"a Doll's House" Case

Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House" first premiered in Denmark in the year 1879. At a

time when the role of a women was seen as subservient to her husband, the play created an

uproar in the society as traditional views of that time were challenged as Nora left Torvold as she

realized the futility of their marital relationship. These Ideologies sets the stage for how we

understand our society and for Nora and Helmer these ideologies governed their relationship to

one another. Since the prevailing beliefs at that time rendered men superior to women in every

class and mannerism, women were often subjugated and were not active participants in the

societies decision- making processes. We see this play out in the way Helmer treated Nora as a

doll and thus prevented her from becoming her own person. But in essence these ideologies are

mere reflections of the bourgeoisie class and do not reflect in any manner the objective realities

of that era. Gender roles are defined and set by the society. They are the reflections of the

hegemonic viewpoints of the ruling class and they set the stereotypes that are then practiced by

the people to gain acceptance from the society. These stereotypes of gender roles and the

hegemonic ideas of the man's masculinity and the subsequent accepted role of women's

behavior reflects the complexity of the culture that governed the decisions and the roles taken up

by Helmer and Nora in their life together as husband and wife.

The play discusses gender relations and power struggle in the 19th century England. The

ideologies that existed in the context of social values and duties of men and women in the

household are depicted through their married life. When Nora and Torvold's married life is

viewed from a socio-feminist perspective we start to see the interplay of power between the two

central characters. Their relationship to one another is controlled by the ideologies of that time

which are in turn decided on by the bourgeoisie or those who control