... , the bourgeois individual became a defender of the status quo and a traitor to his own officially expressed values. This is what forms the background to Ibsen's criticism of contemporary society. He found that in his age a clear dichotomy between ideology and practice, a contradiction between the public and the ... which she implies might allow him to become a different person. It is to this "changed" Helmer that she holds out this straw of hope - "the miracle" - at the last moment: the almost utopian hint that they might at some future time again meet as two independent ... and free ...

• Word Count: 3465
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate