A Dolls House Noras Rebellion Against Society
A Dolls House - Noras Rebellion Against SocietyMen's Assumptions
There are similarities in the relationships between men and women in Susan Glaspell's Trifles and Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House. The assumptions that men have about women lead to conflicts in both plays. Conflicts in these two plays are a result of a male-dominated society. The men believe that women focus on trivial matters and are incapable of intelligent thinking, while the women quietly prove the men's expectations wrong.
In the plays Trifles and A Doll House men believe women only focus on trivial matters.
While Mrs. Wright is being held in jail for the murder of her husband, she is concerned about the cold weather causing her jars of fruit to freeze and burst. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale discuss Mrs. Wright's concern over her canned fruit after finding a broken jar. Mrs. Peters voices Mrs. Wright's concern, "She said the fir'd go out and her jars would break" (Glaspell 1.27). The Sheriff's response is, "Well can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves" (Glaspell 1.28). The women realize the hard work involved in canning this fruit and understand Mrs. Wright's concern. The men see this as unimportant compared to the trouble Mrs. Wright is facing.
Likewise, in Isben's play A Doll House Helmer believes that his wife Nora only focuses on trivial matters. Three weeks prior to Christmas Nora spent every evening working alone. Helmer believes that Nora is making the family Christmas ornaments and other treats for the Christmas holidays. In reality, Nora is working for money to repay a loan that she illegally acquired when Helmer was ill. The house cat is blamed for destroying the nonexisting ornaments. Helmer reminds her of the long hours spent away from the family. Helmer says, "It was the dullest three weeks I ever spent" (Isben 1.73). While Helmer believes Nora to be spending her time on trivial ornaments, she is actually working on something important. Another example showing that Helmer believes his wife concentrates on unimportant matters is the way he treats her after she returns from shopping. Helmer says, "Hasn't Miss Sweet-Tooth been breaking rules in town to-day? . . . There, there, of course I was only joking" (Isben 1.57-65). While Helmer says he is only joking about Nora eating sweets, Nora lies and says she would not go against his wishes. This suggests Helmer has rules that he expects Nora to follow. This example shows the childlike behavior Nora resorts to because of Helmer's rules. In both plays the men treat women as if they are not intelligent enough to think beyond simple matters.
A second similarity between Trifles and A Doll House is that women appear to conform to the men's expectations. In the play A Doll House, Nora conforms to her father and husband's expectations. Nora says,...
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