Analysis of Women in 'A Dolls House'

Women were valued very little by nineteenth century society. The treatment of these women was also extremely negative; they were stereotypical housewives, expected to stay home and fulfill domestic duties. Literature of this time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society. Henrik Ibsen uses Nora Helmer in "A Doll's House" to portray the negative treatment of all women throughout society during the nineteenth century. In this play we see Nora begin as fragile, …

…Woman should no longer be seen as the shadow of man, but a person in herself, with her own triumphs and tragedies. Her progression of understanding suggests woman's future ability to comprehend their plight. Her state of shocked awareness at the end of the play is representative of the awakening of society to the changing view of the role of woman. "A Doll's House" magnificently illustrates the need for and a prediction of this change.