Male Made Chains
Beautiful. Graceful. Lovely. Words of endearment or praise that are commonly associated with the women. However, when do these turn from words of love to words of confinement? A women, especially in the nineteenth century, was restricted by male ideals. Whether the dominating male figure be a husband, seen in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, or a Ballet Master in Degas’ The Ballet Class, most women faced a restricting male presence in their life. When a women is limited to the male archetype and other societal bonds she cannot be who she truly wants to be. Much nineteenth century art, such as A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and The Ballet Class by Degas and literature convey a message of male dominance and how it confides …show more content…
Torvald is constantly controlling Nora throughout the play. Whether it be buy calling her pet names or monitoring her spending he keeps Nora under his power. Torvald molds Nora into the “ideal” obedient, submissive wife. She does “squirrel tricks” to merit his affection and even follows Torvald’s requests on what to wear to a dinner party. ALong the course of the play Nora goes through a process of self actualization. She realizes that not only does she have an unhealthy relationship with her husband but with many male figures in her life. “You [Torvald] and father have done me a great wrong. It is your fault that my life has come to nothing” (Ibsen 42). Nora comes to realize that she has simply been living her life by adapting to the opinions and expectations of the men in her life. She has not developed as her own person but instead develops into an object of male affection. Nora recognizes that she lives in, “an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint”( “If this were a Hollywood Movie”). She is forced into a mold made by men for men. Nora, like so many other women, is stuck in a patriarchal society where she is not able to create her own identity or shape herself into a person. Instead she is made into what her father, husband, and …show more content…
Male dominance and the female archetypes men create persist even into modern society. Although, not as severe as seen in the nineteenth century, many women are still caught in the chains of male control. Instead of changing the way men view women, the focus should be switched to how women view themselves. Like Nora, women must realizes that a life of molding to men 's opinions leads to emptiness. To find a life of happiness and fulfilment women need to develope into their own selves and become stronger by working together as a
Beautiful. Graceful. Lovely. Words of endearment or praise that are commonly associated with the women. However, when do these turn from words of love to words of confinement? A women, especially in the nineteenth century, was restricted by male ideals. Whether the dominating male figure be a husband, seen in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, or a Ballet Master in Degas’ The Ballet Class, most women faced a restricting male presence in their life. When a women is limited to the male archetype and other societal bonds she cannot be who she truly wants to be. Much nineteenth century art, such as A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and The Ballet Class by Degas and literature convey a message of male dominance and how it confides …show more content…
Torvald is constantly controlling Nora throughout the play. Whether it be buy calling her pet names or monitoring her spending he keeps Nora under his power. Torvald molds Nora into the “ideal” obedient, submissive wife. She does “squirrel tricks” to merit his affection and even follows Torvald’s requests on what to wear to a dinner party. ALong the course of the play Nora goes through a process of self actualization. She realizes that not only does she have an unhealthy relationship with her husband but with many male figures in her life. “You [Torvald] and father have done me a great wrong. It is your fault that my life has come to nothing” (Ibsen 42). Nora comes to realize that she has simply been living her life by adapting to the opinions and expectations of the men in her life. She has not developed as her own person but instead develops into an object of male affection. Nora recognizes that she lives in, “an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint”( “If this were a Hollywood Movie”). She is forced into a mold made by men for men. Nora, like so many other women, is stuck in a patriarchal society where she is not able to create her own identity or shape herself into a person. Instead she is made into what her father, husband, and …show more content…
Male dominance and the female archetypes men create persist even into modern society. Although, not as severe as seen in the nineteenth century, many women are still caught in the chains of male control. Instead of changing the way men view women, the focus should be switched to how women view themselves. Like Nora, women must realizes that a life of molding to men 's opinions leads to emptiness. To find a life of happiness and fulfilment women need to develope into their own selves and become stronger by working together as a