Feminism in

A detailed Summary of Feminism in

In A Doll's House, Ibsen presents a view of the world that is unconventional to say the least. He breaks from tradition to compose a play that deals with what were at the time controversial social issues, and he presents a view of these issues that was highly unpopular. In A Doll's House as well as in many of his other plays from his modern period, Ibsen was criticized because he dared to break new ground and to challenge the accepted values of his society. So, was Ibsen's play a feminist work, devoted to helping women in society, or was it designed to show a different perhaps more universal message.

Many critics who have read, seen, and commented on A Doll's House have stated that it is most definitely a feminist work. However, Ibsen himself never forthrightly said that his play was indeed feminist. Yet, something in the play obviously disturbed the man driven society of his time. In fact, several theater productions decided to change the ending of A Doll's House in order to make it more acceptable. I believe that there is no denying the presence of feminist views, characters, and actions in the play. However, I am not convinced that feminism was Ibsen's main message in the play. In order to find the feminist vi

Ibsen often stressed the idea of society holding the individual as a prisoner, and his plays very often show an individual breaking from the chains and bonds of society. In A Doll's House, Ibsen uses the wife (Nora) who is oppressed and kept prisoner by her husband (Torvald) as a metaphor for the individual who is oppressed by society. When Nora leaves her husband and family to live on her own and for herself, it represents a person who breaks the chains with which society binds him and truly and freely lives. Ibsen is not supporting the abandonment of loved ones, he is simply supporting the individual's right to be held prisoner by no one. If your family makes you a prisoner, then you must leave your family. If your society makes you a prisoner, then you must leave your society. He does not endorse putting yourself above another, he endorses putting personal freedom before society. He looks for a society in which none are oppressed and no ones freedom is compromised. He believes that the individual must find freedom in his self. As the main character in Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, a play with a similar theme about society, states, "The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone."

ews in the play, we must first define feminism. Feminism can be defined according to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as the theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.

In Act 3, however, everything changes. Nora's mistakes are revealed, but instead of being submissive to her husband, Nora decides to stand up for herself. She realizes that Torvald is holding her back, and that his biased view of the world is keeping her down. She then does the most truly outrageous thing and in an act of what some might call pure feminism, she leaves her husband and children to strike out on a new life of her own.

It is undeniable that A Doll's House has aspects of feminism, but I do not believe that it was created with the purpose of being a feminist work, at least not solely. A Doll's House has a deeper theme, one of individualism and breaking free from all that keeps us down. Ibsen wants to show people that their society does indeed hold people prisoner. He wants people to realize how they are being kept prisoner by the accepted beliefs of society and also by others. This definitely applies to feminism because women were and sometimes still are oppressed by society. T

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Approximate Word count = 1636
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English