Henrik Ibsen: life and works

¶ … lives of women in the 19th century using Hennrik Ibsen's play, a Doll House. The writer explores the societal oppression that the women of that era went through and endured and uses the play to explain women's need to escape from the confinement and restriction they faced in European Society in the 19th century. There were five sources used to complete this paper.

During the past few decades, the explosion of the women's movement worldwide has created a more equalized playing field between the genders than ever before, however, the women's movement did not start in the 1960's. The female gender has been fighting to gain ground among their male counterparts for many years and had to come from an extremely oppressive society to do so.

One of the most telling illustrations of the women's place in society during 19th century in Europe can be seen in Hennrik Ibsen's play called the Doll House. Within that play readers and viewers alike will be treated to the truth of female oppression during that time but also to the realization that females were already beginning to balk against a system that treated them like show pieces instead of thinking human beings.

Within the play Nora, the wife initially displays complete submission to her husband. He not only tells her what she can and cannot buy, he tells her when she can and cannot purchase herself a treat of macaroons. This is evidenced in the play when she hides the treats in her pocket and tells her husband that she has not been by the sweet shop to make a purchase (Ibsen, 2006).

In addition her complete and utter devotion to him is evidenced by her refusal to allow anyone to speak an unkind word about him in her home.

These and other scenes from the play illustrate the completely subservient role that females had at that time.

It was not just the play's dialogue that explores the oppression females experienced during that time in history, but also the actions and laws that applied to that society.

This is evidenced when the method by which she secured funds to take her husband elsewhere to get well was questioned. As the play explains, at that time in history a woman was not legally allowed to borrow any money without her husband or father's permission (Ibsen, 2006).

The final illustration of a woman's place in 19th century European society is seen when her husband actually finds out what she has done. She had put herself on the line and risked everything to secure the funds to save his life, however, when he realizes she forged her father's signature he throws her to the wolves instead of standing by her side (Ibsen, 2006).

All of these examples from the play provide evidence that women of that era were little more than possessions and showpieces, without being truly respected. The final blow to Nora is when her husband commands her out of the house without her children and does so in front of the very people she would not allow to disrespect her husband hours and days earlier.

It was during the 19th century that females began to enter the workforce in larger numbers than ever before (Wildberger. 1999). Across Europe, America and the rest of the world females began to work in factories while their men went off to war. Those who had husbands of means were able to stay home but were treated no better than the children with regard to being told what they could do, what they could spend and how they were to conduct themselves both publicly and privately.

In other parts of the world women of the upper class were segregated and kept hidden away as if they were going to be tainted if they came into contact with anyone in a different class or gender.

Havana's goal was to preserve the purity of the white race by maintaining a distance between upper class white females and the rest of society. This attitude was also experienced within European society and was shown during the Doll's House as she was told to leave her children behind as if she had served no purpose in their life other than a breeding machine and once her role was fulfilled she had no rights to them (Fernadez, 1998).

Regardless of the infidelity of their husbands, upper-class wives were expected to be loyal, and daughters to remain virgin until marriage. Through seclusion and high regard for virginity, male domination reinforced the class structure of Cuban society during this period (Fernadez, 1998). Both Spaniards and creoles shared the notion that a man's honor and shame were directly linked to his ability to control the sexual behavior of the women in his family (Fernadez, 1998).

Besides preserving ladies from the threat of black men, keeping them at home ensured their chastity and their subservience (Fernadez, 1998). In this vein, ladies young and old were shut away like precious icons, the architecture of their houses reflecting their status as property that must be guarded, and their situation as virtual prisoners in their own homes (Fernadez, 1998). Windows needed to be kept open in order to air the rooms, but robbers and intruders must be kept out, therefore, accessible windows were heavily barred (Fernadez, 1998)."

During the 19th century women in Europe lived in an extremely unbalanced world with regard to rights and gender.

At the beginning of that century females had little if any legal, political or social rights and were simply considered property of the men in their family, whether those men were fathers, brothers, uncles or husbands (Women 19th century (http://www.enotes.com/feminism-literature/women-19th-century).

Women were not allowed to sue nor could they be sued. If there was to be any litigation it would have to involve the males in her family even if the women was the sole party responsible or victimized by the suit event.

When couples divorced women were almost never granted custody of the children from the marriage and were actually often cast out to not have a part in the children's lives. If the father remarried that woman became the new mother of his children.

Women were also forbidden to seek a higher education which helped keep them oppressed.