Critisism on a Dolls House
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Ms. Morgan
English 1301
What the Heroine is seeking
During the late nineteenth century, women were enslaved in their gender roles and certain restrictions were enforced on them by a male dominant culture. Every woman was raised believing that they had neither self-control nor self-government but that they must yield to the control of a stronger gender. This issue of gender roles in the society influenced the production of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House—a controversial play of a woman who disregards common norms of the society. It displays how lies and deceptions could destroy relationships and the need of every individual to possess self-identity.
The clear dramatization of a woman struggling to step beyond the limited identity set by her husband and society generated to various arguments as to the true purpose of the playwright in writing the play. Templeton in her article, “The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism and Ibsen”, identifies arguments that were used to reject the play as a feminist text. After thoroughly examining closely the arguments, she did not agree with the ideas and wrote in her journal: “Finally, research on Ibsen’s life proves that, all claims to the contrary, his intentions in A Doll House were thoroughly feminist” (Templeton).
Being claimed and admired by propaganda feminist, some critics argued that Ibsen’s intention in writing the play is not to resolve gender inequality and to liberate women in the society but rather just to illuminate it and reveal a moral issue faced by every person in his life (Templeton). Let me quote further the assertion of Michael Meyer, he noted, “A Doll House is
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no more about women’s rights than Shakespeare’s Richard II is about the divine right of kings, or Ghost about syphilis... Its theme is the need of every individual to find out the kind of person he or she is to strive to become that person” (Templeton 35). Additionally, an article written by R. M. Adams explains: “A Doll...
Ms. Morgan
English 1301
What the Heroine is seeking
During the late nineteenth century, women were enslaved in their gender roles and certain restrictions were enforced on them by a male dominant culture. Every woman was raised believing that they had neither self-control nor self-government but that they must yield to the control of a stronger gender. This issue of gender roles in the society influenced the production of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House—a controversial play of a woman who disregards common norms of the society. It displays how lies and deceptions could destroy relationships and the need of every individual to possess self-identity.
The clear dramatization of a woman struggling to step beyond the limited identity set by her husband and society generated to various arguments as to the true purpose of the playwright in writing the play. Templeton in her article, “The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism and Ibsen”, identifies arguments that were used to reject the play as a feminist text. After thoroughly examining closely the arguments, she did not agree with the ideas and wrote in her journal: “Finally, research on Ibsen’s life proves that, all claims to the contrary, his intentions in A Doll House were thoroughly feminist” (Templeton).
Being claimed and admired by propaganda feminist, some critics argued that Ibsen’s intention in writing the play is not to resolve gender inequality and to liberate women in the society but rather just to illuminate it and reveal a moral issue faced by every person in his life (Templeton). Let me quote further the assertion of Michael Meyer, he noted, “A Doll House is
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no more about women’s rights than Shakespeare’s Richard II is about the divine right of kings, or Ghost about syphilis... Its theme is the need of every individual to find out the kind of person he or she is to strive to become that person” (Templeton 35). Additionally, an article written by R. M. Adams explains: “A Doll...