Gender Ideology In A Doll's House

In what ways does Ibsen reject traditional gender ideology?

Written in 1879, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House provides a glance into the traditional gender roles of the Victorian era. It is a creative representation of gender roles in society and a conspicuous view of the prevailing belief of what it means to be a woman living under a patriarchal marriage. The play is written with subtle hints of sarcasm emphasizing the secret opinions of Ibsen himself. Throughout the play, it is evident that Ibsen takes a feminist view because of his constant mockery of the typical gender roles and challenges patriarchy and the women’s view in 19th century society.

Act I of the play begins with an introduction of the stereotypical gender roles. At the start of the play, Nora returns from Christmas shopping and Torvald has been recently promoted as president of the bank. This initial information forms Ibsen’s challenges and questions about the role of men and women since he portrays Nora as the stereotypical housewife that takes care of the children while

This shameless act against the patriarchal rules of the Victorian era emphasize on her needs to break away from these abominable stereotypes. Nora is playing as the male authority because at the time, women could not receive a loan without the financial support of a male figure. As the play continues, the reader discovers that Nora did not actually work for the money to go to Italy, but instead received a loan from Krogstad. Half of the money that Torvald gives to Nora, she secretly gives it to Krogstad to pay off her loan. This evidently demonstrates that Ibsen makes the character of Nora rebellious and the reason behind why when A Doll’s House was published it created such controversy among 19th century society. Also, Nora’s disobedience portrays Ibsen’s views and rejections of traditional gender