Women’s Abuse in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Nottage’s POOF!

Introduction

Women’s position in society and how men treat them is an infinite topic of various discussions worldwide, even today. When feministic movements continue to grow, there is still a significant number of violence and domestic injustices that happen to women every day. However, particular writers and authors pay considerable attention to this issue while devoting their literary works to this problem.

This essay will explore such authors as Lynn Nottage and Henry Ibsen and their works, POOF! And A Doll’s House accordingly. Specific attention will be paid to the differences and similarities in the illustration of abuse towards women and which instruments the authors use to depict it. Despite the fact of the similar topic of women’s abuse, Nottage and Ibsen’s methods differ significantly while illustrating different types of abuse, both physical and psychological.

The Beginning of The Doll’s House

To start with, it is essential to explore the presentation of the stories’ protagonists at the beginning of their journey. Mainly, Henrik Ibsen develops a scene in which the wife and her husband gather at the house to discuss Christmas goods the wife bought for the holidays. While considering the dialogue, it is possible to state that Torvald treats his wife, Nora, as a little and unclever girl when talking about her overspending (Ibsen, 2009). This evidence connects to the paper’s thesis by underlying verbal abuse as the only issue in the novel The Doll’s House.

The husband does not realize his wife’s willingness to bring happiness and celebration to their house, including for their children. However, this play does not involve any other type of abuse, such as physical (Ibsen, 2009). In addition, Nora’s husband, Torvald, cannot accept that his wife is a character, and consequently, this imagination is reflected in his behavior.

The POOF! It’s Beginning and Ending

On the other hand, they play POOF! Lynn Nottage is an excellent example of physical abuse towards women. Specifically, the husband and wife in this story have many arguing scenes and misunderstandings (McAvinchey, 2020). However, Samuel’s husband applies physical strength to his wife, Laureen. It is a significant issue that highlights the injustice dominating society in the period when the play was written.

The communication between Samuel and Loureen acts as a trigger for the transition from verbal relationships to physical abuse. Moreover, one should state the continuation of this play when Loureen’s husband suddenly disappeared (Nottage, 2006). This literary work’s evidence demonstrates the connection with the thesis statement in terms of the negligence of the men towards women’s feelings, even if the situation can cause devastating effects such as suicide. The play’s name is an excellent depiction of its ending, meaning that the POOF! is a word for poofing away, which can be considered disappearing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is vital to stress the differences between the two plays. Even though both of them are devoted to a similar topic, the method of its illustration differs significantly. Henrik Ibsen chose the method of only verbally depicting the confrontations and women abuse theme in his literary work A Doll’s House. On the other hand, Lynn Nottage’s method assumes physical confrontation and total neglect of the wife’s feelings and personality. However, one should note that these concepts together stress the prompt need to take considerable actions to reduce the abuse towards women and restore justice in gender relationships.

References

Ibsen, H. (2009). A Doll’s House. Floating Press.

McAvinchey, C. (2020). Applied theater: Women and the criminal justice system. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Nottage, L. (2006). Poof!. Playscripts, Incorporated.

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StudyCorgi. (2025) 'Women’s Abuse in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Nottage’s POOF'. 27 June.

1. StudyCorgi. "Women’s Abuse in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Nottage’s POOF!" June 27, 2025. https://studycorgi.com/womens-abuse-in-ibsens-a-dolls-house-and-nottages-poof/.


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StudyCorgi. "Women’s Abuse in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Nottage’s POOF!" June 27, 2025. https://studycorgi.com/womens-abuse-in-ibsens-a-dolls-house-and-nottages-poof/.

References

StudyCorgi. 2025. "Women’s Abuse in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Nottage’s POOF!" June 27, 2025. https://studycorgi.com/womens-abuse-in-ibsens-a-dolls-house-and-nottages-poof/.

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