Feminism in A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen Essay Example

In the play A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen is able to create a story about feminism through his use of Nora and Mrs. Linde as strong, independent female characters; the actions taken by such characters ensure a feminist plot by reinforcing the idea of women being equal to men.

To begin with, Ibsen’s play is able to display feminist ideals through his use of Nora making her own independent decisions apart from Torvald. To elaborate, in the play it states, “Nora. ‘Papa didn’t give us a shilling. It was I who procured the money.’ Mrs. L. ‘You? All that large sum?’ Nora. ‘Two hundred and fifty pounds. What do you think of that?’...Mrs. L. ‘No, a wife cannot borrow without her husband’s consent.’ Nora. [tossing her head]. Oh, if it is a wife who has any head for business-a wife who has the wit to be a little bit clever-’” (Ibsen 11). To paraphrase, Nora is able to procure a deal with someone on her own as a way to save Torvald’s life with a trip to Italy, despite the fact she received no help from neither her father nor anyone else.  This matters as not only did she essentially save his life, but she’s doing this all on her own and is paying the loan back on her own, a stark contrast to the societal standards and setting the idea for the reader that this is a feminist play. Overall, this shows how Ibsen’s play is advocating for feminist ideals because, despite the fact that the Victorean-set-era was one where women only focused on household issues, Nora goes behind Torvald’s back to procure a large amount of money. Furthermore, the play goes on to state, '`Mrs. L. ‘And since then you have never told your secret to your husband?’ Nora. ‘Good heavens, no! How could you think so? A man who has such strong opinions about these things! And besides, how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything!’” (Ibsen 12). In other words, Nora reveals that in order to secure her loan, she acted alone and independent from her husband Torvald. Despite just being a conversation, this scene held massive significance on the appearance of Nora as a person and a woman. The societal standards during her time expected her to be firmly loyal to her husband by doing everything he gave permission to, however, Nora breaks the status quo on various levels. Not only did she go behind Torvald’s back and act without his permission nor knowledge, but she then used that money to save his life and then covered it up with a lie, a clear cunning action that was seen as an impossible step to be taken by a woman at the time. This shows how Ibsen’s play was one advocating for feminism as had she been a man, it would have just been a simple loan that needed to be paid back, but the added effect here was that she was a woman. It was because she was a woman and things still worked for her that it pushed the idea of women having the wit, cunning, and skill to be on equal terms with men that made this play feminist. 

Additionally, Ibsen’s play is able to display feminist ideals through the use of the new woman and their working ethic towards equality. To add on, in the play it states, “Nora. Well, then I have found other ways of earning money. Last winter I was lucky enough to get a lot of copying to do, so I locked myself up and sat writing every evening until quite late at night. Many a time I was desperately tired, but all the same, it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man,’” (Ibsen 13). To paraphrase, Nora confesses how hard she worked to pay her loan back while admitting to the joys she found in work. While in modern days this idea would be accepted as normality, this was a grotesque statement to the idea of what it meant to be a woman in Victorian society. Not only did Nora find independence and joy in working, but it put her in a position where she felt she was just like any man. The author clearly chose to include the final statement of how she felt like a man as a way to add further impact and weight to her words. Without that added statement, it could have been taken as Nora was just bored without work, but that final idea of being equal to a man set the stage for the feminist ideals to take place. This further relates the play to the ideas of feminism because as the Victorian times were ending, more and more women found themselves in the workforce, though with fewer opportunities, they spent their hours gaining money to provide for people or themselves, just as any other man. Thus, Ibsen’s use of the new, working woman is a testament to the ideals of feminism and the raising of women to societal views of men. Lastly, the play includes Mrs. Linde as evidence of feminist ideas when it states, “Mrs. L. ‘I could not endure life without work. All my life, as long as I can remember, I have worked, and it has been my greatest and only pleasure…I want to be another to someone, and your children need a mother. We two need each other. Nils, I have faith in your real character-I can dare anything with you,’” (Ibsen 53). In other words, Mrs. Linde is trying to convince Krogstad to get with her, while allowing her to keep her job so they may provide for one another. This matters as Mrs. Linde's need to feel supportive and like a caregiver led to her obtaining a job and ending up with Krogstad so that she may have someone to live for. This is significant because the societal ideas of women were that they were inferior to men and were the ones who needed to be taken care of and provided for, yet here the roles are reversed. This shows feminist ideas in the play as Mrs. Linde’s working ethic further set in place the idea that women were not only equal to men but in some cases could be more dependable, as in this scene Krogstad has no job and she was able to bring back his old, righteous self. 

In conclusion, Mrs. Linde and Nora’s need to provide and fulfill broke societal standards and made Ibsen’s play one of feminism with ideas of gender equality and mutual respect.