Conflict in a Patriarchal Male-Female Relationship: An Analysis of “A Doll’s House” Anonymous 12th Grade

A Doll’s House embodies Ibsen’s criticism of social constructs on marriage and female roles nurtured by the patriarchal society. Through his friend Laura Kieler who experienced hardships in her marriage from his overbearing husband, Ibsen was impacted by the subjugation of women in marriages. In the play, he criticizes this dynamic while constructing Nora’s life around Laura’s marriage to portray the negative outcomes of an oppressive male-controlled union. Through the drama, he fosters the notion that true matrimony should possess parity between the sexes. Moreover, influenced by humanist ideas on feminism he incorporates the notion of equality in marriage, female freedom, and individualism. Ibsen argues against the female position in a society that is biased and controlled by male-led powers being aware of the restrictions created by the patriarchy. Consequently, Ibsen addresses the conflict in male-female dynamic in a suppressive patriarchal society fostering female liberation and equality against women’s subjugated roles in marriage.

Ibsen reflects and critiques the injustice that arises in a patriarchal marriage through Nora’s marriage. Nora affirms, “…ever since the day we met we have never exchanged one serious word...