Kendall Latshaw
Mrs. Rutan
A.P. Literature & Composition
18 December 2014
Mrs. Rutan
A.P. Literature & Composition
18 December 2014
Done Being a Barbie
Marriage is an institution that is supposed to be based on love, yet so many times, both past and present day, it becomes corrupted by the masculine desire for a dominant role. So many times, husbands look at wives, not as equal counterparts in a relationship, but as someone to cater, hand and foot, to their every request. So many times, this sacred institution turns into a vehement power struggle. This corruption and hideous sexism prevails in the play A Doll House written by Henrik Ibsen. Nora—the main character who wants so badly to lead a perfect life—gets walked all over and pushes her own feelings aside in the name of love. All she ever dreamed of was to live a perfect, Barbie Doll life, even if that meant she had to constantly bow down to her misogynist husband and put on a happy face. Nora was so used to playing “doll wife” (1149) that she became blind to the fact that there were more deep-rooted problems at hand and her dearest husband was to blame. In this piece, Ibsen argues that women were treated poorly, and did not play equal roles in a household. This sexism diminishes the dignity of the female, and as proven in this play, a woman can only take so much before she finally cracks.
Wastrel. Squirrel. Loving pet names, or passive digs? |
Nothing says “I own you” more than pet names, and those are Torvald’s favorite. Torvald constantly refers to Nora as his little “wastrel” (1094) and his “squirrel” (1093). The pet names he uses fail to show any type of romantic gesture at all; they’re patronizing. This is one of his many tactful passive aggressive ways of making Nora aware of who is really in control. Ibsen makes apparent that Nora, and women in general, can mistake an act of power for an act of love; what Nora thought was just a sweet gesture was really a strategy Torvald used to slowly but surely dehumanize her repeatedly. Using this act of control, Torvald turned Nora into a possession—which she soon found out herself.
This confusion still occurs today. Women in abusive relationships often believe the man is hurting them out of love, and they believe “it was the last time”. It never ever is.
This confusion still occurs today. Women in abusive relationships often believe the man is hurting them out of love, and they believe “it was the last time”. It never ever is.
Ibsen makes it quite apparent that Nora is really just a doll figure to Torvald—just something he can play with. Her life was simply made up of “a hand-to-mouth kind of existence” (1149). She had no real job; her job was to play. She had no true responsibilities; the maid did the cleaning and watched the children. Nora’s “home [had] never been more than a playroom” (1149). Torvald wanted Nora to dance, so she danced. Torvald wanted Nora to wear a certain costume, so she wore that costume. What Torvald says, goes. Nora had no backbone, always folding in to what Torvald wanted. She was his puppet, his doll, and that is all she would ever be to him.
Not only did Torvald make his never-ending desire for complete control over Nora obvious in his actions, it is extremely visible through the couple’s dialogue and Ibsen’s use of syntax. When the two have playful conversations (which is basically what their marriage was made of) Nora seems to be quite the windbag, never giving anyone else a chance to express themselves. When there is a turn of events, however, and the couple has to have one their very first serious conversations, the roles shift drastically: Nora is barely given the chance to express her thoughts and feelings. Ibsen makes Torvald’s lack of consideration quite clear by his use of Nora’s brief dialogue and all the dashes—Torvald kept cutting her off. Thus, once again, Torvald clearly has no respect or care for his sweet little Nora, because, how silly to think a woman’s opinion could actually matter.
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Nora finally reached an epiphany—it only took her nine years! She decided to leave Torvald and the children to experience the world on her own for once. She realized that, like a child, she needed to grow up. Nora kept waiting for the “big wonderful” (1132) to happen, Torvald’s big romantic gesture, but when it didn’t, it finally hit her that the love she had relentlessly been giving to Torvald would never be reciprocated. She shed her role of being Torvald’s Barbie when she returned from her room in “her outdoor clothes and a small bag” (1153). No longer did Nora care what Torvald thought; no longer was she his doll. It finally registered that Torvald was not the love of her life; he treated her so poorly and she was so blind to it. She had to let him go. She had to become her own person, live her own life. She left her dollhouse with a “heavy door slamming shut” (1154). As Evelyn Cunningham once said:
"Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors"
and sometimes, women must leave their oppressors in order to discover who they really are.
Ibsen clearly opposed the sexism that dominated society in the nineteenth century and the toll it took on young women and housewives. Although this piece was written back in the eighteen hundreds, these stereotypes still play a role in our society today. From promiscuity on magazine covers to being trapped in abusive relationships, women are still dehumanized today; however, they are no longer satisfied with this stereotyping and sexism; they will be no one’s little “songbird” (1147).