Discuss the family power struggle in A Doll House and explain how it's presentation works to highlight the play's main themes.
______________________________________________________________________.
Henrick Ibsen's, A Doll House, reflects upon 19th century Norway - the society in which it was written. It was a highly patriarchal society in which the family was dominated by the man (husband, father) at great loss of the woman's power. This power struggle is explored by Ibsen and he uses it to express his ideas and feelings about issues such as women's rights, family roles, marriage/divorce and male dominance, to the reader or viewer. He uses actions, speech and other literary techniques to use the plays characters to show and represent these particular themes.
As a reflection on male dominance which Ibsen uses as a way of developing the highly patriarchal society, Torvald Helmer treats his wife, Nora, as his possession which he describes as being all his. "At all my loveliness, that's all mine, mine alone, completely mine?" and "Now my little lark's talking like a human being again." Through these lines and many more, Ibsen shows that Helmer believes that he literally owns Nora, describing her in ways that someone would describe a mere object - a possession.
Ibsen also demonstrates how patriarchal societies can belittle women and deteriorate their rights. This also reflects upon the male dominance in dramatic texts such as, A Doll House, in the way that Torvald Helmer treats Nora as another of his possessions which not only gives him power but it also diminishes her rights to an almost indefinite level. Not only does Helmer treat Nora like this, but her father also did. "I am your doll, as I was papa's doll child." This line, along with "I went from papa's hands into yours", demonstrates the similarities between how Helmer treats Nora and how her father once did. Nora's rights are diminished to a level whereby she cannot even go outside and collect the mail.
