PATRIARCHY AND SUPPRESSION OF WOMEN IN IBSEN’S PLAY “A DOLL’S HOUSE”: A FEMINIST ANALYSIS

Abstract

The paper explores the subordination of women present in the patriarchal society by tracing the play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen through the feminist lens, the third-wave feminism. The study interrogates the ways in which the female roles, identities and life choices are dictated by the patriarchal inherited practices by paying special attention to the socio-cultural construction of passivity and submission of the female gender. The method of research is qualitative and descriptive research design to study the words of Nora, the main character, and other women characters, who are carriers of the experience of women being in the oppressive hand of men. The textual analysis is used. The play by Ibsen is the main data; secondary information can be found in the articles, books, and theories of feminism as well, specifically in the works of Gerda Lerner The Creation of Patriarchy. The results indicate that women in A Dolls House are portrayed as deprived with a sense of autonomy, and partaking in no decision making processes and appreciated mainly due to the ornamental and household aspects. The story of Nora, who changes herself, overcoming being a mere doll of her husband and understanding herself as a woman with her own rights, shows not only how grave the patriarchal oppression is based, but also the self-realization of a woman is possible. The given research explains the topicality of Ibsen in concerning the gender issues of today, proving that the confrontation with the patriarchic norms is one of the main feminist concerns of nowadays.