Realism, Feminism, And Humanism In A Doll’s House By Henrik Ibsen
After examining realism, it is clear that the play is not merely a feminist work, despite the fact that most readers believe it is. A main reason as to why this is is because Nora does not fully embody the traits of a feminist heroine. Although it could be argued that this makes Nora a more realistic heroine, she still opposes most of the values and beliefs of one. This is especially true in the beginning of the play where she has simply conformed to her expectations. She has spent her entire life trying to please her father, her husband, and society as a whole.
Nora also embraces her own oppression. This is seen in many cases with one being the pet names that Torvald calls her such as “a squirrel” or “a featherhead”. In doing so, Torvald is dehumanizing her in an unconscious way. Instead of simply tolerating this behaviour, Nora actually seems to enjoy it and plays along with it like when she says “you haven’t any ideas how many expenses we skylarks and squirrels have”. However, it can be noted that Nora may only be playing along with Torvald so that she can get what she wants, as proven when she says to Torvald: “your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice and do what she wants”. She does not sacrifice even this small amount of power for respect. Other cases of her playing along with her part would be when she flirts with Torvald, dresses nicely for him, and by hiding the loan from him to save his pride.
The character of Nora Helmer is also very childish which is the opposite of a strong independent heroine. This is shown by how she wants a strong wealthy man to take care of her, always talking about herself, and sneaking around eating treats. These traits of hers do not align with those of a feminist heroine and so it is evident that A Doll’s House is not solely written with the intentions of being a feminist work. Instead, Nora’s flawed personality and notions of being treated as a doll and then her later search for identity and independence align with the concept of humanism which is defined to be “any system, thought, or action in which human interests, values, and dignity predominate”. With this definition, one can clearly see how the preservation of Nora’s dignity in A Doll’s House can fall under this. In the play, Nora is a woman who is limited by her gender and its expectations. She lives her life hiding her true self and has to play the role of a doll or a child to get her way. In the last act however, she makes a stand. Nora recognizes her self worth and decides to leave her husband in order to go out and create an identity for herself. She states that she has a “duty to [her]self … as an individual”.
Ibsen choosing the word “individual” instead of “woman” only proves his point that A Doll’s House was more about the right to individual freedom for all humans, not just women. This is further emphasized when Nora says to Torvald: “before all else, I am a human being just as you are”, indicating how gender plays no part in this issue. But although Ibsen advocated that Nora’s situation represents humanity as a whole (with no respect to gender), he still presents a woman’s dilemma as a human dilemma (when so often women’s struggles are treated as a special subject of concern only to women), which makes the ending the play’s most radical aspect. And so, in addition to realism, A Doll’s House discusses ideas of a larger structure than just that of feminism, instead it portrays the messages of humanism as well.
