03 Balaky (31-45) PDF
03 Balaky (31-45) PDF
03 Balaky (31-45) PDF
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Saman Salah Balaky, Öğr. Gör. Dr.
Salahaddin University College of Arts Department of English
New Zanko Village House, 173 B, Erbil, Iraqsaman.balaky77@gmail.com
32
Saman Salah Hassan Balaky & Nafser Abdul Mosawir Sulaiman
Introduction
A Doll’s House is not only one of Henrik Ibsen’s famous plays but also
a great contribution to feminist literature even though the characters do
not seem very outstanding at first sight. Ibsen never explicitly identified
himself as a feminist but some of his speeches and acquaintances prove
that he was concerned with the women’s cause; this is also proven by his
Beytulhikme An International Journal of Philosophy
“analys[ing] the role that literary forms and practices, together with the
discourses of literary criticism and theory, play in perpetuating or chal-
lenging hierarchies of gender, class, race and sexuality” (ibid.). Wallace
states that “feminist literary theory, then, engages with the political and
social goals of feminism, and it concentrates on literary culture and theo-
ry as a possible site of struggle and as a means of eventual change” (Wal-
nism.
American feminist criticism was affected by the civil rights move-
ment of the 1960s. Friedan, who founded the National Organization of
Women in1966, expressed in her book The Feminine Mystique (1963) “the
fundamental grievance of middle-class American women, their entrap-
ment within private, domestic life and their inability to pursue public
careers” (Habib 2011: 254). The Feminine Mystique (1963) disillusioned many
educated women with the “dominant image of the happy American sub-
urban housewife and mother” (Guerin, et al. 2011: 255). Millet’s Sexual
Politics (1969) was concerned about the representation of women in litera-
ture and argued that “male writers distort women by associating them
with (male) deviance” (ibid.). American feminist criticism’s main concern
was restoring and including writings of female authors to the literary
canon. Gilbert and Gubar also argue that men, whose voice has been
dominant for far too long, define and create images of women as they
please. According to them, the two main stereotypical images created by
man are “the angel in the house” and “the mad woman in the attic”, both
equally unrealistic. These images need to be examined and debunked for
women to achieve literary autonomy (Bressler 1999: 177-8).
British feminist criticism has had a rather political orientation;
Mitchell’s Women: The Longest Revolution (1966) examined Marxist catego-
ries of production and private property along with psychoanalytic theo-
ries of gender (Habib 2011: 255). According to Wallace (2009: 81), British
feminism has been marked by two distinguishing features: first, it
emerged through other radical political discourses (specifically Marxism)
and second, it was preoccupied with documenting and analyzing the ef-
fects of culture and ideology on women. This type of feminism saw art,
literature and life as inseparable; the way women were portrayed in litera-
ture has an influence on the treatment of women in real life. According
to British feminists, the patriarchal society does not exploit women only
through literature but also socially and economically; the family structure
causes women to be economically dependent on men. This type of femi-
nist criticism does not only aim to critique society but also to change it
(Bressler 1999: 178). Wallace states that Anglo-American feminism has
gone through four phases:
1
Women are generally considered the “weaker sex” due to the biological differences
between men and women. For further detail, see Wallace (2009: 63-65).
2013: 56). When Ibsen made an attempt to explain why women instead of
men should be consulted about the married women’s property bill, he
commented: “to consult men in such a matter is like asking wolves if they
desire better protection for the sheep” (Finney 1994: 90). The four critics
showed a concern for the connection between love and economics, their
petition stated:
2
The New Woman was a term that emerged after the 1890s and was used to describe the
modern feminist women who contradicted the late Victorian concept of the feminine
(Pykett 1992: 137-9).
3
Jacobine Camilla Collett (1813-1895) was a novelist as well as a feminist; “she wrote the
first Norwegian novel dealing critically with the position of women” (Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica Online n. d.).
marriage and the women’s role in society. “Her realist novel The District
Governor’s Daughters (1854-5), which attacks the institution of marriage
because of its neglect of women’s feelings and its concomitant destruc-
tion of love, finds echoes in Love’s Comedy” (Finney 1994: 90-1).
Nora, the protagonist of A Doll’s House, may (additionally) represent
Everyman but it is certain that she is a modern women who has taken a
Beytulhikme An International Journal of Philosophy
4
This book will be used for all the quotations from the play throughout the whole section.
Since Ibsen’s play is only divided into acts and does not give a further division into scenes
and lines, only the act and page number(s) will be mentioned in the in-text citation.
93); she justifies her criminal act of forgery by arguing that she was
“spar[ing] her dying father anxiety and care” and “sav[ing] her husband’s
life” (Act1: 32).
It is worth mentioning that not all female characters in the play are
given an immature and submissive personality; the world-wise Mrs. Chris-
tine Linde gives a stark contrast to the gullible, impetuous character of
Nora. Christine is older than Nora and has a more “dejected and timid”
(Act 1: 7) manner; Torvald even describes her as a “frightful bore” (Act 3:
77). “Life, and hard, bitter necessity have taught” (Act 3: 71) her to be
prudent. She does not seem to approve of Nora’s keeping secrets from
her husband and prevents Krogstad from recalling his letter in Act 3. She
says that “this unhappy secret must be enclosed; they must have a com-
plete understanding between them, which is impossible with all this con-
cealment and falsehood going on” (Act 3: 74). Another difference be-
tween her and Nora is Mrs. Linde’s relationship with her true love,
Krogstad. They are capable of honestly and openly talking to each other
even after being separated for many years, while Nora and Torvald only
have a serious conversation at the end of Act 3 after eight years of mar-
riage. Furthermore, they seem to be equals; both are widowed and de-
scribed by Christine as “two shipwrecked people” that “could join forces”
(Act 3: 71).
According to Code (2000: 342), it is the “women’s disproportionate
confinement in the private sphere [that] correlates with women’s subor-
dinate status”. Nora’s absence from the public sphere makes her econom-
ically completely dependent on her husband and even the private sphere
does not belong to her alone. As a man Torvald not only controls public
affairs but also the private ones. He chides her for having spent too much
money on the Christmas gifts and when he gives her two pounds he em-
phasizes that it has to suffice for the housekeeping at Christmas. He
governs the home, not Nora. But Nora is economically not only depend-
ent on her husband alone; when Torvald was ill and they had to travel to
Italy for him to recover, Nora was obliged to borrow the necessary
amount of money from Krogstad. In order to pay him back, she had to
secretly save some of the money Torvald gave her and she took on some
usual jobs for women that involved needlework and embroidery or she
5
This construction of the separate spheres mainly developed in the middle class since
lower class families needed two incomes and could not conform to this strict division
(Farrell 1996).
remarks that she “could not endure life without work” but after her
mother had passed away and her two young brothers had grown up, she
felt “quite alone in the world” and realized that there was “not the least
pleasure in working for one’s self” (Act 3: 72). She wants “to be a mother
for someone” (ibid.); that is, despite her independence she longs for a
family and the traditional role of “the angel of the home”. She is selfless
and ready to put her own happiness aside for the sake of the ones she
loves (characteristics that would suit an “angel”). This is proven by her
marriage to a wealthy man only for the sake of being able to provide for
her sick mother and two younger brothers; she did not marry him be-
cause she is a materialist. On the contrary, she cannot comprehend
Nora’s excitement about Torvald’s promotion and believes that it “would
be delightful to have what one needs” (Act 1: 9); apparently, she is not
interested in “heaps and heaps of money” (ibid.).
Nora, on the other hand, is a different case and somewhat undergoes
a transition from an imperfect angel to a monster or madwoman. She
outwardly seems to be the cheerful, innocent “angel of the home” but
even before the final act she proves that she is no angel. Evidence for that
ranges from her little fib about not eating any macaroons to her keeping
the secret of her forgery crime from her husband. The guilt that Krogstad
makes her feel through his blackmailing almost drives her to insanity.
This may be emphasized by the wild dance that she performs in Act 2 in
order to keep Torvald away from the letter box. Her great desperation as
well as her love for her husband is proven by her considering even suicide
to save Torvald’s reputation. It is the realization that Torvald does not
reciprocate her strong feelings that causes a change in her. Torvald’s “lit-
tle squirrel” and “singing skylark”, as he has called her multiple times in
the play, turns cold and quiet after seeing her husband’s true nature. She
begins questioning their life together, her life with her father and even
religion. The answers to her questions can only be found by her alone and
that is when she decides to neglect her duties as a mother and wife in
order to fulfill the duties she has to herself.
Conclusion
At first glance, A Doll’s House does not seem very feministic, but as
after a fair share of hardships as two equals deciding to unite and form a
family. On the other hand, Torvald and Nora’s marriage, in which Nora
had been underestimated and considered inferior by her husband, shat-
ters into pieces after eight long years due to a lack of communication and
understanding.
References
Beytulhikme An International Journal of Philosophy
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Ibsen, H. (2005). A Doll’s House. Gloucester: Dodo Press.
Rice, P. & Waugh P. (ed.) (2001). Modern Literary Theory: A Reader. London: Ar-
nold.
Templeton, J. (1989). The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen. Avail-
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