Society vs. Individuals
Outline
 I. Social context of the Victorian Society
a.
Bourgeois Respectability
b.
Position of Women in the society
c.
Social Responsibility
 II. The Burden society puts on individuals
a.
Appearances
b.
Women are condemned
c.
Mistakes
 III. Independence vs. Control / Manipulation
a.
Independence seen through Nora’s escape
b.
Control/ Manipulation seen through Torvald and Krogstad
I. Social context of the Victorian Society
 The first stage production was in Copenhagen on
December 21st, 1879.
 The play caused an immediate sensation, sparked
debate and controversy, and brought Ibsen
international fame.
 Performing the play was considered a revolutionary
action, a daring defiance of cultural norms of
Victorian Europe (1837-1901).
a. Bourgeois Respectability
Ideals: Financial
Success, upward social
mobility, freedom from
financial debt and moral
guilt, and a stable, secure
family organized along
traditional patriarchal
lines.
b. Position of women in the society
 Patriarchal ideals were
supported and reinforced
by a social structure in
which women had little
overt political or
economic power.
 They were economically,
socially, and
psychologically
dependent upon men and
also dependent upon the
institutions of marriage
and motherhood.
b. Position of women in the society
 Ideal Woman
Frugality
Piety
Patience
'... her ardent and unceasing flow of
spirits, extreme activity and
diligence, her punctuality,
uprightness and remarkable
frugality, combined with a firm
reliance on God ... carried her
through the severest times of
pressure, both with credit and
respectability ...' (The General
Baptist Repository and Missionary
Observer, 1840).
c. Social Responsibility
 Motherhood within
marriage was considered a
woman’s highest possible
achievement
 It was a social
responsibility, a duty to
the state and thus, a fulltime job.
 Mothering was no longer
something that came
naturally, but was
something that had to be
learned.
II. The Burden Society puts on individual
a. Appearances
“Don’t laugh. I mean, of course, a time
will come when Torvald is not as devoted
to me, not quite so happy when I dance
for him, and dress for him, and play with
him.”
 Torvald defines his life by what society finds acceptable
and respectable. He is more concerned about the
attractive appearance of his wife and home than he is
about his wife's happiness
 When Nora tries to convince him to keep Krogstad in his
job, his main concern is what the bank employees will
think of him if they believe he has been influenced by his
wife.
From now on, forget happiness.
Now it’s just about saving the
remains, the wreckage, the
appearance.
Torvald’s reaction to Krogstad’s letter solidifies his
characterization as a shallow man concerned first and
foremost with appearances. Here, he states explicitly that the
appearance of happiness is far more important to him than
happiness itself.
b. Women are condemned
 Torvald symbolizes the male dominated society at
that time. And Nora stereotypes of women at that
time ( being crushed)  thug giving a universal
meaning
 . Torvald seems to stereotype all women as frivolous
spendthrifts
NORA: "surely you can
understand that being
with Torvald is a little
like being with papa.
HELMER: "That is like a
woman! […] you know
what I think about that.
No debt, no borrowing.”
 Nora is dependent on a men and Linde begins to
conform to the society
Someone to work for and
live for--a home to bring
comfort into."
c. Mistakes
 Another mistake that Nora did was to not tell her
husband about the loan.
 The Fact that she wasn’t able to handle this situation
instead of doing it behind her husband’s back is a
huge mistake.
 Unfortunately, society will make her pay this mistake
thought the whole play.
III. Independence vs. Control/ manipulation
a. Nora’s escape
 In leaving Torvald and her children, she will outrage
society and stigmatize herself.
 This is a terrible price to have to pay for selffulfillment, but inevitable, given that society and the
individual are so much at cross-purposes.
 Self-fulfillmentpushing and breaking boundaries.
This idea was completely
scandalous in Ibsen's
time. The thought that a
woman might have value
other than homemaking
and being a mother was
outrageous.
NORA: "What do you consider my most sacred
duties?" HELMER: "[…] your duties to your
husband and your children." NORA: "I have other
duties just as sacred. […] Duties to myself."
b. Control/ Manipulation seen through
Torvald
 Helmer in A Doll's House is in
many ways just as trapped by
traditional gender roles as the
women. He must bear the
burden of supporting the entire
household and be the infallible
king of his house
 In order to adapt to the norms
of the society he has to control
and manipulate everything. By
the end of the play these
traditional ideas are truly put to
the test
HELMER: "It is already known at the
Bank that I mean to dismiss Krogstad.
Is it to get about now that the new
manager has changed his mind at his
wife's bidding-
The thought that a woman
might have power over him is
terrifying to Torvald.
b. Control/ Manipulation seen through Krogstad
 Society's moral standards affects Krogstad’s life
 He resorts to blackmail  in an attempt to keep his
job mark of respectability.
 The threat of blackmail gains its power from the
immense authority that individuals vested in
society's moral standards: if nobody cared much
what society thought, then Krogstad could tell all
and no one would be harmed
THEMES!
FROM “A DOLL’S HOUSE”
*APPEARANCE VS. REALITY
*SACRIFICIAL ROLE OF WOMEN
*FILIAL & PARENTAL
OBLIGATIONS/ROLES
*IMPORTANCE OF APPEARANCE IN
THE SOCIAL REALM
Appearance VS. Reality
What it means:
Smoke and mirrors. On the outside, something
appears a certain way, yet truthfully, on the inside, it
is quite different.
Appearance VS. Reality
-In “A Doll’s House”
 Nora is a meek, humble
housewife, content with her life
with Torvald.
TORVALD: Is that my little lark
twittering out there?
NORA: Yes, it is!
TORVALD: Is it my little
squirrel bustling about?
NORA: Yes!
TORVALD: When did my
squirrel come home?
NORA: Just now. Come in here,
Torvald, and see what I have
bought.
 Nora is unhappy. She is restless
and ignorant about her life and
her government. She wants to
learn and be free from her ties
as a mother and wife.
NORA: I must stand quite
alone, if I am to understand
myslef and everything about
me. It is for that reason that I
cannot remain with you any
longer.
TORVALD: Before all else, you
are a wife and a mother.
NORA: I don’t believe that any
longer. I believe that before all
else I am a reasonable human
being.
Sacrificial Role of Women
What it means:
In Victorian society it was viewed that a woman
should assume the role of a martyr for the benefit of
her husband. In that, she should pretend she is
happy even if she is not, so that her husband need
not worry about her, so that he will have a fragile but
bubbling plaything.
Sacrificial Role of Women
-In “A Doll’s House”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! It would upset our mutual relations altogether; our beautiful happy
home would no longer be what it is now.
MRS. LINDE: My mother was alive then, and was bedridden and helpless, and I
had to provide for my two younger brothers; so I did not think I was justified in
refusing his offer…I believe he was quite well off. But his business was a
precarious one; and, when he died, it all went to pieces and there was nothing
left…I had to turn my hand to anything I could find- -first a small shop, then a
small school, and so on. The last three years have seemed like one long
working-day, with no rest.
Filial & Parental Obligations/Roles
What it means:
Men and women, as in Victorian society, have
different roles when it comes to raising their
children. Men generally take the backseat, having
little interaction. Women, on the other hand are
have plenty of contact, though they normally share
their role with a nurse. The blame of mothers for
corruption of children could also come from their
heightened interaction with their kids.
Filial & Parental Obligations/Roles
-In “A Doll’s House”NORA: Nurse, I want you to tell me
something I’ve often wondered
about—how could you have put
your own child out among
strangers?
NORA:To be able to be free from
care, quite free from care; to be
able to play and romp with the
children; to be able to keep the
house beautifully and have
everything just as Torvald likes it!
NORA: There they are! There they
are! (She runs to open the door.
The NURSE comes in with the
children.) Come in! Come in!
(Stoops and kisses them.) Oh, you
sweet blessings! Look at them,
Christine! Aren't they darlings?
TORVALD: (after the
children enter) Come
along, Mrs. Linde; the
place will only be
bearable for a mother
now!
TORVALD: Each breath the
children take in such a
house is full of the germs
of evil…Almost everyone
who has gone to the bad
early in life has had a
deceitful mother.
Importance of Appearance in the Social Realm
What it means:
Socially, people, families especially must appear
to be of the norm: Happy, functional, and with
proper gender roles intact. In Victorian society,
divorce (especially with children involved) was a
mortal sin. Even the appearance of a rift between a
husband and his wife was seen as scandalous.
Importance of Appearance in the Social Realm
-In “A Doll’s House”TORVALD: I am not so heartless as to condemn a man altogether because of a single
false step of that kind…Many a man has been able to retrieve his character, if he has
openly confessed his fault and taken his punishment…But Krogstad did nothing of that
sort; he got himself out of it by a cunning trick, and that is why he has gone under
altogether…Just think how a guilty man like that has to lie and play the hypocrite with
every one, how he has to wear a mask in the presence of those near and dear to him,
even before his own wife and children.
TORVALD: The chief thing is, she had made a success--she had made a tremendous
success. Do you think I was going to let her remain there after that, and spoil the effect?
No, indeed! I took my charming little Capri maiden--my capricious little Capri maiden, I
should say--on my arm; took one quick turn round the room; a curtsey on either side,
and, as they say in novels, the beautiful apparition disappeared.
TORVALD: He can make the affair known everywhere; and if he does, I may be falsely
suspected of having been a party to your criminal action. Very likely people will think I
was behind it all--that it was I who prompted you!
TORVALD: From this moment happiness is not the question; all that concerns us is to
save the remains, the fragments, the appearance–
The Weir
 http://www.sjrep.com/plays/0910/weir/weir_sg.pdf