Women as Objects

Paper Summary:

The paper analyzes how in Henrik Ibsen's 20th century work, "A Doll's House" and in the Shakespearean play, "Romeo and Juliet" conflict and tragedy occur when women deviate from social expectations. The paper highlights the prices paid by the women who did not conform to what social rules dictated. The paper discusses the social orders where men are leading subjects and women are accompanying or supporting objects. The paper points out that even today women face what are new conventions in terms of how they are expected to participate in the waged economy and perform domestic duties. The paper concludes that "A Doll's House" and "Romeo and Juliet" remain stimulating in the present as they address human scenarios that can prove eternal.

Outline:
Introduction
A Doll's House (1879)
Romeo and Juliet
Reflection - Female Objects and Subjects
Last Remarks

From the Paper:

"Western civilization has ascribed traits and virtues differently to men and women, as one would expect, however much in the 21st century we assume that reform has been achieved and men and women have absolute personal choice. The plays discussed in this paper refer to very different centuries but perhaps owe their longevity to themes that are quite timeless. Examining Henrik Ibsen's 20th century work, A Doll's House, and the very familiar Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, one finds that conflict and tragedy occur when women deviate from social expectations. The idea of gender freedom or female individuality seem very threatening to those who witness deviation. In fact, women who depart from convention are prone to tragedy, or create tragedy for others. These phenomena are usually discussed in relation to women's unsatisfactory status under patriarchy. They are interesting in the light of ordinary social conventions and the prices paid by people who do not conform to what social rules dictate."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Campell, Lily B. Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes - Slaves of Passion. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Peter Smith, 1973.
• Finney, Gail. "Ibsen and Feminism," in J. McFarlane. Ed. The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen. Cambridge at the University Press, 1994, pp. 89-105.
• Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House, in William Archer. Trans. Introduction to the Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen. New York: Scribner, 1997, pp. 1906-1912.
• Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. London: Courier Dover, 1993.

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