Henrik Ibsen's “A Doll's House,” in many ways, addresses the gap between the very concept of work and the perception of one's work. In reality, a person's idea of work may differ from the type of work they actually do. When people think of the word “work,” the images that come to mind include physical labor or any type of visible, tangible job or career. Household chores and production, however, are almost never taken into consideration. The emotional and mental labor that comes with being placed in a specific gender role is also hard work. There is no monetary compensation. Instead, the play's protagonist, Nora, is addicted to the subtle rewards of keeping up appearances, both her own and those of her family. This facade shows how a woman's place at home or at work is based exclusively on producing a certain image at all times. Women are trapped by society's forced idealistic vision of who they should be, and true freedom is compromised when a sense of control and individuality is lost. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the beginning of the play, Nora's idea of the work she does is equivalent to the work her husband, Torvald, should do. However, the game becomes more complicated when this division occurs. Nora holds the family's reputation in her words, behavior and actions. She is committed to making her husband happy at all costs and even protects him to do so, much to Torvald's dismay. Keeping up appearances is itself a form of work in this play, and the theme evolves into something that is largely self-destructive. Nora is oppressed not only by social forces and her husband. He is living a life that he knows is a lie and acts almost like a daily performance. He acts unintelligently and childishly so as to validate Torvald's masculinity and power. The image of the perfect housewife that she represents replaces her individuality and personality with the illusion of a happy family and a husband to be envious of. Torvald mocks Nora and calls her belittling names such as "little squirrel" and "lark". (Ibsen 4). He plays with his emotions using the promise of money and materialistic objects. In a way, Torvald controls Nora. While Nora may well be aware of his control over her, she accepts it and her role as a submissive and dependent on the man in her life. She succumbs to the victim role and this role becomes her job and her job begins to define who she is. The image she chooses to portray for the sake of a good reputation causes her to lose herself and become only an object of affection and Torvald's “trophy wife”. Nora perceives her work as a performance. “Your squirrel would run here and there and do all his tricks if you were kind, and do what he wants… I would play the fairy and dance for you in the moonlight, Torvald.” (Ibsen 39). She also uses her physical appearance and takes advantage of her feminine characteristics to get what she wants. “What if your little squirrel asked you for something very, very nice…?” (Ibsen 39). Nora's words confirm that she is pretending to be the woman of the house and recognizes that her "tricks" and childish behavior are to please Torvald. She constantly depends on and works on this image of herself and falls victim to the lie itself. The more a person lives a lie, the greater the chance that the lie will consume them. Nora's manipulation ultimately ended up manipulating not only Torvald, but also, and most importantly, herself. “To be able to be free from worries, completely free from.
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