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A Doll's House and All My Sons

            Consider and evaluate the different ways writers of your chosen texts present the causes of conflict in relationships.
             In the two plays, "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen and "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller present causes of conflict within relationships in both similar and different ways between characters in the plays. The common themes are money, secrets, love, antagonists and social responsibility which I will explore in detail throughout this essay. At the time of production of both plays, we see a conflict between characters relationships through social and individual responsibility. In "A Doll's House," we see Torvald attacking Nora on this issue of responsibility. Torvald says to Nora "You are betraying your most sacred duty.Isn't it your duty to your husband and your children? You are a wife and a mother." By using second person personal pronouns such as 'you', Torvald is able to make his opinion personal to Nora and this adds an emphasis to the fact that this is her responsibility. Ibsen also includes a rhetorical question in this attack on Nora as although the question is being asked to her, Torvald knows the answer he wants to hear, as does Nora making this understood by both the characters within the play and the audience as it is Torvald's opinions that have always been the 'answer' for both him and Nora's part in this play. The declarative sentence at the end of the quote shows that Ibsen is continuing Torvald's authority over Nora in the play. Ibsen shows Torvald to be telling Nora that it is her individual responsibility to be a wife and a mother but also socially as if she were to leave; it would be wrong in society's eyes and would be frowned upon by others within their community.
             In "All My Sons," we also see social and individual responsibilities of the time challenged by certain characters. Chris argues on behalf of the soldiers that "they didn't die; they killed themselves for each other".


Essays Related to A Doll's House and All My Sons

1. Victorian Women and A Doll's House

A woman's entire life was controlled by the male gender whether it be father, husband or even son. ... As the play progresses, Nora finds herself trapped in the "doll house" of her own home created by Torvald. ... In fact, Torvald does not want to even hear Nora's opinions because he assumes they are all irrelevant. ... Symbolism in A Doll's House comes from the language Ibsen uses to portray gender inequalities in the Victorian Era. ... The play A Doll's House shows a perfect example of a typical Victorian Era relationship. ...

  • Word Count: 1128
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography

2. Antigone and A Doll

What links Antigone, by Sophocles, and A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen is their examination of relations between men and women. ... "I murdered you, my son, against my will-/you too, my wife- (1459-1462) He feels regret now that all his loved ones have died, but it was because of his beliefs that the lives of his family were condemned to death. ... (137) Nora is at times a silly doll and at times a captivating and exotic pet or animal, all created for the fantasyland Torvald has created for himself. ... The leading men in Antigone and A Doll's House have similar characterizations....

  • Word Count: 1351
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Love

"Love, in all it's numerous forms and disguises, is one of our most powerful emotions. ... Two plays, "A Doll's House", by Henrik Ibsen, and "Antigone", by Sophocles, illustrate the basis behind this quote. ... My wife dead? ... "A Doll's House", by Henrik Ibsen is a play that illustrates the sorrow of love. ... For example, Torvald calls her, "my little skylark" (1385), and "my little squirrel"(1385). ...

  • Word Count: 746
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Henrik Ibsen

He was the eldest of five children, and the son of a prominent merchant and his wife. ... "All I have written... ... (Zeineddine 10) In a Doll's House, Ibsen lets you know from the title that Nora is a doll, not a person living in a house. ... Nora says to Torvald, "Our house has been nothing but a playroom, I was Papa's doll and here the children have been my dolls. . . ... She is abl to leave her situation without worries or cares about what people would say upon reading A Doll's House. ...

  • Word Count: 1783
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Henrik Ibsen

He was the eldest of five children, and the son of a prominent merchant and his wife. ... "All I have written... ... (Zeineddine 10) In a Doll's House, Ibsen lets you know from the title that Nora is a doll, not a person living in a house. ... Nora says to Torvald, "Our house has been nothing but a playroom, I was Papa's doll and here the children have been my dolls. . . ... She is abl to leave her situation without worries or cares about what people would say upon reading A Doll's House. ...

  • Word Count: 1887
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Neurosis Versus Stability

His obvious love and possessive nature towards money can be seen during the denouement of the play when he scolds his wife for borrowing money by exclaiming, "Now you've wrecked all my happiness-ruined my whole future."" ... The success of the social order presented to the reader in One Hundred Years of Solitude and A Doll House is not dependant on the male characters, despite their outward show of authority. ... A Doll House's Nora Helmer is a stock character of the mid-ninteenth century, when first compared to Torvald. ... Her actions inspire the women that she has brought alo...

  • Word Count: 1234
  • Approx Pages: 5

7. My Grandmathers Story

I called her Grandma Stefcia, even though it was her son who was my real grandfather. ... She once threatened my grandfather, her son, with a cane, when she was particularly displeased with his behavior. ... In 1940 for safety, they abandoned their house and moved in with her husband's relatives on the outskirts of Warsaw. ... , and all the hardships of the war. ... My mother would often drop me by her apartment, and I would be playing with my dolls while Grandma was working. ...

  • Word Count: 1628
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The Ideal Stereotype Made By Social Construction

Take an example of my 5-year-old niece. ... They believe that pink is a little too feminine for their son and dolls can make him looks like a sissy. ... Parents tend to overprotect their daughter than their son. For example, I am not allowed to leave the house after 9 pm and must go back safely to the house at 12 pm, at most, whilst my brother, younger than me, has a free and unlimited curfew time. ... He does not have to help his wife raise their children and does not even want to cook or do laundry because all of those are strictly women's work and all he has to do is to earn money and ...

  • Word Count: 1274
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

9. "Semiotics is not only the key tool in understanding perform

For example, in the late nineteenth century Henrik Ibsen wrote "A Doll's House" for a male-dominated, class-orientated society where emphasis was given to reputation and social status. ... The final act of Nora leaving her family and home in Ibsen's "A Doll's House", when viewed by a modern, Western audience - whilst being seen as an unfortunate and sad event - would not carry the social implications as felt by the original audience. ... Yet, not all modern society would take such a lax view as popular Western culture on the connotations surrounding the act of a woman abandoni...

  • Word Count: 1406
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Graduate

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