Premium Essay

A Doll House Play Character Analysis

In: English and Literature

Submitted By kshana30
Words 930
Pages 4
During the nineteenth century, many restrictions and limitations were place on women in society. Marital roles, social roles, and work roles were very different for women during the nineteenth century than they are today (Hartman, 1999). Henrik Isben’s playwright, “A Doll House”, actively voices women rights many years ago. The marital life Nora Helmer is portrayed throughout the play, conveying subordination, condemnation, sacrifice, and inequality that women felt from men in the roles that they were expected to accept and play in a very conventional society. During the 19th century, men were thought to be superior, while women as inferior beings (Barksdale, 2012).
Nora Helmer
The plays main character, Nora Helmer depicts women behavior during the nineteenth century. In the beginning of the play Nora seems to portray to the image of most women during her time. She is very submissive and obedient to her husband, Torvald. Nora leads a double life in the play as a sheltered wife of an attorney and an independent risk taker, At first, Nora seems happy and affectionately responds to Torvalds’s teasing. However, this is just an act of Nora Helmer that we all later discovered. During the nineteenth century, women could not conduct business affairs and had no control over family finances (Hartman, 1999). Permission to do so was sought from the husband before doing such acts. Nora, “the little featherbrain”, a nickname given by her Torvald was just the opposite of that (Isben, 1879). She defied most of the rules. She ate macaroons and lied about it to her husband. She secretly forged her father’s signature, borrowed money without her husband’s permission, and boasted about it to her friend, Mrs. Linde (Isben, 1879). She was secretly proud of the sacrifice that she had made for her husband. However, Nora perception of her husband was totally out of place. When

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Dols of Mattel - Challenges on the Global Markets

...Mattel ­ Case Study ­ Dolls facing new challenges on the global market I. Executive Summary Mattel produces and sells various toys around the world and among these Barbie fashion doll is the flagship. This product was criticized from more aspects from other cultures of Aisa where the lifestyle Barbie represents is not commonly accepted. On the other hand privacy issues were raised by parents regarding the digital marketing activity of Mattel, as rights of children are related in this market. Mattel needs to consider whether these challenges are related specifically to the lifestyle Barbie represents, whether the lifecycle of Barbie can be expanded in a changing global environment. Or the issues are the signs of a general change regarding toys marketed internationally and also digitally. I came to the conclusion that Mattel needs to introduce a new doll which fits the new expectations. II. Problem/Issue Statement Mattel is the No 1. toy producer in the world, in terms of Sale. Their products with the strongest market presence are based on the concept of dolls / collectibles, where these characters are supported with background story, additional gadgets, additional releases of attached tools. The flagship brand of the company is the fashion Barbie doll, which was 50 years old in 2009. Barbie represents an independent, young American girl and as a fashion doll it acted in different professions and situations during the years. Thanks to this concept the lifecycle of the brand could been expanded on...

Words: 2127 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Dolls House Anaylsis

...Character Analysis In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen there is a controversial argument about whether or not Nora Helmer the main character is a hero or not. Throughout the play Nora carries out certain acts of behavior that wouldn’t be considered heroic on the surface but underneath they would. Throughout the play Nora is treated like Torvald’s pet or property not his wife, he looks at her as nothing more than a belonging. Nora is the “doll” wife of Torvald meaning she is just playing a roll and has no say. Little does he know she is actually caring, independent, and brave not just a pet. In the first act when the audience is first introduced to Nora you get the illusion that she is a perfect wife and the only problem she has is spending her husband’s money by shopping a lot. By giving the image of her being a perfect wife it is comparing her to a doll, because dolls have no flaws. As Nora and Torvalds dialogue proceeds you get the sense that Nora is viewed as a pet to Torvald. He calls her pet names such as “his little lark”, “squirrel”, “spendthrift”, and “sweet tooth” (Ibsen 1281-1283). In Torvalds eyes Nora is not viewed as his equal but his property. By Torvald talking to Nora like this he is degrading her. Also in the first act it is revealed that Nora has made some arrangements to keep the household afloat without informing Torvald. Nora lied to her husband not because she wanted to but because she had too. Torvald is a typical man of the 1800th century. Men during...

Words: 850 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Examples Of Mary Warren In The Crucible

...“ My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me!” The play “The Crucible” the things place in Salem Massachusetts in 1692, the times of the Salem witch trials. The story starts with a group of girls that goes dancing in the forest with a black slave named Tituba. After this rumors of witchcraft fill the town. Then the wicked Abigail starts claiming she saw townsfolk consorting with the devil. One of the people she denounces Elizabeth Proctor wife of John Proctor who once had sexual relations with Abigail. Throughout the play Mary Warren appears to be the weak one and at first wants to confess to the activities in the woods, but in Act 2 Mary Warren is believed to be helping Abigail...

Words: 768 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Barbie Doll

...her nose and her legs/ and offered them up.” This quote from “Barbie Doll”, by Marge Piercy, refers to a young girl who wishes to change her character and her appearance in order to live up to society’s expectations. In fact, instead of being complimented or admired for whom she truly is, people would rather criticize and condemn her for whom she isn’t. As a result of endlessly trying to alter her portrait, the “girlchild” eventually “wore herself out”. This poem suggests that unrealistic societal demands are destructive for a woman’s self-esteem and well-being. When comparing oneself to an idealistic notion of female beauty and behaviour, one can only expect to feel demoralized, discouraged and devalued. Indeed, "Barbie Doll," the title of the poem, symbolizes society’s view of a perfect woman; the way society expects every woman to be. In fact, by using “Barbie Doll” as the title to her poem, Marge Piercy wants the reader to compare and contrast the adolescent’s appearance to that of a Barbie doll. Stereotypically, Mattel’s Barbie dolls have tall, thin yet curvy bodies, with symmetrical, perfect facial features, blonde hair and blue eyes. This, in turn, leads to the protagonist’s void of self-confidence. Additionally, living up to such standards - all the while being a housewife who must clean the house, raise the children and please her husband - is very demanding on the female gender. Moreover, the doll is symbolic of the ways that women themselves have been plasticized and...

Words: 7896 - Pages: 32

Premium Essay

Inferior Role of a Married Woman Nora in a Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

...Inferior Role of a Married Woman Nora in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Mengdan Shen Theatre and Drama 120 Section 319 Ashley Bellet December 9, 2015 Before the twentieth century’s feminism movement, European females suffered from their unfair and discriminated positions in marriage and in society. In his masterpiece A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen creates Nora, a housewife who is dependent financially and socially on her husband, Helmer. Ibsen uses Nora’s marriage to depict and embody the unequal treatment to females in nineteenth century Europe. As another playwright Ella Hickson reviewed this play and commented on the character of Nora: As we meet her (Nora) in the first two acts she is very much Helmer’s possession. She lives in a house to which she doesn’t have a key for the letter box, she must ask Helmer for any money she needs, she is forced to lie about eating sweets, she must practice dancing when Helmer tells her and she must dress up in the clothes that Helmer likes. These demands, while shrouded in the soft, cooing language of affection, place Nora somewhere between a slave and a child. Hickson 2 Nora is treated as doll and a plaything owned by Helmer, and she is not expected and allowed to make serious decisions for their household. Also, she does not have much independent financial ability in the society as a housewife due to the social codes. Therefore, as an inferior role in the marriage, she is not treated with enough respect and appreciation...

Words: 2359 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

An Analysis of Act One Nora and Kristine Linde

...An Analysis of Act One Nora and Kristine Linde Henrik Ibsen can be considered one the most key influential figures in the development and motivation of theatre throughout history. An “ardent advocate of selffreedom, self-emancipation, and self-control”¹ Ibsen used his plays as a medium to challenge his audience about the flaws in their society, using his characters to mirror it and show the need for change. A Doll’s House is one of the most significant, and arguably the first, examples of Ibsen’s modernism, the protagonist, Nora, journeys throughout the play to become the ‘New Woman’ torn between society’s traditional values and her “duty to [herself].”² Transformation is one of the most important themes within A Doll’s House, and in fact in many of Ibsen’s plays, but for Ibsen to show his audience the benefits of this metamorphosis they must first witness the stages and reasons for development. Nora, the protagonist of this problem play, is the largest, but not only, character to show change and we can see this by contrasting the girlish Nora seen at the beginning of the play to the woman she has become by the end. One of the most important techniques Ibsen uses is that of “parallelisms”³ , each character appears to be paired with another and they have, essentially, a role reversal. For Nora her foil is Mrs Kristine Linde, an old school friend who has turned up on her doorstep out of the blue secretly in search of a job. MRS. LINDE [subdued and rather hesitantly]. How do...

Words: 1540 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Gender Roles in Disney

...Gender Roles and Disney The Disney princess has become one of the most iconic symbols of Walt’s ever growing empire. The disney Princess’ franchise first began in 1937 with the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs making Snow White the first princess in the now infamous princess lineup. The franchise continues with the most recent disney princess movie Tangled ( Rapunzel) which came out in 2011. Disney and their filmmakers caused great controversy with their princess’ such as race. Disney broke their european tradition by adding their first African American Princess to the line up. Princess Tiana of The Princess and the Frog in 2009 which still caused controversy. Another one of Disney’s biggest controversial topics was gender roles and how women and men are portrayed in these disney films. Gender roles are separate patterns of personality traits, mannerisms, interests, attitudes, and behaviors that are regarded as either "male" or "female" by one's culture. They are what is considered the “ Norm” for the male and female sex. There are stereotypical behaviors normally associated with either gender such as Women are suppose to be more passive aggressive, overly emotional, and illogical, just to name a few characteristics. While men tend to be more tough or in control, leaders, Not crying or wimpy and a womanizer As suggested in Kimmel’s “ Bros before Hos”: The Guy Code in Language Awareness (469). These same messages are often presented to children through the media they...

Words: 2407 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Alchemist

...antiquary, he got a good |  1| |education at Westminster School; but he does not seem to have gone to a University, though later both Oxford and Cambridge gave | | |him degrees. In his youth he practised for a time his stepfather’s trade of bricklaying, and he served as a soldier in Flanders. | | |  It was probably about 1595 that he began to write for the stage, and within a few years he was recognized as a distinguished |  2| |playwright. His comedy of “Every Man in His Humour” was not only a great immediate success, but founded a school of satirical | | |drama in England. “Sejanus” and “Catiline” were less popular, but are impressive pictures of Roman life, less interesting but more| | |accurate than the Roman plays of Shakespeare. | | |  For the court of James I, Jonson wrote a large number of masques, which procured him substantial rewards in the form of |  3| |pensions. | | |  But it was between 1605 and...

Words: 30021 - Pages: 121

Free Essay

Film Analysis-Final Paper

...Biographical Films Jenna Nelson December 12, 2014 JASS 248 Professor Erik Marshall Analysis Essay-The Five Heartbeats; The Film Genre of Biopics The Five Heartbeats (1991), directed by Robert Townsend, is a movie that I know all too well. This film effectively portrays the highs and the lows of the music industry and how it affects the members of a group. In this essay, I will analyze the cinematography, mis-en-scéne and the importance of music in films such as this one. I will also expound upon the genre of biographical films and how they contribute to society. Biographical films, or “biopics” represents the life history of an actual person or group. Unlike documentary film, biopics employ actors to play the roles of these individuals: they are dramatized, fictional films. Biopics are often marketed as being “inspired by” or “based on” the lives of famous people including entertainers, royalty, scientists and even criminals. Dennis Bingham conducted a study on biographical films and discusses and history of the biography. He also looks at the various forms of the biopic, including theatrical releases, made-for-television movies and short films. Bingham argues that biopics of women are structured so differently from male biopics as to constitute their own genre. The conventions of the female biopic have proven much more intractable than the male biopic. This is due to society’s difficulty with the very issue of women in the public sphere. The difficulty kept...

Words: 2412 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Crr- the Devil and Tom Walker

...Nwobi 1 Odera Nwobi AP Language & composition September 21, 2014 CRR #1- The Crucible I. Author/Introduction Arthur Miller; an American playwright, born in the early 1900’s, 1915 to be precise. He was born into a very wealthy family. He was not very wealthy for a very long time, after the stock market crash in 1929. He had to do odd job to be able to pay for his college. After college, he career was a little rocky after his first play The Man Who Had All the Luck closed after four performances. After a while, his show All my Son earned him his first award. He wrote over 50 different works ranging from plays, novels, articles. His best play was Death of a Salesman which earned him a lot of fame. Another popular play he wrote was The Crucible. This play was a reflection of the Salem witch trial back in 1692. He was considered a communist because he advocated principles of equality among the classes, and social justice. He was married three times. He was once married to the popular actress Marilyn Monroe. Arthur Miller died in 2005 at the age of 89. II. Vocabulary Gibberish- meaningless or unintelligent talk. Trepidation- trembling or quivering movement. Subservient- serving or acting in a subordinate capacity. Shudder- to tremble with a sudden convulsive movement as from horror, fear, or cold. Calumny- a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something. Titillated- to excite or arouse agreeably. Sniveling- to weep...

Words: 1792 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Marketing Plan

...Plan TAOF (Toys For Less) Marketing Plan ------------------------------------------------- Presented By: Group TAOF ( Md.Tariqul Islam, Ali Husnain Abbasi , Oluwapelumi Olajide, Farah Zaidi and Prabhavathi Batchalakuri) University: Devry University Keller Management School. TAOF (Toys For Less) Marketing Plan ------------------------------------------------- Presented By: Group TAOF ( Md.Tariqul Islam, Ali Husnain Abbasi , Oluwapelumi Olajide, Farah Zaidi and Prabhavathi Batchalakuri) University: Devry University Keller Management School. TABLE OF CONTENT 1.0 Executive Summary 3 2.0 Situation Analysis 4 2.1 Market Summary 5 2.2 SWOT Analysis 6 2.3 Competition 7 2.4 Product (Service) Offering 9 2.5 Keys to success 11 2.6 Critical Issue 12 3.0 Marketing Strategy 13 3.1 Mission Statement 15 3.2 Marketing Objectives 15 3.3 Financial Objectives 16 3.4 Target Markets 20 3.5 Positioning 22 3.6 Strategy 23 3.7 Marketing Mix 26 3.8 Marketing Research 27 4.0 Controls 28 4.1 Implementation 31 4.2 Marketing Organization 32 4.3 Contingency plans 33 5.0 Conclusion 34 References 34 1.0 Executive Summary In New York City, where 58% of the state’s low-income children reside, over half the children live in low-income families. Low-income parents struggle to make ends meet, thus it will be beneficial and also an investment for the parents to buy toys for their children...

Words: 7523 - Pages: 31

Free Essay

Technology Transfer

...Industrial Promotion and Technology Branch TECHNOLOGY PAPER SERIES 6/05 Technology Transfer and Trade: The Toy Industry in India UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION I N D U S T R I A L P R O M OT I O N A N D T EC H N O LO GY B R A N C H Technology Transfer and Trade: The Toy Industry in India TECHNOLOGY PAPER SERIES TPS 6/05 December 2005 UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Vienna, 2005 UNIDO Industrial Promotion and Technology Branch Technology Paper Series TPS No. 6/2005 December 2005 Technology Transfer & Trade in Toy Industry of India Copyright © 2004 by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) The designati ons employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The responsibility for options expressed rests solely with the authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by UNIDO of the opinions expressed. This document has been produced without formal editing. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Secretariat of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Any indication of, or reference to, a country, institution...

Words: 7419 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Lego

...of LEGO Chapters: • Introduction ------------------------------------------------ 3 • Company Background ----------------------------------- 4 • Marketing Focus------------------------------------------- 5 • SWOT Analysis -------------------------------------------- 6 – 7 • Time Series Analysis ------------------------------------- - 8 – 9 • Product Analysis ------------------------------------------ -10 – 11 • Suggested Marketing Plan --------------------------------12 – 13 • Conclusion --------------------------------------------------- 14 • References --------------------------------------------------- 15 INTRODUCTION – For a company that has firmly established its foothold for the last 75 years, developing a futuristic three – year marketing plan involves critically analyzing the current marketing strategies and stating new strategies to be implied in the next few years. In this paper, four current marketing development plans namely SWOT Analysis, Time Series Analysis, and Market Product Analysis are dealt in a detailed way. Awarded the “Toy of the Century” at the end of the millennia, LEGO Group has nurtured generations of children and pre-teens with its creative and learning construction blocks. Over the years, LEGO has developed newer version of their products, masterminded by some of the best...

Words: 2946 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Psychology Book of Knowledge

...Laboratory Experiments A laboratory experiment takes place in an artificial and controlled setting, which is not natural to the participants of the study. There is an independent variable, which is purposefully manipulated by the researchers, and the dependent variable is measured, to see the effect of changing the IV on the DV. All other variables other than these are controlled to the best of the researchers’ ability, which are called extraneous variables, but sometimes other variables can affect the results – these are confounding variables. With laboratory experiments, cause and effect conclusions can be drawn * Careful controls mean they are replicable so can be tested for reliability – if carried out again and findings are similar, then it is likely to be reliable * Good controls mean there should be few confounding variables, so experiment is objective (e.g. there should be no subjectivity from the experimenter’s interventions and interpretations) and scientific * By isolating variables, the situation is not as in ‘real life’ so findings are not likely to be valid * Laboratory experiments usually lack validity of the task and therefore are not representative of true behaviour Milgram (1963) Study of Obedience Aim: To see whether people would obey and inflict harm on each another person using electric shocks, by following the orders of an authority figure. This was to see whether all individuals had the potential to cause harm like the Germans and the...

Words: 4677 - Pages: 19

Premium Essay

How Montessori Support Imagination Development

...imagination being develops in Montessori Environment Maybe the most definite difference between traditional early childhood program and Montessori classroom is the absence of fantasy character in Montessori prepared environment. We have seen many facts that prove how fantasy dangerous for our kids mind. My brother had a terrified experience when he still 5 years old. He jumped in to a garbage pit that full of fires while wearing batman costumes. He saw at television as a batman, nothing can harm him. The most extreme things maybe what was happen in Britain, where Zach Avery (4 years old) and Coy Mathis (7 years old) that really ‘inspired’ with character of Dora the Explorer in television. Even they were born as male, but as toddler they choose items traditionally associated with Dora that grew his hair, wore lots of pink, like tutus and swimsuits featuring the cartoon character Dora the Explorer. Even though few doctor diagnosed them with Gender Identity Disorder, but it’s still in controversy As parents and teacher, we must aware of this. Because young children are naïve- they believe all that they are told. The world is a new and wonderful place for young children, and one marked by ability to absorbed seemingly endless amounts of information from the environment around him or her. Fantasy characters are not only unnecessary, they also quite damaging. Because children believe what they are told, and because they lack the experience to it information within accurate beliefs about...

Words: 2755 - Pages: 12