Thrives on Misunderstanding: Analysis of “A Doll House”

Of all the struggles of the oppressed, perhaps the most daunting has been the most silently tyrannical. Women have spent ages proving their obvious intellectual, cognitive, and social comparison to the male population, especially to the men in their lives. In A shuttlecock House and Trifles, Henrik Ibsen and Susan Glaspell illustrate how men not only underestimate their wives, but withal drive them to hide their true thoughts, act in secrecy, and ultimately take formidable, yet understandable measures of overcompensation. They do so while simultaneously imposing unequaled male and feminine perspectives on the relationships they create.Through the mens shoal view of the women more or less them and their inability to properly analyze their interactions, the male characters in Trifles and A Doll House create a culture of tension and resentment in their households that lead their wives to rebel against their oppression. In A Doll House, Ibsen uses Torvalds character to play up th e patronizing quality of the 19th century husband. Torvald addresses his wife, Nora, almost always by pet names, such as Is that my little lark twittering emerge there? Is that my squirrel rummaging around?When did my squirrel get in? (859) For the better part of three acts, Nora internalizes the condescension and relishes the adorationor at least she pretends to. The comments, which serve to reduce her humanity, lead Nora to realize that Torvald is unequipped to be a husband or a make, as he can only seem to sustain the relationships he dominates. As she make senses to this realization, she tells her husband theres another job I have to do first. I have to try to educate myself. You cant help me with that. Ive got to do it alone. And thats why Im leaving you now. (907) Although removing herself from the hold of her husbands patriarchy seems logical, it is uncertain whether Nora will adapt to the realities of an independent lifestyle. The transition from her fathers patronizat ion to the binds of Torvalds expectations left Nora no opportunity to explore her interests or learn practical skills, like money management. Furthermore, had Nora pursued either, her husband would have interdict her from duties associated with the male realm. The lack of these experiences forced Nora into venturing into the male world of business, taking out the loan which saved Torvald.When he reads Krogstads letter, his true sentiments about Nora come out I should have suspected something of the benevolent. I should have known All of your fathers flimsy values have come out in you. No religion, no morals, no sense of duty. (904) Torvalds lack of faith in Noras intellectual and business abilities also become clear by the outburst. The tension and shallowness in the household become app atomic number 18nt when he uses pet names superficially, but when genuinely expressing emotion, he uses no names of the sort.He restricts their interactions to shallow conversation, which Nora p icks up on when she announces her departure In eight whole yearslonger evenright from our first acquaintance, weve never exchanged a sombre word on all serious thing. (906) Certainly, their interactions are more of a father-child dynamic than that of a married couple. Only when faced with her departure does Torvald make any concessions to the relationship, after attempting to subdue her defiance. Likewise, the women in Trifles are oppressed, though less subtly.Though Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale make significant discoveries at the Wrights home, their husbands treat them as children brought along to work. For instance, these women live their day to day lives pursuing the popular cultural interests deemed appropriate for women, and as such, are prone to discuss them in conversation. When Mrs. Hale points out Mrs. Wrights quilt, the sheriff is quick to drum up her They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it (The men laugh, the woman look abashed. (917) The blatant disres pect makes the women disinclined to tell the men investigating the crime scene any of their real findings, almost out of ache and to protect their fellow woman, Mrs. Wright. The women take note of the quilt, the broken preserves, and the dead canary, which likely triggered Mrs. Wrights rage. While the men begin their search with the preconceptions that Mrs. Wright committed the crime and attempt to find evidence to prove it, the women assume her innocence either they choose to because of their kind nature, or perhaps because doing so is a silent form of retaliation. Such rebellion is obvious when Mrs.Hale hides the bird from the sheriff and recalls Mr. Wrights injustice to his wife I privation youd seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang. Oh, I wish Id come over here once in a while That was a crime That was a crime Whos going to punish that? (921) The men do not account for the woman Mrs. Wright had once been, an d are therefore blind to the motive they search for. Mrs. Wright parallels Nora in that their men drive them to acts of desperation. Whereas Nora merely leaves her oppressive husband, Mrs. Wright finishes hers turned herself.The difference in sex between the originators and how they have the women deal with their husbands is especially significant. Ibsen, a man, concludes with the oppressed woman becoming aware of her situation in spite of her lack of education, summoning the courage to leave her husband and family never having experienced independence. Almost suddenly, Nora realizes the lifelong hold of patriarchy her father and husband have impose on her when she complains Our homes been nothing but a playpen. Ive been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Papas doll-child. And in turn, the children have been my dolls.I thought it fun when you played with me, just as they thought it fun when I played with them. Thats been our marriage, Torvald. (906) Glaspell, on the other hand, brings a female perspective and ended her characters marriage in murdera fit of passion and rage from a woman who had lost her identity and zeal. The female authors conclusion of overcompensation seems more realistic than the male authors of miraculous clarity. For example, the male authors version of the married couple is for certain one of blatant shallowness, while the female author indirectly illustrates a dynamic void of respect and love.The more subtle, sinister nuances of the relationship that Glaspell hints at are more characteristic of real relationships the ones that deteriorate often lose civility gradually. Contrasting, the Helmers were seemingly cordial, though paternalistic, until the end. Through their oppressive behavior, intentional or not, the men in these works contribute to their wives emotional deaths and to the deaths of their relationships. By treating them more like pawns in their quest for superficial happiness than equals, these men fail to recogniz e the frailty of their marriages.In addition, by underestimating their wives capabilities, they are blind-sighted when the women assert their humanity. The male-dominant dynamic incites the conflicts that lead the women to rebel had there been any depth to the husband-wife connections, the contentions of A Doll House and Trifles may have been eschewed all together. Instead, the dictatorship in these relationships forges irreversible consequences for the men, the harsh reality of a broken life for the women, resentment for their oppression and a future of uncertainty.