StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Life and Work of Ibsen - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
This research paper "Life and Work of Ibsen" focuses on A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen which is a unique play that realistically tackles the issue of the woman question, double standards in gender roles, and money and morality. It is relevant as it continues to speak to Barbie-embracing girls…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.6% of users find it useful
Life and Work of Ibsen
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Life and Work of Ibsen"

?Order 524347 A Doll's House: Ibsen's life, work and controversy A Doll's House (1879) by Henrik Ibsen is a unique play which realistically tacklesthe issue of the woman question, double standards in gender roles, and money and morality. Although composed more than one hundred years ago, this evergreen play still is relevant as it continues to speak to Barbie-embracing girls who project for themselves a perfect future, fulfilling the requirements of domesticity. Ibsen never contents himself with conforming to these guidelines. He goes against the social grain by advocating women's independence, expressly agreeing with making moral compromises to reach an end. In the character of Nils Krogstad, Ibsen exposes a dishonest secret, pushes the female protagonist, Nora to re-evaluate her marriage and her own acceptance of her image as the 'doll'; however, Krogstad's character has been molded due to financial pressures. He unwittingly propels Nora to autonomy through a loan and unforeseen reactions. Henry Ibsen's productions upset social mores and were always controversial. "Of the many Victorian controversies and questions over art, morals and religion, none was more bitter and more provoked than....by Ibsen" (Decker 632). Ibsen's life portrays a man who experiences bankruptcy and economic downfalls which cause him to question the moral fabric of society. He constructs his plays with an underlying, often iconoclastic message. Family values are undermined by gender. Many of his plays were unpublished and unknown, because of bouts of failure at the box office. Ibsen left his family and migrated to Italy for twenty seven years where he became the father of modern prose drama. His life demonstrates the conflict between money and family. It should come as no surprise that A Doll's House exhibits a web of relationships with financial ruin as the prevailing fear and society's scorn as the main element to be averted at all costs. Ibsen greatly disagreed with traditional male and female roles. Ibsen's plays were classified as "thinking dramas" because of the philosophy. Ibsen feels that marriage is a union to be enjoyed in a couple comprising of equals and conveys a strong human rights message. A Doll’s House, written in prose, is grounded in realism which defaces society's idealized gloss on marriage and the male/female relationship. Girls and women usually cherish dreams of living in a tastefully designed doll house with a perfect spouse. However, Ibsen smashes these illusions by authoring a work which counters the supposed myth of forever happiness. He speaks against the child-like and dolled-up woman as the preferred ideal. In Ibsen's day, the woman had no right to take a loan without the confirming signature of a man and a married woman's leaving a man was an event rarely heard of. Thus, his plays stand as a poignant critique against the unequal status of women. The title, A Doll's House, connotes the role of the woman as a beautiful puppet, characterized with qualities such as superficiality, playfulness, lack of intelligence, lack of humanity and frivolity. However, in this play, the doll depicted as the woman of the family transforms and transitions Pinocchio-like into a real woman. "A number of Ibsen's drama's portray first the weak or displaced husband or father who lives in a world threatened by change and second, a woman who challenges the patriarchy" (Ross 242). The lead-female, Nora Helmer, comes into realization of her one-sided marriage and leaves her husband, coming into an awareness of her husband's lack of appreciation for her, his selfishness, and dominance - she recognizes that she is not self-actualized. Henry Ibsen also lays bare the difficult decisions in questions of morality and money. He mirrors his own life in his classic, A Doll's House in which characters must choose between life and moral obligations. In this situation, he undermines religion and its claims on individuals. A Doll's House unmasks the marriage problems of a bourgeois family and another demanding creditor. Want forms the backbone of the conflict and produces consequent marriages of convenience and illegitimate loans, through a controversial money lender. In the play, one sees that financial straits beget desperation and undermine moral values as evidenced in Nils Krogstad's "highly diseased moral character." Because Nora could not save Krogstad from imminent dismissal, he blackmails Nora and precipitates the collapse of her marriage. Similar, to Shylock in Shakespeare's A Pound of Flesh, Krogstad is a corrupt money-lender who blackmails and tortures those who are indebted to him. A key personal belief of Krogstad is enshrined in his self-fulfilling statement: "Nothing but dry business matters...absolutely nothing else" (Ibsen). He unscrupulously and mercilessly harrasses Nora with guilt for forging a signature which seals a loan bond. His dealings with others are based on manipulation and exchange-in other words, a transaction. Expediency is the only recourse. Although Krogstad knows that a signature is falsified, he still ratifies the loan because of self-interest and degeneracy. By all means necessary are his watchwords. To inspire some sting of consciousness in Krogstad, a woman has to plead with him. However, his pestilent actions are calculated in such a way that they cannot be reversed. Even though Krogstad has a demonized character, he still manages to evince some humanity. One can put forward mitigating reasons for Krogstad's apparent turpitude, such as the desire to wreck a family for the sake of his own. Krogstad also reveals that he has a family that is in his care. Money is the weapon with which he fights to regain his loss of respect in society. In his eyes, money is the priority which will keep his respect intact before his family. He has to provide for them in any way that he can to save them from poverty; therefore, his immoral methods are then not selfishly inspired. It is his sacred trust and responsibility. Krogstad's relationships suffered as well when his fiancee rejected his marriage proposal for someone else who had more money. As a consequence, Krogstad sees that money answers all things. In sum, Ibsen and Krogstad can be likened to one another in their insolvency, doubts cast on their moral characters and the penchant for controversy. At the same time, through their actions they have empowered women, Ibsen through the representation and empowerment of Nora in A Doll's House and Krogstad, by endorsing a loan for which it is legal for only women to contract. Ibsen stands a figure who makes points that are salient and relevant, though unpopular concerning gender roles and social expectations. Works Cited: Decker, C.R. "Ibsen's Literary Reputation and Victorian Taste" Studies in Philology. Vol. 32, No. 4, 1935. . Dorothy S. Bucks and Arthur H. Nethercot. "Ibsen and Herne's Margaret Fleming: A Study of the Early Ibsen Movement in America," American Literature, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Jan., 1946), 311-333. Ibsen, H. A Doll's House. A Project Gutenberg Ebook. . Roe, Frederick W. "Ibsen as a Dramatist" The Sewanee Review, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Jul., 1905), 305-318 Johns Hopkins University Press, . Ross, Shideler, R. "Darwin, Weak Men, Strong Women and Ibsen's Pillars of Society." Comparative Literature Studies, Vol. 34, No. 3 (1997), 242-259 . . Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Character research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1416931-character-research-paper
(Character Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1416931-character-research-paper.
“Character Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1416931-character-research-paper.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Life and Work of Ibsen

Analyzing the play 'A Doll's House' by Henrik Ibsen from a critical psychoanalytical perspective

When Nora transitions into plain clothing towards the plays conclusion, it symbolized Nora's new life of plainness, social normativity, and work.... Works Cited ibsen, Henrik (1889).... In Act III, Helmer says, “Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life's blood, and everything, for your sake (Isben, 1889).... Linde states that Nora “Knows so little of the burdens and troubles of life (Isben, 1889)....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Henrik Ibsen A Dolls House

This research paper "Henrik ibsen A Doll's House" shows that although most people would wish otherwise, equity, integrity, and independence are not values held at the utmost importance throughout mankind.... The setting in Henrik ibsen's is during a time period that finds women suppressed.... The reference used by ibsen for the title, suggests the false and constructed reality of the domestic sphere as it limits women from reaching their potential In Henrik ibsen's 'A Doll House'....
9 Pages (2250 words) Research Paper

A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen and Trifles by Susan Glaspell

Nora, ibsen's heroine, got herself into debt and used fraud because she loved her husband deeply, and would do anything to make him well and happy.... A Doll's House' (ibsen, 1879): Nora seemed a silly, flighty young wife, happy to answer to Torvald: "Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again" (Act 1, p.... The scrimping, saving and secret work, showed initiative and desire not just to conceal, but to repay the debt.... Left a penniless widow, she was however, more independent, seeking to work and finally to be part of an equal partnership with Krogstad....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

An Enemy of the People Analysis

The goal of the essay "An Enemy of the People Analysis" is an investigation to unearth ibsen's view of Human Nature, critique of ideas, values, and features of democratic community, and its strengths and weaknesses.... So, ibsen's views are innovative and revolutionary but ignore some essential factors of democracy.... Thesis statement: An investigation to unearth ibsen's view of Human Nature, critique of ideas, values, and features of a democratic community, and its strengths and weaknesses....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Read, The Master Builder by Ibsen

The majority of Ibsens writing concerns itself with the existential questions of existence, and the complications of personal relationships within the 19th century Ibsens the Master Builder was written during the late period of Ibsens life and reflects the more symbolic aspects of these works.... ibsen is also regarded as the father of modern theater for the stringent realism he implemented in his works that was adopted and incorporated into.... ibsen indicates that while Rangnar and Kaia are scheduled to be married, Halvard is indicated to have a relationship with Kaia such that she is hesitant of her marriage to Rangnar because of her feelings for Solness....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Comparing Two Plays for a Theatre Class

Her secessions are second-hand by ibsen to demonstrate the faults of civilization.... In the primary secession ibsen illustrate that in spite of Nora doing the right obsession it is thought incorrect and not allowed by civilization since she is a lady.... While the counterfeit can be careful wrong, ibsen is critical of the information that Nora is compulsory to forge.... ibsen is also dangerous to society's prospect of marriage....
5 Pages (1250 words) Case Study

A Dolls House - the Historical, Social, Cultural and Political Influences

The role of Nora can be best understood in the social context of ibsen's times, where women hardly had individuality but were, or rather expected to be, self-sacrificing.... The social, cultural and economic characteristics of ibsen's' period are well depicted in the play.... To add to the list, women were either ignorant of the responsibilities attached to getting loans as they were the work of the men in the family.... Secondly, it is an undeniable truth that ibsen had raised significant social, cultural and economic issues of his times in this play....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen

This essay "A Dolls House by Henrik ibsen" focuses on a story describing the relationship between Torvald and his wife, Nora.... In his article titled, "Nora as a Doll in Henrik ibsen's "A Doll's House," Chris Westgate illustrates how Nora is treated like a doll in "A Doll's House.... The service costs 6 pence, but she chose to give him a shilling (ibsen 8).... oth Torvald and Krogstad work in the same bank, only that Torvald is the manager....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us