Blog 2, Question 4

In Doll House, the story very much revolves around the theme of parenting. Initially, I believed it exposed the nature of women as mothers more than the nature of men as fathers, however reading the quote by Paul Rosefeldt has convinced me to believe that the nature of fatherhood is equally or more important than motherhood. Doll House has several examples such as Dr. Rank whose father’s poor choices has led to Dr. Rank’s unfortunate illness. There is a sense of having to pay for transgressions that Dr. Rank expresses, the transgressions of his father. It appears that Dr. Rank has made profound observations about fatherhood here, that his father is responsible for his personal misfortune. This continues with observations through many other characters.

Mrs. Linde’s father is also seen as absent throughout her difficult life. Through her mother’s illness and having to care for her brothers, all the burden and responsibility is diffused on her. She has to manage to care for her entire family and therefore puts aside her desire to marry who she wants. Instead of marrying Krogstad, who is the man she loves, she has to go through years of labor for her mother. Although this is not a direct reflection of fatherhood, we see the effects of a father absent in a family. The lack of a father present in the family seems to make life more difficult with all of the burdens of responsibility placed on Mrs. Linde. One can therefore see subsequently why Mrs. Linde is so apathetic about the death of her husband, because the lack of a father may have hardened her to never fully want to love a man. This is pure conjecture, however the absence of a parent especially a father in Mrs. Linde’s case, may have negative effects on an individual.

As far as the main characters go, Torvald and Norah are essential because the play establishes motherhood and fatherhood through both of them. Examining Norah shows a mother and wife that is loving and respectful initially, however after discovering her act of forgery, she is seen as deceptive. Norah fears her children will be corrupt because of her and therefore decides to leave. There is a great deal of examination of motherhood through Norah, however there is also an examination of fatherhood through Torvald. Torvald believes that a father is not as influential to his children as a mother would be, however in today’s society that notion is completely false. Many broken families from the inner city or ghetto are families without a father figure, having detrimental effects on children as they grow up. Torvald believes at one point in the play that because Norah has been deceitful she should not interact with their children for fear that she will corrupt them. However it seems that Torvald’s constant struggle to maintain his image has usurped his desire to be a true, loving husband and father. This in turn has caused Norah to eventually leave Torvald for manufacturing her as a doll that he manipulates in order to maintain his status and image in society. It ultimately falls on Torvald for not being a genuinely loving father and husband that the family in the end falls apart. His lack of duties to serve his family out of love has made Norah see who Torvald really is deep inside as a self centered individual. His children will eventually realize the lackadaisical approach Torvald takes as a father, believing he has little influence over his children than a mother would, and maybe becoming more “corrupt” because of him, ironically. His inability to be a true family man has shown that fatherhood is important for the wellbeing of a family as much as or maybe more than motherhood is.