Blog #9: "A Doll's House" - What themes from this story have we encountered before? How would you compare the way these themes are treated in this play to the way they are treated in short stories or in poems?

What themes from this story have we encountered before? How would you compare the way these themes are treated in this play to the way they are treated in short stories or in poems?

There are a number of themes from "A Doll's House" that we have encountered before in pervious readings. The theme of masculinity or male dominance is present in both "A Doll's House" and "The Yellow Wallpaper." John, Emily's husband, believes to know what is best for Emily and controls her every activity. John is alike to Trovald, who controlled his own wife as if she was his own play doll.

The theme of womanly independence is present in both "A Doll's House" and "Chrysanthemums." In "Chrysanthemums," Elisa is a strong, independent woman who has a hard exterior, never showing any passionate emotions. In "A Doll's House," Nora gains her own independence at the end of the play, when she finally realizes how she appears in her husbands eyes, and leaves the household. 

& There are several more motiffs that run throughout many of the stories we have read in this class!