Reflective Statement

Ronak Jain

Q. How was your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work
developed through the interactive one?

The culture we are going to talk about is the Norwegian culture. How the societys norms and
culture were always made by men where women did not play a role in the day to day life.
Normally in the Norwegian culture a women cannot leave or divorce a man but as we see in the
play it is Nora who in the end leaves Helmer and leaves.

This scene contradicts the societys norms and the belief of the people where they think that
men are greater than women and there both cannot be treated equally. According to the
culture men will always have an upper hand in everything. They are the decision makers but
Ibsen does not believe in that and he challenges the societys norms and he criticized it on a
very large scale. Ibsen did not believe in the societys norms and he wanted to bring forward
what he thought was right. Giving men and women equal rights in the Norwegian society was
considered right by him. He wasnt afraid of the masses, he believed in it and also showed it
publically by writing a play.

Nobody expected such a climax in the end, as they expected the husband ( Helmer ) leaving the
wife ( Nora) but the vice- versa takes place in this situation. Nora is an ambiguous character
which gets deadly mood swings and whos not afraid of her husband. Nora contradicts the
whole thinking of the society where they considered women inferior than men. This plays A
Dolls House had a great impact on the Norwegian society and its culture . This play created
questions relating to the culture on whats right and whats wrong.