In Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's
House, it appears that while Ibsen undermines the female stereotype, he
affirms it as well.
In the central plot of the story (and
there are several plots moving along at the same time), Nora, a dutiful wife, has
borrowed money illegally in order to save the life of her husband who was very ill and
needed to be taken to a warmer climate for a time.
Nora
struggles throughout the play to keep Torvald, her husband, from finding out about the
IOU, and to pay it off. In the end, Torvald does discover her secret. He is angry with
her because he is afraid his reputation will suffer when it is discovered that she broke
the law, and by no means thankful for what she has done for
him.
Nora, at this point, realizes that she has been
controlled in her home and by her society for the entirety of her life, and chooses to
leave Torvald and her children to "find herself."
Kristine
Linde, a old friend of Nora's, has fallen on hard times in the past. She knows how
difficult it is for a woman alone, of good character, to survive in this society. She
struggles to find meaningful employment because she is a woman. She gets a job with
Torvald's help, but also marries Krogstad so that together they might find a way to be
happy.
Nora is presented as a child in this play. Her
father and husband have always told her what to do and how to think, essentially
controlling her. She has found that to get the things she needs from Torvald (like extra
money to secretly pay the IOU), she must pout and flirt, like a little girl. Torvald,
feeling much the noble benefactor, "gives in" to her, while chiding her for her foolish
and thoughtless spending habits.
Within these examples, we
see how Ibsen challenges the sterotypes for women when Nora decides to go off on her own
at the end, and Kristine takes a job.
However, Ibsen
affirms the stereotypes when showing that Kristine and Nora both need men in their lives
to survive. Nora's performance, like that of a trained animal, in order to get what she
wants shows again how women depend on their men, but also how they are manipulative. We
also learn that it is illegal for women to borrow money, so Nora must forge her father's
signature, after his death, in order to fund Torvald's trip south, which makes her look
sneaky and underhanded.
Ibsen explained that this play,
which caused quite a stir upon its first performance, was not a play about women's
rights, but about human rights. The problems experienced in this
play fall not only on the women, but also on the men (such as Krogstad and Dr. Rank), in
terms of society's expectations of them.
It would seem that
Ibsen must present first the affirmation of society's expectations of women, supporting
the stereotype, in order to, by comparison, exemplify the choices women
should be afforded, regardless of their
gender.
Although we see or hear of the stereotypes visited
upon Nora or Kristine, we find that Ibsen allows that each has the
opportunity to defy societal expectations. Kristine
chooses to take a job to support herself; she marries to be happy,
for companionship, and to help Krogstad start a new life for himself and his
children.
Nora is offered the opportunity by Torvald to
stay with him as a "brother," and live as she pleases. She chooses,
instead, to leave.
Ibsen must show what needs to be fixed
before he suggests how it can be fixed, and demonstrates the choices the women in the
play make on their own terms, defying the stereotypes of the
time.
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