Introduction
Henrik Ibsen’s Doll’s House is one of Europe’s most-performed plays in the 19th century. This play carefully presents social, cultural, and economic issues that defined the European community during this historical period. These issues are written from Henrik’s point of view and firsthand experience of society’s frameworks. Henrik’s family and upbringing set the foundation for how he depicts family unity (Akter 84).
The scenes are those of a middle-income household such as his and most of the population in Europe and Norway, where he spent his formative years. His growth and move from Norway to Germany enriched his life experience. As an author interested in social issues, he could make observations in different settings and integrate the observations into his writing. This paper hypothesizes that the historical and cultural context of Henrik Ibsen’s life informed the themes of the place of women, appearance, and money in the play A Doll’s House.
First Feminist Movement
One of the predominant themes in the play A Doll’s House is the place of women in society. Historically, the place of women in society has been at home, particularly childbearing and home-keeping. Henrik Ibsen’s home, Norway, held the same stance for the place of women, and Ibsen dismantled this stance in the play. In the 19th century, women were prohibited from engaging in economic matters (Wahla et al. 108).
For example, women could not have jobs through which they could earn money. Women had no voice because they were considered objects to be controlled by their husbands. Henrik Ibsen portrays this traditional perspective through Nora Helmer, Torvalds’s wife. Throughout the play, Torvald treats Nora as a little doll and refers to her as a little squirrel, among other names that symbolize her minute nature (Whiting et al. 160). Henrik Ibsen also introduces Kristine Linde, who tries hard to get a job and lead a decent lifestyle. Both Nora and Kristine embody the role of women in historical times.
The play captures the first wave of feminism in European History. Biographies of Henrik Ibsen report that he was a family man with two children. As a traveled man, Henrik could transcend beyond traditional limitations because of his exposure while in Europe. Traveling to Europe revealed that women should be equal to men (Wahla et al. 110). This observation and other efforts at the time birthed feminism. Feminism in the 19th century was meant to liberate women from the limitations of their homes. It was also meant to give women legal rights for civil engagement (Whiting et al. 166).
Henrik Ibsen captures the first wave of feminism in the play through the women characters. Nora beautifully breaks the chains when she addresses her husband, telling him she had been a doll in his house all along. Her realization represented society’s awakening to women’s need for empowerment. In an incident in the play, she also makes a transaction without involving her husband. Henrik Ibsen deliberately captured this to convey the freedom emerging from feminism in 19th-century Europe.
Henrik Ibsen culminated sociocultural norms and changes that were taking place at the time of penning the play. Besides dismantling women’s limitations based on cultural structures, Ibsen was able to include advocacy and human rights in his play. Notably, the gradual rise in feminism came with the formation of equal rights groups in the late 1800s (Wahla et al. 112). These groups championed voting rights for women and the place of women in political leadership. As much as such efforts were quiet, Ibsen foresaw the far-reaching impact of the cultural turnaround and demonstrated it in the play.
Appearance
Another prevalent theme that emerged as a result of the historical and cultural context of the play is appearance. In the context of Henrik Ibsen’s personal life and the surrounding community, appearance cut across how people perceived others. Henrik Ibsen’s personal life was characterized by affluence because his father was a wealthy merchant. Based on this, Henrik’s family was perceived as well-off and without any constraints. The play depicts the same perception through Torvald, who leads a hypocritical, lavish lifestyle.
Torvald, the most opulent character, is obsessed with perfection (Akter 86). He ensures his neighbors and friends see his life and marriage as perfect. While shaping the theme of appearance, Henrik Ibsen used his play to educate that appearance is deceiving. He exiled himself to Germany and Europe out of domestic frustrations. Kristine also challenges Torvald and Nora’s marriage, and cracks eventually develop. Through this demonstration, Henrik Ibsen illustrated that European culture had adverse social and cultural norms that needed to be addressed.
Power and Money
Specific scenes from the play also shape the interplay of power and money, as Henrik Ibsen learned in his life. According to Ibsen, power is an inevitable aspect of social living. In the primary theme (place of women in society), Henrik correctly portrays men as more powerful than women in the 19th century. At the heart of this message, Henrik intended for society to shift their power allotment and give women power over their lives (Christian 8).
Henrik relates money as the power source in Norway at the time. Torvald perpetrated the perspective by constantly taking pride in the fact that he lived in a stable home and had access to wealth much more than other people. Interestingly, Kristine sought help from Torvald to secure a job. Such demonstrations demonstrate the social arrangement that existed at the time. The play demonstrates the social strata that exist and are directly dependent on money and power among individuals.
Conclusion
In summary, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is considered one of Europe’s most successful plays due to its pivotal role in the 19th century. The play challenged the core social and cultural norms of the 19th century from Henrik Ibsen’s lenses. The purpose of the play was to demonstrate the current state of affairs, the shift in paradigms, and how the changes would affect society. Henrik Ibsen notes that even in the 19th century, socio-economic classes existed. This affected how people related at the family and society level.
Money also emerges as a key driver of social status because it determines access to higher opportunities. In the exploration of the place of women, men had access to money and thus triumphed over women. In line with this, the play introduces the shift toward a feminist society (Whiting et al. 175). The characters perpetrated the rise in feminism in a way that educates readers on the advent of the practice. The scenes and the personal life of Henrik Ibsen convey that women held a lower social status and that money and power defined European society.
Works Cited
Akter, Saima. “Re-reading Henrik Ibsen‘s A Doll‘s House: A Modern Feminist Perspective.” International Journal of English and Comparative Literary Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, 2021, pp. 79-87. Web.
Christian, Mary. “A Doll’s House Conquered Europe”: Ibsen, His English Parodists, and the Debate over World Drama.” Humanities, vol.8, no.2, 2019, pp 1-12. Web.
Wahla, Mahin, Mamona Mamona, and Ameer Ali Buriro. “Language and Gender Construction: Stereotypes and Identity Reconstruction in a Doll’s House: A Sociolinguistic Perspective.” The Women-Annual Research Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 11, no.11, 2019, pp 104-115. Web.
Whiting, Jason B., et al. “The Ecology of Family Violence: Treating Cultural Contexts and Relationship Processes.” The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy, vol. 4, 2020, pp. 153-190. Web.