Henrik Ibsen's Play - a Dolls House

In Henrik Ibsen's play, " A Doll's House", Nora and the female characters face challenges with the gender roles of the Victorian Age. Ibsen shows and details the theme of gender roles through dialogue and symbolism.

Ibsen uses dialogue to show and detail gender roles in the Victorian Age. Gender roles are represented by Torvalds sexist ways and the rules of the Victorian Age. In act 1, when Nora is revealing her big secret to Mrs. Linde, Mrs. Linde states, "A woman can not borrow without her husband's consent." Gender roles are represented here because it shows the oppressive ways and laws against women in those days. Moreover, when Torvald is talking to Nora in act 1, he remarks, "Almost everyone who has gone bad early in life has had a deceitful mother." The importance of this quote to the overall theme of gender roles is that it shows the stereotypical responsibility and fault of the mother. The mothers in the Victorian Age were always held responsible for the transgressions and blunders of the children for the reason that the mother is theoretical to be the one that develops and raises the kids and the father has nothing to do with anything the child does. The dialogue of the play "A Doll's House" has a huge role in articulating the theme of gender roles during the Victorian Age.

To accentuate the theme of gender roles in the play "A Doll's House", Ibsen employs symbolism to get his point across. In the play, the Christmas tree, a sign of the holidays and a festive object, symbolizes Nora's position in the household as a trophy wife who is appealing to look at and takes care of the house. Another symbol is Nora herself. She is the "doll" of the house, pretending to be the perfect trophy wife that her husband, Torvald, wants, but is dying inside. Torvald also treats her as if she were a doll. Torvald treats her with kid gloves and as if she were a toy instead

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