According to Joan Templeton, author of Ibsen's Women, Ibsen's inspiration for Nora in A Doll's House came from a family friend, Laura Peterson Kieler, also a writer (135). Kieler, the "real-life Nora," likewise borrowed money for her husband, who was sick with tuberculosis, to relocate to Italy to recuperate (135). She could not afford to pay her creditors, however, and, pregnant, used forgery to repay the loan (135-136). On learning of her attempt to save his life:
Victor Kieler demanded a legal separation on the grounds that his wife was an unfit mother [(because of her crime)], gained custody of the children, including the newborn baby, and had his wife committed to an asylum, where she was placed in the insane ward. (136)
[...] Ibsen's A Doll's House condemns the average nineteenth century middle-class marriage “(although importantly not [ . ] marriage per (Thomas 73) because of the unfair treatment of women, but manages to end with hope for the future of marriage. Ibsen recognizes that . ] marriage can only be happy when it rests on the basis of common ideals; that only when a man and a woman have the will and strength to give and to take with equal measure may they merge their lives [ . [...]
[...] Adams, another critic, also claims that feminism plays no part in A Doll's House (Templeton 112). "Fiddle-faddle," he says (qtd. in Templeton 112), the play . ] has nothing to do with the sexes [ . (qtd. in Rogers 114). Rather, "it deals with a personal conflict and proposes no generalizations about men and women" (paraphrased in Rogers 114). According to Eric Bentley, too, the play is not about women at all, but about . ] the tyranny of one human being over another; in this respect the play would be just as valid were Torvald the wife and Nora the husband" (Rogers 114). [...]
[...] He acts as if he owns her, constantly referring to her as "his little lark and his little squirrel," Bernard Dukore recognizes in "Money, Survival, and Independence in A Doll's House" (121). Even her beauty, Torvald says, is "mine, mine alone—completely and utterly" (Ibsen 1180; qtd. in Dukore 121). Additionally, he expects Nora, as his wife, to submit completely to his wishes, including his sexual desires, without any thought of what she wants. "All this evening I've longed for nothing but you. [...]
[...] This powerful statement establishes Nora in her new position of independence and reveals A Doll's House as a supremely feminist text. Moreover, "Nora's realization that she is unfit to do anything in life," notes Templeton, "and her remedy—'I have to try to educate myself' (192)—constitute nineteenth-century feminism's universally agreed-upon base for woman's emancipation [ . (120). In summary, Nora, by declaring her independence, represents feminism's "New Woman," and Ibsen, by having Nora's dialogue reflect feminist principal, created a catalyst for the Women's Right's Movement in writing A Doll's House. [...]
[...] "Angel, Demon, Mother: Ibsen's Nora." Patterns of Change: German Drama and the European Tradition: Essays in Honour of Ronald Peacock. Ed. Dorothy James and Silvia Ranawake. New York: Peter Lang 137-49. Heller, Otto. "Marriage in A Doll's House." Readings on A Doll's House. Ed. Hayley R. Mitchell. San Diego: Greenhaven 97-102. Hornby, Richard. Patterns in Ibsen's Middle Plays. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's 1142-90. Kiberd, Declan. "Nora as Rebel." Readings [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
