Essay on a Dolls House free essay sample

This use of simple diction becomes very evident to the reader as conversations between specific characters occur. At the very beginning the use of non-human names to refer to Nora becomes a common occurrence. This occurs in the scene where Helmer hears Nora â€Å"bustling about,† and says â€Å"When did my squirrel come home? †(Act 1). Ibsen’s choice of words to refer to Nora emphasized how unimportant women were in that era and even degraded her to the level of a pet, having no authority and dependent on the command of the owner. The owner here is her husband Helmer. Not only did his use of diction imply the explicit inferiority of Nora, the â€Å"doll† in the â€Å"dollhouse,† but he also displays her husband’s image of her as intellectually incapable. This is seen when Nora and Helmer are discussing holiday shopping and Helmer calls her â€Å"The same little featherhead,† for her thoughts on the subject (Act 1). We will write a custom essay sample on Essay on a Dolls House or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Diction as a tool to influence society’s point of view proved to be a powerful technique in â€Å"A Doll’s House. † In addition to the careful use of diction, Ibsen also wrote the play implementing realism. Using realism he appealed to the common person and grabbed the audience’s interest and attention. Gibson used everyday language during the character’s conversations, yet emphasized and at times dramatized specific parts that degraded women and showed their inferior role in society. For example, when Helmer tells Nora â€Å"My little songbird must never do that again. A songbird must have a clean beak to chirp withno false notes,† this showed how wrong it was for women to do anything behind a man’s back and also degraded once again a woman’s intelligence by speaking to Nora as if she was a child and this was the only way she would understand her supposedly â€Å"wrongdoing† (Act 1). This dramatization of certain events can also be seen in Act 2 where Nora tries to persuade her husband to give Krogstad his position back and he makes it clear he is capable of making his own decisions and her opinion doesn’t matter because at that moment he hands Krogstad’s dismissal letter to be delivered. Nora being the wife, whose role is only to serve her husband and take care of the children, has an opinion of no value in the household. Lastly, Ibsen also chooses a specific setting for his play to take place in. A Doll’s House,† is set in a household that was common in that Victorian era and is many times still seen in our present day. Nora is portrayed as the submissive wife of the house, seen as constantly in need of â€Å"someone to come to her rescue,† a pretty face, a mother to her children, and a woman with no individual identity, and basically the property of her husband. Helmer is the man of the house, the authority figure, the decisio n maker, having to protect and direct his fragile wife and also intellectually superior to Nora. By portraying the main character’s in this environment, Ibsen’s audience is more capable of connecting with the story and understanding the true role women had during that time period. Ibsen’s play was controversial because he challenged the norms society had on women. Through his play â€Å"A Doll’s House,† that included a careful selection of diction, the use of realism as the main writing style, and the all-important setting of the play, he strived to modify his readers’ feminist views and their thoughts on what the role and place of a woman should be.