Abstract
This paper begins with an introduction that provides a general overview as well as the setting of the play A Doll’s House. It also sets out to provide an analysis of how Ibsen portrays the rights of women through the female characters in his most famous plays, A Doll’s House and Ghosts. The paper begins by evaluating the rights of woman as portrayed through the experiences of the female characters in the Doll’s House. In particular, the primary focus of this part is Nora, who is a central character in the play. Accordingly, the play proceeds to evaluate the extent to which the female characters in Ghosts play portray women rights and this part of the paper focuses more on the experiences of the main character, Mrs. Alving. In the end, the paper provides a conclusion that seeks to reflect on the paper and whether the female characters in both plays succeed in portraying women rights.
Introduction
The setting of the Doll’s House is in the nineteenth century and the main theme in the play is feminism. The play presents social criticism to the relationship between man and woman as well as their roles within the domain of traditional matrimony. This is apparent because, through the characters, Ibsen explores issues regarding women, their status in the society and the way the men dominate them on the pretext of love and family. From the outset, one is able to decode that during the Victorian period, men did not pursue true love for the women and had very little, if any, respect for the womenfolk. Through the play, Ibsen evaluates and questions the values that the nineteenth century society entrenched regarding family and gender roles. From the way the female characters in the play behave or are expected to behave it is apparent that the nineteenth century European society was based on patriarchal principles that exposed women to considerable injustices.
Woman’s Rights in A Doll’s House
The play uses female characters to provide an overview of what the society was like and the general perception regarding women. In particular, by focusing on the marriage between Nora and her husband, Torvald, the play portrays marriage as an oppressive institution to the women folk because it does not support the individuality of the women. For instance, the play portrays Nora as being unable to make choices on her own and has to depend on her husband to make decisions. Accordingly, Torvald uses pet names when calling his wife. These names are meant to dehumanize women and portray them as being equivalent to children. The fact that the society views women as children is further compounded by the way Nora is playing hide and seek with the children (Ibsen 32). Consequently, the macaroons that Nora is eating despite Torvald prohibiting her reveal her innocence and childish nature. However, the fact that she continues eating the macaroons and sweets shows a form of rebellion against the authority that Torvald, as a man, possesses over her within the patriarchal society. Ultimately, the way that Nora behaves like a child in different scenes seems to be deliberate acts to satisfy the attitude that her husband and the society has towards women. Accordingly, her occasional rebellion of what Torvald and the society expect of her as a woman shows that women also have the ability to stand up for themselves.
Further, Ibsen uses Nora and Mrs. Linden to show that women do not enjoy the same rights as their male counterparts in a patriarchal society. The statement of Mrs. Linden evidences this when Nora goes to borrow some money in order to assist her husband. Mrs. Linden observes thus, “a wife can't borrow money without her husband’s consent” (19). Accordingly, Nora does not have the courage to tell her husband that she has taken a loan, the only way she believes she can get away with it is by lying to her husband that she has obtained a loan from her father. Consequently, she begins to work in secrecy so that she can pay back the money she has borrowed. The fact that she borrows the money without the knowledge of her husband and works secretly to earn money for the purposes of paying the loan show that within the nineteenth century European society, men were supposed to be providers and the only gender required to have the money. As such, women could only have money by receiving either from their husbands or from their fathers. It also emerges that Nora does not want her husband to know that she has taken a loan to help him because he will feel embarrassed that he owes her. Nora says thus, “And besides, how painful ad humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything!” (Bradford 56). Accordingly, from the way Nora is afraid of handling the money she receives as a loan, it is apparent that for the women, acquiring money on their own was considered outrageous. Ultimately, Nora is able to assist her husband financially when times are hard and they have hardly any money to spend. In this regard, she represents Ibsen’s perception that women are capable of doing as much as their husbands, therefore the society should treat them equal.
Nora’s final act of leaving her husband and exiting the house is the most emblematic action in the play. Her exit into the darkness outside is not just a mere act of separation from her husband, but a kind of protest against the very principles of a patriarchal society where a woman who leaves her husband is perceived as an outcast. Nora is aware of the bleak future that she has ahead without the support of the society but leaves anyway. It is noteworthy that the decision to leave is a sign of the willpower that women should have in order to depart their oppressive pasts and find their own way, even when there seems to be no hope of success in a society that embraces masculine traditions that are repressive to the women folk. It is very probable that Nora ends up broke and desolate but her leaving is symbolic in the sense that it represents the revolutionary step that women have to take in a bid to liberate themselves from the yoke that the Victorian society places on them. It also heralds a new beginning of women taking risks to seek a new identity and demand dignity.
Throughout the play, Nora emerges as a woman who has as much potential as her husband. The way she helps her husband even in providing for the family shows that just like any man, she has the ability to become a successful member within the society. It is noteworthy that her critical mentality and sense of justice that makes her realize that she will never be free to decide on her own and when she understands that the marriage and the love that she has held on to is all a form of possessing and exploiting her, that she decides enough is enough. Lewis notes that Nora “rejects the traditional obligations of family, religion, and morality in order to abandon her home and educate herself” (196). Ultimately, the plight of Nora is still relevant to the predicament of women in many societies even during the 21st century. The use of female characters to reflect traditional gender roles, presents a challenge to every man and woman to reflect on their roles, not only in the 19th century but also in the contemporary societies, and determine whether the purported liberation of the womenfolk is a reality.
Women’s Rights in "Ghosts" Play
In Ghosts play, Ibsen uses female characters to reflect a struggle between social realities and individual choice within a male-dominated society. One of the most conspicuous women in the play is Mrs. Alving whose freedom to decide and do things is limited by the environment around her, which is based on the masculine beliefs. However, rather than confront the patriarchal beliefs, she chooses to disregard them. This is evidenced by the satirical phrase of Pastor Manders that she married a “loose man” but she decided not to give up. It is apparent that the only reason that makes her not to give up with her situation is that she is concerned about her son, Osvald. Here, it is clear that the play focuses on the society during the 19th century when the society exalted the concept of family greatly. Mrs. Alving, decides to put her ambitions aside in order to ensure that her family survives, at least until Osvald grows up.
However, although Mrs. Alving chooses to disregard the social realities within the society, she is clearly a woman who is under the dominion of the masculine culture, much like Nora in A Doll’s House. One of the ways that shows that Mrs. Alving has been dominated by the male culture is the fact that although she is upset by the unbecoming behavior of her husband, she cannot do anything about it even when her stepdaughter, Regina, is staying with her. The next scene that reveals how the male culture is overwhelming to the women is towards the end of the play when Mrs. Alving fails to protect her son from the bad influences of her husband. Accordingly, in a bid to show how the patriarchal society invades the personal lives of women, the author reveals the way Mrs. Alving is trying hard to maintain her reputation while at the same time trying to protect the reputation of her late husband. Because of her constant concern about maintaining the appearance of her family, she ends up living a lie and in the process destroys the life of her son.
The speech about ghosts, which Mrs. Alving narrates during the second act, plays a major metaphorical role. For instance, one becomes aware that the ghosts that she is talking about are societal opinions that dominate the women regarding their roles within the family setting and by extension their duty to the society. In particular, through the character of Mrs. Alving, women appear as people whose thoughts are dominated by societal opinions to the extent that they are unable to make independent decisions or exercise their individual rights. For instance, Mrs. Alving is not able to liberate her mind from what appears to be a society that is too judgmental on women. Clearly, the author portrays the ghosts of the past, especially the character of Mrs. Alving’s late husband as inescapable and something that incapacitates her ability to think independently and move on. As such, the manner in which Ibsen depicts Mrs. Alving as having no power to overcome her fear of the patriarchal convictions years after the death of her husband, portrays masculinity as a devastating nightmare to the womenfolk. Apart from Mrs. Alving, the character of Regina reveals the innocence of women, which the patriarchal society takes advantage of from the early age of girls. She has people all around her who are influencing her life. By portraying Regina as a girl in need of protection from Mrs. Alving, Ibsen is trying to portray women as victims of circumstances.
Other than the limitations that husbands and the society places on women, Ibsen uses the character of Mrs. Alving to show that the personal limitations on women are also self-imposed. The fact that Mrs. Alving still behaves as if she is still married and still protects the reputation of Captain Alving despite her husband having been dead for ten years, shows that she has imposed her own limitations as she grapples with her own selfish motives of ensuring that her thinking and actions conform to the societal expectations. Further, Mrs. Alving seems to contribute to her predicament when she opts to ignore her husband’s bad behavior. By pretending that she does not bother about his indiscretions, Mrs. Alving encourages his husband’s behavior, albeit indirectly. Indirectly, she also contributes to the deteriorating behavior of her son by not telling her about his late father’s despicable behavior. By keeping her late husband’s bad behavior a secret, Mrs. Alving emerges as a coward and is not able to free her mind. As such, she contributes to her constant struggle as a woman and wife. Here, Ibsen depicts women who allow the societal opinions to overshadow their individual rights and ambitions as cowards who can never prosper on their own in a male-dominated society as long as they persist with their fears. In the end, Mrs. Alving has left it too late and as a result, she is not able to make any meaningful difference to her life, as she has to re-live her bad experiences with her husband when her son becomes ill. She expresses her defeat when she says, “I cannot bear it! Never!” when she looks at her ailing son begging for the sun (Ibsen).
Conclusion
Ibsen is able to provide an accurate reflection of the rights and the constant struggles of women within the 19th century patriarchal societies in Europe. Ultimately, the men appear as the dominant gender whose main role in these societies is to provide for their families while the role of women is limited to raising children and doing other household chores. Accordingly, the author manages to portray women as people who are perceived by the society as being equivalent to children, hence unable to make decisions independent of their male counterparts. Most importantly, at the end of the two plays, Ibsen uses the characters of Nora and Mrs. Alving to portray women as capable of standing up to their fears, confronting the societal attitudes that label them weak and determining their own future.
Work Cited
Bradford, Lesa. “Women In Reality: A Rhetorical Analysis of Three of Henrik Ibsen’s Plays In
Order To Determine The Most Prevalent Feminist Themes”. May 2007. Web. 22 Apr. 2016. http://soar.wichita.edu/bitstream/handle/10057/1115/t07003.pdf
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Ibsen, Henrik and William Archer (Trans.). “Ghosts.” 6 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
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