Tragedy of womanhood within patriarchy: An analysis of gender and sexualities in Ibsen's a doll's house

Abstract

A Doll’s House (1879) by Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906) is a play that follows the trajectory of Nora, a woman belonging to the 19th century Norwegian society, who has been forced to stifle her vibrant personality to survive within a male dominated system. Ibsen successfully presents an authentic glimpse of life through the experiences of a woman who is beginning to realize the suppression she has been subjected to as a result of the rigid understandings of gender and sexualities perpetuated through patriarchal ideologies. This play becomes an ideal platform to examine how women are governed by socially prescribed identities that destroy their agency and freedom. The main research problem addressed in this study is whether gender and sexualities are discursive constructions that oppress and marginalise women within the patriarchal social structure. The idea of performativity introduced by Judith Butler is used as the central framework through which this idea is explored. Moreover, feminist theories presented by Simone de Beauvoir, Helene Cixous, bell hooks, Gilbert and Gubar will also be referred to within the research to support the arguments formulated. A textual analysis of the play was conducted to explore the fluidity and artificiality of the concepts of gender and sexuality. Accordingly, the central findings of the research highlighted the fact that gender and sexuality are discursive constructions that relegate women into marginal positions. This qualitative study will contribute towards the understanding of gender and sexuality as social and cultural productions that sustain hegemonic ideologies and power hierarchies.