English Ib Reflective Statement

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A Doll’s house: reflective statement Henric Ibsen’s play a doll’s house, based in Norway, gives an insight to the reader over the cultural issues that were dealt by women in the 18th century. As reader precedes reading, he is well introduced to the social and cultural norms of that era. The interactive sessions held during class, gave me a more clearer picture of the ‘how to do’s of the time described. This was significant as without the background knowledge of the era one cannot understand why these ideas (as mentioned in the introduction of the play) were considered modern and radical, about marriages and relationships with the society. Women in 19th century were not liberal and were stereotyped to live their lives simple. No legal rights and independence were offered to them, thus, they had to rely on their husbands or father for pretty much everything in life. They were not allowed to borrow, pay installments, own a property or get employed. The life of widowed women was tough as they were given rather soft labor to earn a living with basic pays. Married women were supposed to serve their purpose of taking care of their homes, children and the man of their house. The male dominating culture of that era was rather obsessed about reputation than functionality. The ‘say of the society’ was significantly important. People could go to extremes in order to shield themselves from being considered an outcast by the society. This showed that society in that era was before anything, family or self bliss. Ibsen managed to challenge these stereotypical traits of the ailing society through his work in “a doll’s house”, most likely the last phase of the story; where the protagonist decides to live a rather liberal life than a socially correct one. :
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