Realism In A Doll's House Play

Realism as a literary movement emerged in the late nineteenth century and extended to the twentieth century, the most important factors that led to the emergence of the period of realism is the horrors that happened to people after the World War, which made the writers tend to describe the reality in their literary works, the reader can no longer believe the ideas that are represented in a period of romance or idealism, because they suffer from real issues in their lives require that they be highlighted in the literature. One of the most important writers who dedicated his literary works to support realism in literature is Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen's works aimed to describe the problems in the 20th century, and he tried to contribute to support the contemporary issues in this period. Ibsen was one of the writers who focused on details in his works, writing character traits and describing places accurately, and mentioning the days, dates, and times, which reflects realism in his works. This article will discuss themes in one of Ibsen's most prominent works, A Doll's House play as a realistic play.

A doll's house play is one of the great plays written by Henrik Ibsen in which he sought to support contemporary issues, and has received the attention of the audience and critics because it raises controversial ideas. The play about the heroine Nora, who has always faced many problems in her life as a woman. The play began with Torvald, who scolds Nora for spending a lot of money on Christmas gifts, even though his salary can be increased, but he sees her as children, less than him. Nora was hiding a secret, illegally borrowing money in the past to help her husband. When Torvald knew about the secret, he does not appreciate Nora's efforts, but he was angry at her for fear of his reputation and social form. Nora realized that she had spent her life with someone who did not deserve her sacrifice. She always fulfilled his wishes without knowing what her real wishes were. From this moment, Nora decided to leave her family (Torvald and her children) and live for herself.

The most important themes in this play are money, gender discrimination, reputation, self-awareness. All of these themes made the play more realistic as it was a visible humanitarian problem among people in society in the 20th century. Most of the events were about money, Torvald is trying to make more money, Nora tries to take money from her husband to pay the loan and most of the characters are looking for money in several ways. The reputation was also a concern for Torvald, who did not care for Nora to preserve his reputation. Gender discrimination also an obvious theme, Nora, because she was a woman, she borrowed money with difficulty, paid it difficulty, and after the issue is ended, she bore its consequences alone. In conclusion, the subject of self-awareness was the most controversial when Nora realized she was just like a 'doll'.

George Bernard Shaw in Pygmalion is similar to Henrik Ibsen in the play A doll's house in terms of portraying the difficulty of life for women. Lisa and Nora both give the lead in their lives to men who, unfortunately, treat them as if they are less than humans. Nora and Lisa provide services for men, Nora borrows money to save Torvald, and Lisa learns the phonics to succeed Higgins in betting. But Higgins and Torvald. Pygmalion is similar to A Doll's House in that feminist figures, despite their initiative to always make men better, but are not respected by them, reflecting the general outlook of women in society and the male power imposed on them.

The last part of the play when Nora decided to leave her family (Torvald and her children) is directly referring to the most important issues of the 20th century. This part reflects the two most important themes, self-awareness, and feminism because they are real issues that most of the members of society live in. Many people in society need to become aware of themselves and know if they live for themselves or to fulfill the wishes of others. Also, Nora as a female figure realized that she did not deserve to be treated badly, she deserves the same privileges as men because they are equal not less than him.

In short, this play attempts to draw attention to the most important issues of society, it focuses on problems arising after the World War, the most important are feminism, self-awareness, and the right of the individual to independence. So, in my view, the play reveals the bad aspects of society that people have always suffered from, especially in the middle class.