Women and Men in the 19th century- A dispensary

The Victorian period made the roles of men and women sharply defined compared to any time in history. It had been usual in the older times for women to work along their husbands in the family business, they could help out by serving customers or keeping accounts while also attending their domestic duties but as the 19th century progressed men started commuting to work places while women were left at home all day to oversee their domestic duties. The two sexes inhabited “separate spheres”, only coming together at breakfast and again at dinner. Women were also meant to study a different syllabus of education which meant that they should’ve been good at “singing”, “drawing”, “dancing” and “modern languages” to play the role of the “Angel in the house”.  At the same time, a young girl was not expected to focus too obviously on finding a husband. Being ‘forward’ in the company of men suggested a worrying sexual appetite. Women were assumed to desire marriage because it allowed them to become mothers rather than to pursue sexual or emotional satisfaction.  The various conditions provide a good account of what had been happening in the 19th century with respect to gender roles and the inequality amongst them.

Ibsen’s play called “The Doll’s House” brings out this imagery of the inequality clearly through the usage of characters and their descriptions and behaviors. 19^th century’s daily life clearly portrays a picture of the importance of domestic work and the social image of men and women in the society. Men had to be the leader of the family covering the money that could feed and sustain their families and with this creating an ethical image of a “perfect man”. They were supposed to be clean in terms of their work and whoever did not fit in this criterion were supposedly not fit to the character. Women on the other hand were supposed to be “good mothers”, they were supposed to care for their families specially their husbands and children. They were supposed to be under the shadow of their husbands and were supposed to follow their limelight which means do as their husbands told them to do, their image in society was also followed by their husbands not with their own personalities. If their husbands owned a superior position in the society, they instantly were looked at with respect. Men were supposed to show no emotions as it was looked at as their weakness where as women were supposed to be emotional and fragile which symbolized gender stereotypes in the current century.

Nora, the female protagonist in Doll’s house fits to the example of what it was like to be a woman in the 19th century. She has been repeatedly called childish names such as “My little lark” which symbolized the relationship between him and her husband which was nothing but manipulating her to do as her husband wished in the name of “love”.  She is expected to be traditionally and morally perfect and is supposed to please her husband emotionally and physically. She is expected to be a good mother and take care of her children without asking or expecting anything as well as be there for her husband no matter what his character or social image is. She’s meant to take care of the family and do all of the domestic work while her husband works to feed the family which later makes her question her existence and think of suicide as she feels she’s nothing more than a doll that’s meant to obey her owner without little say in any other matter. Tovard on the other hand symbolizes a 19th century man, he humiliates her by treating her like a child and expects her to be okay with how he’s treating her. This represents a patriarchal difference between the two genders in the 19^th century and also provides an account of the relationship between the two characters. Tovard works as the leader of the family and cares a lot about his social image, he gives Nora no sense of freedom and expects us to follow what he tells her to. The treatment that’s given to Nora by her husband shows the toxicity and the ill treatment of women as objects in the era.

Concluding the dispensary, it shows that women in the 19^th century were considered doll’s which is metaphorical for somebody inferior and who obeys. They had little say in family matters and followed the steps of their husbands and lived under their shadows while men being the superior gender controlled not only themselves but their wives and families and portrayed all of their images included in society.