FREE ESSAY ON DOLL HOUSE

DOLL HOUSE

Feminist Criticism
Through the eyes of society in the late 1800s, women were seen only as 
incompetent pretty little nothings. Keeping an eyeful watch on the house, starting their

pre-destined act of motherhood, and becoming followers on the narrow path behind their 
husbands were the duties of a woman. In Ibsen's A Doll's House, he criticizes the sexist

ways women were exploited in 1879, during a time known as The Victorian Era.
Nora's character, in A Doll's House, represents the treatment that every woman 
was subjected to during The Victorian Era. As pure little play dolls for their husbands,

women were treated in extremely childish ways. Such as the scene demonstrated in 
A Doll's House when Nora is caught in a lie, telling her husband no one was present at 
the house when indeed Helmer saw that Krogstad was there. Helmer wags his finger at 
Nora and says, " Never must my little songbird do a thing like that! Little songbirds
must 
keep their pretty little beaks out of mischief; no chirruping out of tune!" (Ibsen 949).
In 
the public eye, by men, women were essentially looked at as one man's honoring trophy. 
By other women they were looked at as one man's wife, who would never be able to be 
independent or survive without her husband leading the way.
Nora starts out in the play as the typical woman of her time, flowing through the 
house with hums of sweetness. However, she is sneaky by hiding such things as the 
macaroons, the Christmas tree, and presents. She also hides riskier subjects such as the

forged unpaid loan she took out for her husband's life, and the blackmail presented by 
Krogstad, leaving her with the challenge of finding herself. A challenge that the
majority 
of women back in this era would not think twice of attempting. Nora becomes very much 
aware of all the damage that can happen with her family concerning the blackmail. For 
the time Nora was present in, it would be logical for her to either reveal the truth to
her 
husband or commit suicide, but instead she runs to other alternative solutions. Nora
tries 
to undertake actions that were not very appropriate for women to take during the late 
1800s, and her fears end up leading her to hide the truth of the blackmail from her 
husband. However, when Helmer discovers the letter, Nora loses herself, her power of 
control, and is forced to face the music. 
This next scene in the play, when Helmer becomes aware of the secret, represents 
the reaction a typical man would give to his wife back in the Victorian era. As the truth

of the letter lies revealed, Helmer becomes obsessed with the deterioration of his 
reputation. To Nora, he unveils his true self and heartlessly tells her how she is a 
hypocrite, a liar, an unfit mother, and coldly says to her, "…how you have ruined
my 
entire happiness…jeopardized my whole future." (Ibsen 974) When in fact she did it
so 
he could be alive to have a future. Regardless of how Helmer shoots down his wife with 
horrible putdowns, he still insists on staying together and hiding the truth. This made
it 
clear to Nora that rather than being in an honorable marriage, Helmer was more 
concerned with the political aspect. Then when the I.O.U. was delivered, he rejoiced 
because his reputation was saved. Yet Nora had already seen his real feelings and 
realized that she was never truly loved by this stranger. So without staying a night
more, 
Nora leaves her life behind to take care of herself; independently. Which was completely

unheard of for women to walk out on their husbands and kids to start a new life during 
the Victorian era. Women were just meant to sit and be pretty, to be simple and allowed 
to do nothing!
In Ibsen's A Doll House, he clearly attacks the dishonorable way women were 
treated during the Victorian era. However, throughout the play Nora becomes strong and 
at the end it appears that she makes a stand against every stereotypical way women were 
looked at, only as a wife, mother, child, and basically pretty little nothings. It's
obvious 
that at the end of the play Nora has had enough, walks out the door and leaves behind the

feminist criticism that she had to endure.