Taylor Antes
Mrs. Rutan
AP Literature and Composition
18 December 2015
Dominant Roles in Society
Mrs. Rutan
AP Literature and Composition
18 December 2015
Dominant Roles in Society
What defines a man and a woman? Throughout history, women have been wrongly stereotyped as weak, and their only job being to raise children. When females are directly compared to males, many people come to the immediate conclusion of the males being more superior. Of course it has gotten much better as time has passed, but there are still problems in today's society. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, author of The Yellow Wallpaper, and Henrik Ibsen, author of A Doll’s House, both argue that women can successfully work at a “man’s job”, and must be treated as equals in the eyes of all. The disrespect and belittling of women must come to an end, which is extremely evident in these two fictional pieces of literature.
Nora Helmer ‒ the protagonist of A Doll’s House ‒ found herself in a sticky situation because she made a ludicrous decision to borrow money from another man, so she had to find ways to pay the man back. Ibsen specifically has Nora borrow money from someone other than a family friend to make it so that she must work hard to pay the money back, and to show that she is up to the challenge. As Nora vented her story to Mrs. Linde, she stated that the late nights staying up working was “great fun” (Ibsen, 1102) and that it was “almost like being a man” (Ibsen, 1102). For Nora to enjoy working that late at night showed how much females in that time period and society actually desired to work. It didn’t matter how much, or for how long, or where it was; just something needed to give them a sense of purpose‒ something to strive for.
|
Jane Doe ‒ the protagonist of The Yellow Wallpaper, whose name is unidentified ‒ was diagnosed with Neurasthenia because of her inability to leave her room. Jane admitted to the reader that John was gone a lot of the time, which left her “alone a good deal” (Gilman, 342) of the time. If Jane was not left alone at home because she could work a job during the day, her insanity wouldn’t have worsened. The dreadful yellow wallpaper would not have impacted her life, and left her Neurasthenia ‒ free. However, Gilman had to make it this way so that Jane was dependent on John. If Jane had a job ‒ just like John did ‒ she would have been a more independent person, minimizing the gap between the male role of the house and the female role.
|
Considering the story was written in 1890, the society had to be a certain way; male first, female second. The reader saw many ways in which Jane and Nora were belittled by their respective husbands. In A Doll’s House, an odd nature theme is used along with many childish hand gestures towards Nora to belittle her. Ibsen’s diction is interesting with the nature theme, including words like: “songbird” (Ibsen, 1093), “little lark” (Ibsen, 1093), “squirrel” (Ibsen, 1093), and “wastrel” (Ibsen, 1094). These interesting diction choices played an enormous role in showing the reader how Torvald treated Nora: like a toy doll. Torvald also leisurely “puts his hand on her head” (Ibsen, 1116) when calling her one of these foolish names, literally putting himself above her. While he put himself above her, he was ultimately putting himself above nature and animals as well. Torvald craved power of any kind, so he had to put himself above everything to make himself feel like a figure of authority. These are only some of the countless ways that make the relationship between Torvald and Nora abnormal. Torvald never saw anyone but himself, and this tunnel vision came back to bite him in the end.
|
Almost as if it is a mirror image, Jane and John go through much similar things. While Jane’s mental disorder became worse each day, John does not ever believe her and continues to come to the conclusion that only he is right. Jane tries to confess to John how she is feeling even tho it is “so hard to talk to John about my [her] case” (Gilman, 344), and in return, John calls her a “‘little girl’” (Gilman, 344) and tells her she is perfectly fine. It is apparent that Jane doesn’t have much of a voice in their relationship, which worsens her condition. With more belief from John, the condition could have had a better chance to be cured, and save Jane’s mind before it was completely gone. Just as history stereotyped women, John did the same; he believed she was weak, and never saw any words that came out of her mouth to be the truth.
In the end it is clear that neither John and Jane or Torvald and Nora experienced true love, and their relationship suffered because of it. Even now, in the twenty-first century, we still see confused and unhappy relationships that result in a power struggle between the husband and wife. Just as the two pieces of literature showed us, even if a relationship seems like it is flowing, both parties might not see eye to eye. True love, equality and the balance of power all go hand in hand. Gilman never gave the reader specific hints that John and Jane were in love like Ibsen did with Torvald and Nora, but, the reader could infer it because of John's dominance in the relationship. John consistently belittled Jane, and saw himself above her. In today's society, people try to avoid these kinds of relationships, but it is still seen across the globe. Men and women are equals, and that needs to be the bottom line.
|
Works Cited
Literature:
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll's House." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 11th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 1092-154. Print.
Perkins Gilman, Charlotte. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 11th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 337-51. Print.
Images:
Cakesque. The Yellow Wallpaper. Digital image. Devianart.com. Devian Art, 12 Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://cakesque.deviantart.com/art/The-Yellow-Wallpaper-100356491>.
Free as a Songbird. Digital image. Free as a Songbird. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.freeasasongbird.com/>.
Miller, J. Howard. We Can Do It! Digital image. Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Do_It!>.
Websites:
"Charlotte Perkins Gilman Biography." Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/charlotte-perkins-gilman-9311669>.
"Henrik Ibsen Biography." Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/henrik-ibsen-37014#personal-life>.
Men Are Better Than Women. Digital image. Amazon.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2015. <http://www.amazon.com/Men-Are-Better-Than-Women/dp/1416953817>.
"Neurasthenia." Webmd.com. WebMD, LLC, 28 May 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/neurasthenia>
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll's House." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 11th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 1092-154. Print.
Perkins Gilman, Charlotte. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 11th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 337-51. Print.
Images:
Cakesque. The Yellow Wallpaper. Digital image. Devianart.com. Devian Art, 12 Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://cakesque.deviantart.com/art/The-Yellow-Wallpaper-100356491>.
Free as a Songbird. Digital image. Free as a Songbird. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.freeasasongbird.com/>.
Miller, J. Howard. We Can Do It! Digital image. Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Do_It!>.
Websites:
"Charlotte Perkins Gilman Biography." Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/charlotte-perkins-gilman-9311669>.
"Henrik Ibsen Biography." Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/henrik-ibsen-37014#personal-life>.
Men Are Better Than Women. Digital image. Amazon.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2015. <http://www.amazon.com/Men-Are-Better-Than-Women/dp/1416953817>.
"Neurasthenia." Webmd.com. WebMD, LLC, 28 May 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/neurasthenia>