Women and Men in 19th century Europe - a discrepancy. Opinion Column

Veer Raxwal

The 19th century is a century characterized by gender inequality. Women had few legal, social and political rights that are present today. They couldn’t vote, couldn't appear in court, couldn’t go to college and couldn’t sue or be sued. Women were expected to remain subordinate to their husbands and fathers and simply try to cajole their husbands to keep them content. Furthermore, women also didn’t have occupational freedom. As generally they stayed home, took care of the children and ran the household. Lower class women resorted to being servants or small time workers in factories.

On the other hand, men were the primary breadwinners in the relationship. Women were largely dependent on their husbands due to this fact. Men were expected to be leaders within their society and homes. Moreover, men were expected to protect and shelter their families. Due to these circumstances, men were more educated which lead to a higher status in society. Men would hold a certain dominance in the family and had indisputable power while the women was a so called “sidekick” in the relationship.

This interrelation was illustrated in A Doll’s House. The husband, Torvald, held all the power in the relationship and dictated what the wife, Nora, should and would do. For example, when Torvald was extremely ill, Nora took out a bank loan to finance a vacation to improve Torvald’s health. When Nora unfolds this secret to Mrs. Linde, Nora says “how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relations altogether;”. This illustrates how the husband must be the one and only financial provider in the family, a predominant gender role in the 19th century. As Torvald even having knowledge of the situation would put a strain on their relationship and be a divisive issue. Furthermore, this also shows the preconceived societal roles at that time, as it would be “painful” and “humiliating” for Torvald to receive help. To continue, this is further shown by the example “Many a time I was at my wits' end […] I used to sit here and imagine that a rich old gentleman had fallen in love with me […] that he had died; and that when his will was opened it contained […] the instruction: "The lovely Mrs. Nora Helmer is to have all I possess paid over to her at once in cash.”. In this situation, Nora is talking to Mrs. Linde about her fantasies. As even in her fantasy, Nora is being saved by a men rather than earning it on her own. This demonstrates the societal notions that were held by mostly everyone at that time. Whereas, the man was the one with money and the women was merely a assistant.

Furthermore, Ibsen illustrated the subordination of women in the 19th century several times in The Doll’s House. For instance, “My mother was alive then, and was bedridden and helpless, and I had to provide for my two younger brothers; so I did not think I was justified in refusing his offer”. This is told from Mrs. Linde’s perspective telling Nora why she married her husband. This depicts the reliance women had on men. As Mrs. Linde had to offer herself for marriage to support her family. Additionally, it can be seen by the example “Is it my little squirrel bustling about?”. As throughout the book, Torvald calls Nora animal nicknames, as seen by the example, Torvald called her a “squirrel”. This attests to the lower status women had in society and in the household, as this was prevalent throughout the 19th century.

Overall, the discrepancy between men and women in the 19th century was fairly large. They were complete polar opposites in terms of society standings, household responsibilities and state of mind. But this whole notion slowly shifted throughout the latter part of the 19th century and the 20th century. In my opinion, this conception was clearly wrong and rightfully shifted. As personally, everything some powerful such as Michelle Obama and Eleanor Roosevelt have done has inspired me with reverence, and this wouldn’t have been made possible if it weren’t for the opportunities they were given due to a mindset shift in the past 100 years. Broadly speaking, the deliberate gender roles in the 19th century were extremely contraining, which I feel would lead to both parties, men and women, being unhappy. As not every man would want to become the sole financial source in the household and not every women would want to stick to washing dishes and cooking. This in part, is a major reason why I feel like the abolishment of these roles is so crucial in today’s society. Even though this doesn’t exactly exist yet in some Middle Eastern countries, they are at least progressing in the right direction. In conclusion, Ibsen depiction of certain gender roles in “The Doll’s House” showed the injustice in the 19th century which is luckily almost non-existent in certain places in today’s society.