Myth of Love Vs. True Love in A Doll's House
Love between a man and a woman is one of the most cherished myths of Western culture. The "myth of love" is the feeling, the passion, and the romance in a relationship, but true love is one marries and finds out if he or she still cares for the other person with or without those characteristics. Without true love, how can a marriage survive? Love is the most important aspect of a successful marriage, and when that love is gone, the relationship usually vanishes also. In the late-nineteenth century, when the play A Doll's House was written, women were "brought up to be ornaments and mothers, marry suitable men and devote their lives to their husbands' careers and to their children" (Templeton 1029). No one ever mentions anything about love; perhaps this is the reason why the marriage between Nora and Torvald Helmer and the one between Mrs. Linde and the businessman did not last. The two women seem to resent the men in their lives, Guth and Rico state: "they rebelled aga!inst the stereotype of the woman whose duty was to husband and family. They refused to be the 'little woman' who was humored and condescended to and never entrusted with real responsibility" (Guth and Rico 973). Both parties of
Mrs. Linde is already independent and self-willed; she has already developed values of her own. Unlike Nora, she values honesty to one's husband. Mrs. Linde tries to convince Nora that telling her husband the truth will "be best for both of [them]" (1007). She feels the couple shall reach a "complete understanding between them" (1013). She also values and enjoys working because work is all she has ever known to do. She cherishes a loving marriage and the role of a mother. Mrs. Linde longs to be a wife and a mother because since she had the responsibility of taking care of her mother and her family; she did not have a chance to make a family of her own. Although, she cared for her younger brothers, as if they were her own children, she still needs to complete that sense of motherhood. She states: "I don't look down on anyone; but of course I'm proud - and glad - to know that I was able to make Mother's last days a little easier" (981). For a while she lives up to the stereotype of the "little woman," but she later realizes she does not have to settle for that type of life. She already begins thinking for herself before she leaves Torvald, which shocks him. One of Torvald's values is what other people might think or say; obviously, Nora does not care about his values anymore. She says, "I can't consider that. All I know is that this is necessary for me" (1023). He still tries to enforce her "duties," but she insists, "I'm a human being. . .or at any rate I shall try to become one" (1023). She is determined to move out on her own, taking nothing that belongs to Torvald. Nora's character changes throughout the play, and at the end her very independent and self-willed self is revealed. When I lived at home with Papa, he used to tell me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinion. If I thought differently, I had to hide it from him, or he wouldn't have liked it. . . Then I came to live in your house - . . .when I passed out of Papa's hands into yours. You arranged eve
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Approximate Word count = 1358
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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