women doing the wrong thing and fighting the standards Ibsen develops a meaning or better understanding of why these women were fighting…

Words 1579 - Pages 7

A Doll's House Essay

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1879, exposes the apparent issues of society during Victorian times. Nora Helmer, the main character is entrapped in the societal system, which confines her, as like the majority of women at the time, to submissive conduct towards her husband, Torvald Helmer, the patriarch. Ibsen employs a range of dramatic devices to represent Nora’s entrapment, which in turn emphasises his purpose of challenging societal values, beliefs and gender roles during the Victorian period…

Words 1229 - Pages 5

Factors That Makes Us Who We Are?

Noman Saeed Crotwell English A 10 June 2015 Factors That Makes Us Who We Are Identity plays a vital role in today’s world. It can be defined as who a person is or what differentiates one person from another. A person’s identity is what makes him/her special or unique from others. There are some literature that discusses identity, like ‘A Doll’s House’ written by Henrik Ibsen, where he writes about a woman, Nora, who pretends to be a doll for her husband, Torvald. Also, in ‘The Alchemist’ written…

Words 2010 - Pages 9

Essay Sacrifice Dolls

far back as we are able to go; the role of women in many cultures, societies, and religious views has had many similarities but the one repetitive characteristic of most is how the female gender role was limited. Strictly defined gender, home-workers, powerless servant, male-dominating society, set roles, and obedience to the masculine master are all common descriptions of early women roles throughout many cultures around the world. In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, the reader gets a sense of this…

Words 1356 - Pages 6

1337492023 2011 Drama Notes 1 Essay

Melodrama became the most popular form of entertainment throughout the 19th c. Melodrama - Queen Victoria  most popular time for melodrama - Melodramas are simple in plot, shallow in character and with a predictable end. Ibsen and ‘Realism - The arrival of the works of Henrik Ibsen saw drastic changes in the nature if theatre in Europe, which eventually was to have repercussions in Australia - ‘Father of Modern Theatre’ - New sense of realism to theatre, demanding that it be made relevant to people…

Words 5830 - Pages 24