Submitted by: Submitted by tp07
Views: 27
Words: 1176
Pages: 5
Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 03/25/2015 08:31 PM
Tina Phan
JR Ezell
LIT 2100
August 8, 2014
Word Count: 1166
Nora: the Role Model for the Modern Woman
In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House, Nora is considered a role model for the Modern Woman because she did what no other woman of her time has done before: put herself above her family. Nora chose to step out of the comfort and shelter of her family to learn what the real world was like. To the audience of that time, this behavior was considered taboo. Nora’s actions gave the female demographic something to be proud of. Nora’s actions made it clear to the audience and readers that women were meant to be just as important as men. It changed the perspective of the duties as a woman, as well as a wife and mother. In the play, Nora said that she had duties she owed to herself that were “equally sacred” to her duties as a wife and a mother (Ibsen 98). This scene, in my opinion, was the tipping point that let the audience and readers know that Nora’s change was for a definite cause and not something that was only temporary. This was not one of her childish attempts of acting like an adult. In fact, Nora spoke dominantly to her husband Torvald, for the first time, when she finally decided that it was time she broke free from his doll house. “Sit done. This’ll take some time. I have a lot to say” (Ibsen 96). Nora realizes that she has been robbed of her independence and rights as a human being: the right to think for oneself.
I am sure that many women of that time felt cheated as an able-minded human being. During the time that A Doll House first debuted, the thought of a woman putting herself above her family was outlandish. The only duties women were in charge of, at the time, were to take care of the family, look pretty, and abide by the husband’s words. An example of this is displayed when Nora tells Torvald “Whatever you do is always right” (Ibsen 8). The Modern Woman was a new image of a woman who was not constrained by society’s old-fashioned...