The Cultural Context of A Dolls House Essay

Understanding the cultural context of a text allows you to see how values and attitudes are shaped Show how this statement applies to one of the texts on your course.

Henrik Ibsen was the cultural phenomenon of his time. He shows us how the values and attitudes of people are shaped in society. He shocked audiences daily in the 1879 play, with his radical insight into the social roles of a husband and wife, or man and woman, of that time. In Ibsens play A dolls house we see Noras personality being shaped as her attitude changes and she breaks free and rebels from the late 19th century stereotypical womanhood, to discover herself after her romantic masquerade of a marriage shatters. This is only one example of how Ibsen amazed his viewers with the controversial play. All throughout A dolls house we see, the value people have for an honourable reputation, their attitude towards money and how their roles in this tiered society are shaped.

Men are the sole earners in this society. This gives them the attitude of being above and better than the women, who have a dependency on them for income. Even though the women keep the home in shape and ensure maintenance of all key household work they end up being valued as useless objects or possessions of mere beauty to be shown off in this judgemental society. Their hard labour goes unnoticed. Nora using her flirtatious relationship as a wife or childlike qualities of sulking shows her values in manipulating Torvald to get what she wants out of him. Her childlike qualities with him are very much that of a parent and child; when he takes her playfully by the ear it is the attitude of an adult dealing with a naughty infant. She also conceals her macaroons as he does not let her indulge in sweet things as they rot her teeth. She goes along with Torvalds attitude towards her shaping her into actually being a doll to be played with. She seems to relish in his use of pet names, delighting in the power she can get from her sexuality and beauty, where Torvald uses them in a patronising way to maintain his dominance over her. Society has pre-determined their roles in the house as a husband and wife, and as parents completely closed off from their childrens lives. As women in society are kept away from the outside world the men shape the households reputation.

Being noticed in this society is a priority greatly valued. You are ensured of this my maintaining a good reputation and social status. We see the Helmers shaping theirs by throwing a Christmas party. This shows us their attitude to how they feel they must be depicted in society. Krogstad who lost his reputation in the past for reasons similar to Noras current impractical actions that shape the play, is made out in the superficial sense to be the villain of this piece. With the power to destroy the crucial good reputation of the Helmers He is determined to maintain his social position and prestige by threatening theirs, destroying their peace and happiness at the same time. Nora, who understands how much Torvald values his reputation even considers sacrificing her life for his reputation because she loves him so much and cant see any other way out. But when all is revealed and she says this to Torvald he shows indifference towards her by saying it wouldnt make a difference to the situation rather than telling her it was an absurd idea and that nothing is more important than her. Nora assumed the ruins of his reputation thinking he would take the blame for everything but he laughs at this saying no man would sacrifice his reputation for a woman this shows Torvald priorities and that his reputation is in fact more important to him than his wife. When first handed the problem he sees that he will be able to deceive everyone, maintaining his reputation and therefore forgives Nora for her wretched actions. This shows Torvalds attitude that he doesnt actually care about the quality of his reputation, he only worries about the depiction of reputation others of high ranking have shaped for him. He is more concerned about appearances than truth or reality.

Money earns respect and a good status in this society. It shows your worth, the more you possess the more authority you have which creates more respect. We see how Kristine Linde, a working class woman, values money as a means of survival, to put food on the table for her and her children in comparison to Nora Helmer who sees it as a luxury to be shown off. This is visibly shown when she over-tips the porter to show she is well off. Money is viewed by men as a means of dominance and control over woman. Torvald demonstrates this when he uses moneys as means of lifting Noras spirits from her manipulative sulk at the beginning of the play. He then proceeds to show his condescending attitude towards her saying she is greedy and that she must get it from her father who was also money hungry. Men value money to dress their mannequin wives well to show they are of high ranking. Torvald portrays this by talking about Nora in third person as if shes an object of no thoughts saying Isnt she beautiful to Kristine after the Christmas party. At the end of the play Nora, showing a more mature attitude than before by no longer believing in miracles, idolising Ms. Linde, wishes to be independent and start a new life for herself. Ms. Linde is shaping a new life for herself with Krogstad, since she found independence incredibly lonely saying Castaways have a better chance of survival together than on their own.

Ibsens controversial play or the 19th century A dolls house certainly shows a great understanding of cultural context and allows us to see how values and attitudes are shaped. We see it through exploring the role of men and women in society and the importance of reputation and money. We can compare it with our 21st century lives and see just how much has changed in the attitudes of people have changed. We see how men have more rights than women of that time maintaining a higher status.