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Theme Of Love In 'Emma And A Doll's House'

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Exploring a theme or issue in different texts can often challenge or reinforce the preconceived ideas of a reader As part of my Leaving Certificate course I studied "Emma" by Jane Austen, "A Doll 's House" by Henrik Ibsen and "Circle of Friends" by Maeve Binchy. These three texts share the theme of love and while they all have a variety of love the one that had the most impact on me was romantic love. "Emma" centers around Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley, "A Doll 's House" on Nora and Torvald Helmer and "Circle of Friends" on Jack Foley and Benny Hogan. The theme of love in these texts challenged the ideas I had on love and showed me the realistic version of love. My initial key moment is the first meeting. The first meeting is an …show more content…

"A Doll 's House" is the polar opposite to "Circle of Friends" and "Emma" in the arguments between the couples. Nora tries to ask Torvald to give Krogstad back his job at the bank. However, Torvald immediately cuts her off: "we will say no more about it". Torvald expects Nora to be the perfect housewife and not meddle in her husband 's affairs. This blatant disrespect shows that their love is in trouble. "Emma" and "Circle of Friends" are once again alike in Mr. Knightley and Jack 's appreciation of their significant other 's appearance. Torvald in "A Doll 's House" is very different from the two. Mr. Knightley and Jack 's accept that Emma and Benny are physically beautiful and appreciate it alongside their personalities. However, Torvald seems to solely focus on Nora 's aesthethical features. "She is worth looking at". He enjoys dressing her up for the tarantella and emphasising her beauty over other qualities. This key moment taught me very valuable lessons about love. This key moment taught me that arguments can actually be beneficial to love, contrary to the common misconception that it 's unhealthy to argue. I also realised that putting emphasis on physical beauty over personality can be detrimental to

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