OPPapers.com Essay Index >> English >> Love As A Theme In &Quot;A Doll'S House&Quot;
We have many free term papers and essays on Love As A Theme In &Quot;A Doll'S House&Quot;. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.
Submitted by spiritseeker88 on May 7, 2007
Category: English
Words: 1407 | Pages: 6
Views: 380
Popularity Rank: 33,796
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House was certainly not the average play of its day. In fact, its publication induced outrage in many people. But what was it that made this play so controversial? Ibsen dared to openly question the values of the rigid Victorian way of life that dominated Western Europe at the time. In his day, the roles and social functions of individuals were assigned to them. The rules had carefully outlined all the subtleties of how one should act and feel in polite society. The definitions of not only marriage but also love itself were virtually laws. A woman was always subservient to men in every way, and she had a duty to her husband that was higher than the duty to herself. By writing this play about a woman who eventually leaves everything she knows behind her in order to make her own way in the world, he single-handedly undermined the social norms of the period (Madore).
Through the course of A Doll's House, Nora learns that she must educate herself in the ways of the world around her. After being the "doll child" of her father and passed to her husband, she ultimately finds the need to break free of those bonds and be independent. The main theme of the play is the miseducation and subjugation of European middle-class women. However, also present is a prevailing theme of something quite universal that is no less controversial than women's rights in Victorian days: love.
The ideal form of love for Ibsen's contemporaries is relatively simple. A man is to love his wife, and his wife is to love her husband. It is total and unconditional, and it includes only those two people. It lasts for life. The society accepts nothing less than this ideal in its entertainment. Anything contrary to it is against what the majority believes to be the way things should be. But Ibsen's play portrays different situations of love; he does not confine love to existence between man and wife. In this way, Ibsen displays a realistic...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!