A Doll's House - Assignment Example

Teacher’s A Doll’s House The play “A Doll’s House” by Norweigan playwright Henrik Ibsen explores themes beneath its surface. Although this was written during the 1800’s, its themes continue to be significant at present. Throughout the entire play, two major themes are explored: gender roles in marriage and family, and performativity. The experiences of the female characters in the play express the fact that while men never permit their honor to be compromised, women always have to.

An example is Mrs. Linde who decided to sacrifice her own happiness in order to financially support her family. Later on in the play, the audience also witnesses Nora leaving her children behind as a sacrifice. Furthermore, in the household arrangement, the women are always considered subservient to the men. Although today we see that women are gaining more and more power and freedom, there is still a dividing line between men and women not just within the family, but also in all aspects of life.

The play also explores the theme of performativity as the characters end up never being the person that they seemed to be in the beginning of the play. They see, to be wearing masks that hid who they really were and what was really happening to them. This is apparent Torvald, Nora and Krogstad’s characters. What they seemed in the beginning – benovelent, childish – unmerciful – was never what they turned out to be in the end. This is still never apparent in today’s modern society. As in the play, people always wear masks to hide who they are from the society, and consequently, people never turn out what they seem to be at first.