Gender In A Doll’s House And The Importance Of Being Earnest

Gender In ‘A Doll’s House’ And ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’ A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest were both written in the late nineteenth century at a period in time when gender roles in society were not only significant to the structure of society but were restrictive and oppressive to individuals. This was particularly true in the case of women who were seen as the upholders of morals in polite society and were expected to behave accordingly. A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest challenge society and its inclination to categorise and expect certain behaviour of individuals based on their gender. In its historical context A Doll’s House was a radical play which forced its audience to question the†¦show more content†¦She realises that she has been living with a stranger, since the whole marriage is a charade to fulfil the expectations of Victorian society. Nora’s refusal to stay in the marriage, however, does not give us a sense of a liberated woman. By the end of the play we are concerned for Nora as she leaves the warmth of the family home for the cold outside as a single woman since we have seen Christine so desperate to get into the ‘warmth’. This ‘warmth’ can be defined as being a person being accepted for fulfilling the gender roles which society constructs for both men and women. Women appear to be reliant on the existence of a husband in their life in order to have a respected status within society and therefore feel fulfilled. Christine feels unfulfilled without anybody in her life: ‘I only feel my life unspeakably empty. No one to live for anymore’ (9). Christine is an independent woman but we can see that she is unhappy at the fact that she has not met the social stereotype for her gender. She functions to show how difficult it is for a woman to survive on her own. Christine real ises she will be far more comfortable and regarded better by society with a husband and we believe that she feels that any husband will satisfy the expectations of her gender better than being single. This explains why she settles for a dubious moral character. Faced with only two possible decisions Christine settles for the lesser of two evils. A Doll’s House inShow MoreRelatedCompare and Contrast How Gender Roles Are Presented in the Importance of Being Earnest and a Doll’s House in Light of Ibsen’s Statement That â€Å"There Are Two Kinds of Moral Laws, Two Kinds of Conscience, One for Men and1252 Words   |  6 PagesCompare and contrast how gender roles are presented in The Importance of Being Earnest and a Doll’s House in light of Ibsen’s statement that â€Å"there are two kinds of moral laws, two kinds of conscience, one for men and one quite different, for women.† According to Ibsen’s statement, he states that moral laws are divided into two, one for women and the other for men. He’s claiming that the â€Å"moral laws† that society has implanted has double standards. Ibsen and Wilde present gender roles through moralityRead MoreGender in a Dolls House the Importance of Being Ernest2001 Words   |  9 PagesHow Is Gender Represented In ‘A Dolls House And ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest? A Dolls House and The Importance of Being Earnest were both written in the late nineteenth century at a period in time when gender roles in society were not only significant to the structure of society but were restrictive and oppressive to individuals. This was particularly true in the case of women who were seen as the upholders of morals in polite society and were expected to behave accordingly. A Dolls HouseRead MoreA Feminist Criticism A Doll s House1372 Words   |  6 PagesBarros 1 Diane Barros English 102 A1W November 11,2014 A Feminist Criticism A Doll House A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen examines the controversial point of persuasion of love and marriage that emphasis marital vows and women’s roles, during the nineteenth century. Where feminism lurks throughout the entire play. Through this play, I shall show you what I perceived what the writer Ibsen presumption of the equivalence among men and woman, and the idea of feminism. Where Women haveRead MoreEssay Prompts4057 Words   |  17 Pageson the Floss The Awakening Moby-Dick Billy Budd Mrs. Dalloway Bleak House Native Son Bless Me,Ultima One Hundred Years of Solitude Catch-22 Othello Crime and Punishment The Scarlet Letter The Crucible Slaughterhouse-Five A Farewell to Arms Song of Solomon Ghosts The Stone Angel The Great Gatsby The Stranger Heart of Darkness A Tale of Two Cities The House of Mirth Their Eyes Were Watching God Jude the Obscure 2003 (Form A): According