" Otherwise, Nora's interest in who is employed at the bank -- Krogstad or Mrs. Lind -- would wholly ruin Torvald's carefully constructed social reality. This, essentially, is the only way in which a woman playing the feminine role is able to bend the rules; Nora can exert her influence, but only by emphasizing her helplessness. Throughout A Doll's House there is an interesting relationship between parents and their children. Recurrently, we are told that both Nora and Torvald believe that a vast number of traits can be passed down to children through their parents. Foremost among these traits are those dealing with money. Torvald suggests that Nora's capacity as a spendthrift comes from her father: "Still, one must take you as you are. It is in the blood; for indeed it is true that you can inherit these things, Nora." (Ibsen, 4). Yet overall, the characteristics that Nora and Torvald -- as well as Dr. Rank -- believe to be heritable tend to be those of morality. Put differently, those who are immoral are likely to have children who are immoral. This is why Nora's abandonment of her children can be perceived as a sacrifice...
So, Nora believes that her false role possesses the capability to rub-off on her children: her children will lead the same hollow lives she has, if she continues to act falsely
Yet as Goldman notes, Nora "worships her husband, believes in him implicitly, and is sure that if ever her safety should be menaced, Torvald, her idol, her god, would perform the miracle" that would set her free. It turned out that Mrs. Linde would set in motion the miracle that would set Nora free. A woman was required to help another woman escape the dolls' house, an incredible affirmation
Rank. "But, Nora darling, you're dancing as if your life depended on it!...This is sheer madness - stop, I tell you!...I'd never have believed it - you've forgotten everything I taught you" (Ibsen 204). Torvald must now take her in hand and re-teach the wild Italian dance, the tarantella. The choice of this particular dance by Ibsen is a stroke of genius as it aptly illustrates the nature of the
Gender is socially constructed. Whereas biological sex can be considered immutable in most cases, gender is mainly constructed to indicate role function and status. From birth, children are classified into the gender binary, as being male or female. Male children are socialized differently from female children, leading to distinct differences in the ways those children perceive themselves and are perceived by others. Whether through subtle or overt controls, gender norms
Finding no recourse or way to express her true feelings and thoughts, the Narrator began reflecting on her oppression through the yellow wallpaper patterns on the walls of her room: "The front pattern does move -- and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast...and in the very shady spots she just
Did Bertha not subscribe to the "cult of true womanhood" in which a real woman was believed to be without any sexual feelings, to be responsible for the man's sexual behavior, to be religious, obedient to her husband, and to provide a serene haven for him? After all, the man had to do business in a dangerous and corrupt world and needed rest and regeneration in a serene and
Dark Spirituality as a Symbol of Female Frustration: Voodoo Gothic and the Mill on the Floss George Eliot's The Mill On the Floss is arguably one of the most widely read novels of the Victorian period. Although many differ as to just why this is the case, one thing is clear -- what was once a rather straightforward tragic tale, tinged with the time's popular romantic/gothic influence, has become a bastion of
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