A Doll's House: by Henrik Ibsen-2-THEMES

A Doll's House: by Henrik Ibsen-2-THEMES

                                                   

A Doll's House: by Henrik Ibsen-2-THEMES

THEMES

MARRIAGE

                    The main message of A Doll's House seems to be that a true (read: good) marriage is a joining of equals. The play centers on the dissolution of a marriage that doesn't meet these standards. At first the Helmers seem happy... but over the course of the play, the imbalance between them becomes more and more apparent.

By the end, the marriage breaks apart due to a complete lack of understanding. Together in wedlock, Nora and Torvald are incapable of realizing who they are as individuals.

WOMEN AND FEMININITY

                     Nora of A Doll's House has often been painted as one of modern drama's first feminist heroines. (Get it, Nora!) Over the course of the play, she breaks away from the domination of her overbearing husband, Torvald. The playwright, Henrik Ibsen, denied that he had intentionally written a feminist play, preferring to think of it as "humanist."

Still, though, throughout this drama there is constant talk of women, their traditional roles, and the price they pay when they break with tradition.

MEN AND MASCULINITY

                  The men of A Doll's House are in many ways just as trapped by traditional gender roles as the women (Torvald Helmer being the chief example). The men must be providers. They must bear the burden of supporting the entire household. They must be the infallible kings of their respective castles. By the end of the play, these traditional ideas are truly put to the test.

THE HOME

                  When a play is called A Doll's House, chances are that home might be a prevalent theme. Early on in the text, the home is seen as a thing of joy, a place of comfort and shelter. The idea of home is enmeshed with the idea of the happy family, which the Helmers seem to be.

Toward the play's conclusion, however, the imbalance of power in the family becomes an issue. Now the seemingly happy home is revealed as having been a façade—a doll's house—that hid the gulf between the Helmers. The Helmers' home is really more of a prison than a shelter.

RESPECT AND REPUTATION

                 The men of A Doll's House are obsessed with their reputations. Some have good standing in their communities and will do anything to keep it, others have lost their good name and will do anything to get it back. Though the play is set in the living room of a private residence, the public eye is constantly peeking through the curtains.

LOVE

               There is much talk of love in A Doll's House, but in the end, the Helmers discover that true love never existed between them. Throughout the play we hear of and see many different forms of love: familial, maternal, paternal, and fraternal. Romantic love even blossoms for two of the secondary characters. However, for the main characters, the Helmers, true romantic love is elusive.

LIES AND DECEIT

                   The essential tension running throughout A Doll's House comes from Nora's fear of a secret being discovered. Her absolute terror of this revelation leads her to tell lie after lie. When her web of lies finally tightens around her, her marriage proves too weak to bear the strain.

MONEY

                 Early in A Doll's House, the characters spend a good deal of time talking about their finances. Some are on the upswing, with the promise of free-flowing cash in the future. Others are struggling to make ends meet. Either way, each character's financial status seems to be a defining feature.

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