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I&R Love essay
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Essay on how love is presented through Christina Rossetti's poetry and Henrik Ibsen's 'A Doll's House'.
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Ibsen and Rossetti Context Summary
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Compare how writers present love in A Doll’s House and Rossetti’s poetry.Through Ibsen’s 1879 realist play A Doll’s House and Rossetti’s collected poetry of
the Victorian era. Writing in 19th Century Norway, Ibsen was influenced by the
imbalance of power in relationships, particularly through his own experience of his
father, who was an alcoholic and who took out his own troubles on his children and
wife. Ibsen’s sister described their mother as “loving and self-sacrificing", which can
be seen reflected through Nora’s character. Similarly, writing in 19 th Century
England, Rossetti was influenced by the connection between love and death,
distinctly through her relationship with James Collinson, who she wrote many poems
about, often linking them to the imminence and the pathos of death. Through A
Doll’s House, Ibsen argues that love is an illusion in a patriarchal society, and that
whilst the image of love seems outwardly truthful, ultimately it is likely to be less so
behind closed doors. However, in Rossetti’s poetry, she argues that love is real in
life, and that only after death will it ultimately fade.
Ibsen explores the theme of love as an illusion in a patriarchal society. The term
‘new woman’ was coined in 1894 to define a self-sufficient woman; although the play
was written 15 years prior to this, Ibsen is well known for his current and modern
interpretations of daily life – particularly in terms of the feminist movement, claiming
that “a woman cannot be herself in contemporary society” and that it was “an
exclusively male society”. It may be due to this that the pro-feminist play was
frowned upon so much, as the rigidity of the patriarchal society in which Ibsen was
writing did not allow for such progressive opinions, as shown in the first production of
the play, in 1879, where the lead playing Nora refused to act unless the ending was
changed to conform more the 19th Century ideal. A clear example of the illusion of
love in A Doll’s House is shown through Nora’s character. Ibsen uses her character
to reflect the controlling nature of a patriarchal society and how this affected many
relationships. The reversal of roles when Nora chooses to confront Torvald about his
restrictive behaviour highlights how wrong it is through recognizing that it is only
seen as right when done by a man. “I’ve been your doll wife”, is direct; this wording
of the sentence may have been chosen to clearly state his opinion to society whilst
using Nora’s character as a slight cover for the controversy. By using “doll” in this
speech, Nora’s words are linked to the title of the play – almost tying the play
together with this as the answer for why her life can be reflected so well through the
idea of her living, or being trapped, inside a doll’s house. Critic Michael Meyers
states that the play “... shows romantic love to be an illusion, inhibiting the free
development of the individual.”, and this is greatly reflected through Nora’s language,
as identified previously, but also through her actions. Torvald’s control over Nora -
seen as she is “(listen[ing] at her husband’s door)” to make sure he does not catch
her eating macaroons – highlights the idea of outward image being the focal point of
a bourgeois relationship in 19th Century Norwegian society. Ibsen uses Torvald’s
focus on Nora’s image to represent the confined and controlled essence of a
relationship that was so common in the patriarchal society to which many women
were bound.
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