Gender Inequality in

The roles of men and women in the play, “A Doll’s House”, written by Henrik Ibsen, are very different compared to what they are now. According to Ibsen, “A woman cannot be herself in modern society. It is an exclusive male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who asses female conduct” (pxli). The play was published in 1879, a time when there was an increasing concern with individual liberty and gender equality. Both Nora and Helmer are victims of society and their social roles as husband and wife, and tried to live according to convention by developing a marriage which is just an illusion and not reality. When Nora leaves behind her “doll house”, she is opening the gate for the life of a woman, and by doing this she showed that a true bond between men and women is perfect freedom. The play shows an act of feminism. Ibsen effectively brings out the issue of gender equality in their society and marriage. The title of the play already gives away hidden meaning of how their marriage is about superficiality and how each doll is made to perform different social roles. “Our home has never been anything but a playroom” (p 98), clearly emphasizing that Nora and Helmer are living this false doll

It is shown clearly that this "admirable" man is a fraud when straight away after knowing that Krogstad had given back the "IOU", he returned to his role as protector and says "I shall watch over you like a hunted dove which I have snatched unharmed from the claws of a falcon" (p96). His sexual appetite is aroused by her beauty and he thinks of her as "my his most treasured possession". An example is when she says "Yes, Torvald. This authority he has over her disallows Nora to express her need for personal development, but she soon realizes the illusion of the whole situation and hides behind melodramatic posturing. I think Helmer did believe that he loved her, but he could only act as the sentimental side of love and not be the "protector" as he visions himself to be. There are themes of self-liberation in the play, and Ibsen presents the results of a marriage that is ventured into which is done purely because of the strong duty felt towards one"tms family. The colour and wild movements of the whole dance itself leads up to the climax where she faces reality and tells Helmer the truth. There is huge significance with costume in that period of time as the colorful shawl she wore for the dance symbolized the desire to cling on to happiness, and Mrs. These "shiftings and evasions" (p84) was the only genuine act of love in the play, yet it was still wrong from the male"tms point of view. It is an exclusively male society with laws made by men"with judges who assesses female conduct from a male standpoint". Linde is the character that chose that journey because of her sick mother and married a man who she did not love but whose wealth could bring her security. There was no other thought in her mind but to "save"tm her husband. Helmer plays the father figure of the house and he gives Nora presents, with the expectation of being entertained in return. Nora did not think about the reality or consequences of her actions and did it for love, which she thinks they have.