Feminism and Masculine Society in ‘The Doll’s House’ by Neva Alefosio

Feminism and Masculine Society in ‘The Doll’s House’ by Henrik Ibsen

            In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it states in Article 2

 “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”

Mrs. Nora was not given the equal opportunity that her husband had within their family. Every choice was finalized by her husband. This story was written in 1879 and around that time, “Women were expected to be submissive to their husbands; husbands were expected to dominate.” (Ibsen) the setting was believed to be in Europe. The Doll’s house asks us to consider the issues that reflects the unfair treatments and different rights granted to feminine and masculine society that wasn’t only portrayed in the story but was also shown in the background setting of where the story took place.

            Unfair treatments and different rights was known to be given to women because of how people believe it to be the gender that is weak. Men always dominated, and they are named the head of the family. The women were supposed to follow every command that their husbands gave them. The men worked to provide for the family. This act is somehow used by men to abuse their authority within the family where they say that they are the ones who, ‘go out and work to support the family. They should be well respected.’ This is just one of the whole lot of the unfair treatments and rights in families. This responsibility is believed to have been bestowed upon men and the majority takes it that this is how it should be. 

            Masculine Society and Feminine Society are perceived by the world differently because of what they are each made up of. Masculine being made up of males with strength, dominance, boldness and self-centeredness while the Feminine are made up of mostly women who are caring, supportive and relationship concerned with. These are total opposites and so the world perceives them differently according to their strength and ability to be holding important responsibility. Just because of the different ability does not mean that women should be treated differently. Whatever the case, both should share the same equality.

            The setting of the story being Europe, background research came up that upon the time ‘A Doll’s House’ was written, it was during the era where women were required to be compliant to their husbands and that the husbands should be in control in the relationship. This simply means that whatever the man says, the woman should be nowhere near defying what the man wants. Mrs. Nora in ‘The Doll’s House’ seemed to have been submissive to her husband and what she did behind his back was what she feared most. She did not fear having to reinstate a criminal of his previous position, she feared her husband most. This inequality lead to Mrs. Nora leaving at the end of the story.

In Nora’s role in A Doll’s House it reflects all the issues that defines the conflict faced by women all over the world during the time the story was written. Argued by Templeton (1989) Ibsen’s Nora wasn’t only arguing for women’s freedom, she was doing more. In her role, she reflects how women felt, how scarred they are of men and how masculine society influenced their choices as well as their behavior. Macaroons played a significant part in the story. Personally, it represents all the good things of life which women has no right of laying hands on it or even raising an opinion about it. Just like how her sweet tooth became an evidence of her unworthiness, society on the other hand never considered her as a human instead, she was like property to Trovald without worth. Trovald did not allow his wife to eat macaroons, which symbolized how men have a right to stop women from acting on their desire. We believe that equal rights should be given unto both sex, however, Nora could not eat her macaroons happily in front of her husband, but in front of her friend Mrs Linde. Women are free to express their feelings and be themselves when they are surrounded by their own gender. When men are around, they will have little to say. Women will have ceased to express their inner selves and let men takes the lead. As discussed by Westgate in his analysis of the play ‘A Doll’s House’ he stated “She (Nora) was considerably weaker in act 1. Many of her lines were noticeably flat, and she neglected several opportunities to express her inner life during the "happy" days of her marriage.” Because she feared her husband that he might leave her and ruin their happy marriage, she decided not to say much and let her husband make decisions for their family. Community was built up to be controlled by Patriarchal society so as her family. As proven by the play A Doll’s House, human rights were never equal between the two genders. Women were always like puppets moved and controlled by their masters (men).

Trovald adores, live and abide the law, because as a matter of facts, he was a product of society. Men believed that their role is to protect, and guide their wives, however, men overtook their power and exercised it in a mean where women loses theirs.  In Ibsen’s note about his play A Doll’s House he argues his point of how Patriarchal and Feminine society problem come to an existence, he stated “an exclusively masculine society with laws written by men and with prosecutors and judges who regard feminine conduct from a masculine point of view.”  They judge and apply the law not by viewing the problem form every sides, instead, conclusion is drawn using masculine point of view. This action disregards the importance of women’s right to choose. In the play A Doll’s House, Nora used borrowed money to safe her husband’s life, she exercised her rights by doing what she could only think it was best. However, it turned out not as she expected it to be. Her actions and the law contradicted in a way where she questioned her rights and how the law takes away those rights from her. She mentioned in one of her lines saying that does not a woman has a right to save her family and make them happy? She did it by knowing her responsibilities as a mother. As protested by Ibsen, society and law make decisions based on men’s point of view. They will never understand the role of a woman in a family because they would not allow a decision to be drawn from a woman’s perspective. A Doll’s House demonstrate this issue as Trovald enjoys the idea that Nora needs his leadership, and he cooperates with her as a father would. He trains her with trite, moralistic sayings, such as: “A home that depends on loans and debt is not beautiful because it is not free.” This idea of his makes home a property of a masculine society in a way whereby he could not understand his wife’s reasons of doing what she did. “a laughing stock before the entire staff” was what Torvald explain himself when Nora asked him if he could keep Korgstad position inside the company. This gives us a picture of how masculine society worries too much about their picture in public. They’ll do anything just to look nice in the crowd. Torvald did not want to be mocked by people at his job, therefore, he was trying his best to be the1 best man he is and follow the law and neglect what his wife wanted.

Overall, A Doll’s house reflects a sacrificial role held by feminine compared to masculine society. As divulge through Nora’s role in the story, as men refused to give up their dignity, thousands of women have without being acknowledge by the society they’re living in. To support her family, Mrs. Linde gave up the love of her life, Krogstad, he was poor, to be with a rich man to support her family, yet she was left with nothing when her rich husband passed away. The nanny abandoned her own child, so she could support herself by working as Nora’s children’s caretaker. To her own point of view, the sacrifice she made was worth it. Above all, Nora faced the most difficult challenge as she dealt with her husband’s dominant ways so as society’s criticism. She sacrifices her life to save Trovald’s life, which is something that Trovald was never thankful for. Due to his pride, he will never accept the fact that someone else (especially women) did something to save his life. All he cared about was his loyalty to the law and his appearance before society.

All these conflicts faced by these characters did not just happened in the play alone, it is one of the problems that occurred during the time the play was written. Ibsen wrote this play when he had lived in Norway in 1879. According to his biography, he was born and raised into a society whereby people are placed according to their status. His play showcases the importance of each social class in the late 19-century. Being a product of upper-middle class, he understood the importance of social class as well as his role and expectations of becoming one. In relation to the play, Nora and Trovald were product of the upper-middle class a married couple who faked up their happiness to live up to society, abide its strict and at times, suffocating standards. They proved that living life at that time was hard especially when they must try and fit in to society.

On the other hand, there’s feminism and masculine societies. One is way ahead of the other. Society favor masculine the most which somehow inspired Ibsen to write his play ‘A Doll’s House’. He explained that it was based on one of his friends where she forged his husband’s signature and later face the consequences of her actions. As explained by UK Tutoring Theater, when the play A Doll’s House was written, “a wife was not legally permitted to borrow money without her husband’s consent.” Knowing how Torvald hated to borrow money, we can understand why Nora forged the signature of her father, so she could have money to save the life of her husband. In the 19-century in Norway, poverty forced society to allow women to work. The type of work they got were nothing compared to what men has. Women’s work opportunities were very limited, their wages were not enough to support their family. This gave us an imagery of why Nora remains a housewife and Mrs. Linde chose to marry a rich man to support her family.

Marriage life during the time this play was written was traditional patriarchal line. This structure was supported by society whereby women had little overt political and economic power. As clarified by the UK Tutoring Theater “The position of women was an especially volatile issue because the patriarchal ideology underlay the entire social, political, and economic structure.” This proven the unfair rights granted unto women during the era where this story was written. A Doll’s House was based on the conflict faced by society during the time in Norway and it was taken well and witnessed by Ibsen.

To conclude with, feminism and masculine was never the same. Nora’s struggle reflects how women are treated inside their households so as their relationships with their husbands. It was based on the time era where men are more acknowledge in society than women. Law was made by men and they only judge according to their masculine point of view. This influence the way women act because they are afraid of the law that was created and appeared correct in the eyes of men only. In modern days, patriarchal leading are slowly fading away, however, there is a country, a minority group which still practice this act. For instance, arrange marriage in India still exists and Man has more saying in choosing who his daughter/son will married to. The problem is not over yet, it is slowly coming to an end where both sex will have the same right, same law that will apply to both feminine and masculine point of view and same opportunity for them to dream and accomplish.

Reference

Archer, William. The League of Youth: The Pillars of Society: A Doll’s House: By Henrik Ibsen. New York, 1890. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=& id=sksYAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=The+Doll%27s+House+by+Henrik+Ibsen&ots=f77vNixuda&sig=znHEXQsC27WV1ub7DKGsAklPhd0#v=onepage&q=The%20Doll's%20House%20by%20Henrik%20Ibsen&f=false

Cron, Shannon. Background of “A Doll’s House”. Theatre 271. St. Olaf College. 2014. Retrieved from:https://pages.stolaf.edu/th271-spring2014/background-of-a-dolls-house/

Templeton, Joan. The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen. Modern Language Association. Vol. 104, pp.28-40. WEB.  https://www-jstor-org.byuh.idm.oclc.org/stable/pdf/462329.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Ac0b8d71709e40b44f2bfe1e58638250f

UK Touring Theater. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Autumn Tour 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/events/files/2014/05/A_Dolls_House_Education_Pack.pdf

Westgate, Chris, J. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Carey Perloff. The Johnson Hopkins University Press. Theater Journal, Vol. 56. WEB http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/250694 92.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Ab842d98344e176a81e8fbe39c7b5a84a