Major Role In Families example essay topic

An Interpretation of A Dolls house-Compared to 50's to the present -Are we better off -you decide'A Doll's House' is classified under the 'second phase' of Henrik Ibsen's career. It was during this period, which he made the transition from mythical and historical dramas to plays dealing with social problems. It was the first in a series investigating the tensions of family life. Written during the Victorian era, the controversial play featuring a female protagonist seeking individuality stirred up more controversy than any of his other works. In contrast to many dramas of Scandinavia in that time which depicted the role of women as the comforter, helper, and supporter of man, 'A Doll's House' introduced woman as having her own purpose and goals. The heroine, Nora Helmer, progresses during the course of the play eventually to realize that she must discontinue the role of a doll and seek out her individuality.

David Thomas describes the initial image of Nora as that of a doll wife who revels in the thought of luxuries that can now be afforded, who is become with flirtation, and engages in childlike acts of disobedience (259). This inferior role from which Nora progressed is extremely important. Ibsen in his 'A Doll's House' depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize the need to reform their role in society. Definite characteristics of the women's subordinate role in a relationship are emphasized through Nora's contradicting actions. Her infatuation with luxuries such as expensive Christmas gifts contradicts her resourcefulness in scrounging and buying cheap clothing; her defiance of Torvald by eating forbidden Macaroons contradicts the submission of her opinions, including the decision of which dance outfit to wear, to her husband; and Nora's flirtatious nature contradicts her devotion to her husband. These occurrences emphasize the facets of a relationship in which women play a dependent role: finance, power, and love.

Ibsen attracts our attention to these examples to highlight the overall subordinate role that a woman plays compared to that of her husband. The two sides of Nora contrast each other greatly and accentuate the fact that she is lacking in independence of will. The mere fact that Nora's well-intentioned action is considered illegal reflects woman's subordinate position in society; but it is her actions that provide the insight to this position. It can be suggested that women have the power to choose which rules to follow at home, but not in the business world, thus again indicating her subordinate ness.

Nora does not at first realize that the rules outside the household apply to her. This is evident in Nora's meeting with Krogstad regarding her borrowed money. In her opinion it was no crime for a woman to do everything possible to save her husband's life. She also believes that her act will be overlooked because of her desperate situation. She fails to see that the law does not take into account the motivation behind her forgery.

Marianne Sturm an submits that this meeting with Krogstad was her first confrontation with the reality of a 'lawful society' and she deals with it by attempting to distract herself with her Christmas decorations (16). Thus her first encounter with rules outside of her 'doll's house' results in the realization of her naivety and inexperience with the real world due to her subordinate role in society. The character of Nora is not only important in describing to role of women, but also in emphasizing the impact of this role on a woman. Nora's child-like manner, evident through her minor acts of disobedience and lack of responsibility compiled with her lack of sophistication further emphasize the subordinate role of woman.

By the end of the play this is evident as she eventually sees herself as an ignorant person, and unfit mother, nd essentially her husband's wife. Edmond Gosse highlights the point that 'Her insipidity, her dollish ness, come from the incessant repression of her family life (721). ' Nora has been spoonfed everything she has needed in life. Never having to think has caused her to become dependent on others. This dependency has given way to subordinate ness, one that has grown into a social standing. Not only a position in society, but a state of mind is created.

When circumstances suddenly place Nora in a responsible position, and demand from her a moral judgment, she has none to give. She cannot possibly comprehend the severity of her decision to borrow money illegally. Their supposed inferiority has created a class of ignorant women who cannot take action let alone accept the consequences of their actions. 'A Doll's House' is also a prediction of change from this subordinate roll.

According to Ibsen in his play, women will eventually progress and understand her position. Bernard Shaw notes that when Nora's husband inadvertently deems her unfit in her role as a mother, she begins to realize that her actions consisting of playing with her children happily or dressing them nicely does not necessarily make her a suitable parent (226). She needs to be more to her children than an empty figurehead. From this point, when Torvald is making a speech about the effects of a deceitful mother, until the final scene, Nora progressively confronts the realities of the real world and realizes her subordinate position.

Although she is progressively understanding this position, she still clings to the hope that her husband will come to her protection and defend her from the outside world once her crime is out in the open. After she reveals the 'dastardly deed' to her husband, he becomes understandably agitated; in his frustration he shares the outside world with her, the ignorance of the serious business world, and destroys her innocence and self-esteem. This disillusion marks the final destructive blow to her doll's house. Their ideal home including their marriage and parenting has been a fabrication for the sake of society. Nora's decision to leave this false life behind and discover for herself what is real is directly symbolic of woman's ultimate realization. Although she becomes aware of her supposed subordinate ness, it is not because of this that she has the desire to take action.

Nora is tter ly confused, as suggested by Harold Clubman, 'She is groping sadly in a maze of confused feeling toward a way of life and a destiny of which she is most uncertain (256). ' The one thing she is aware of is her ignorance, and her desire to go out into the world is not to 'prove herself' but to discover and educate herself. She must strive to find her individuality. That the perception of woman is inaccurate is also supported by the role of Torvald.

Woman is believed to be subordinate to the domineering husband. Instead of being the strong supporter and protector of his family, Nora's husband is a mean and cowardly man. Worried about his reputation he cares little about his wife's feelings and fails to notice many of her needs. The popular impression of man is discarded in favor of a more realistic view, thus illustrating society's distorted views. Ibsen, through this controversial play, has an impact upon society's view of the subordinate position of women.

By describing this role of woman, discussing its effects, and predicting a change in contemporary views, he stressed the importance of woman's realization f this believed inferiority. Woman should no longer be seen as the shadow of man, but a person in herself, with her own triumphs and tragedies. The exploration of Nora reveals that she is dependant upon her husband and displays no independent standing. Her progression of understanding suggests woman's future ability to comprehend their plight. Her state of shocked awareness at the end of the play is representative of the awakening of society to the changing view of the role of woman. 'A Doll's House' magnificently illustrates the need for and a prediction of this change.

You have read below this line already Women have always played a major role in families, but the idea that they have a life cycle apart from their roles as wife and mother is relatively recent, and still not widely accepted in our culture. The expectation has been that women would take care of the needs of others, first men, then children, then the elderly. Until very recently 'human development or culture' referred to male development, while woman's development as defined by the men in their lives. They went from being daughter, to wife, to mother, their status defined by the male in the relationship and their role by their position in the family's life cycle.

Rarely, has it been accepted that women have a right to a life for themselves (Kessler; 1994). Woman's roles throughout the life cycle in their families and at work have changed dramatically in recent years. Since 1980 childbearing has fallen below replacement levels, as many woman are electing not to have children or to postpone childbearing in order to pursue career aspirations. Many more women are concentrating on jobs and education. Women are exposed to higher rates of change and instability in their lives than men (Doherenwend, 1973) and because of their greater emotional involvement in the lives of those around them, are more vulnerable to the life cycle stresses. Compared to men, they are more responsive to feel responsible for a wider network of people.

Their role overload is exacerbated when unpredictable stresses, such as illness, divorce, or unemployment, occur. This means they are doubly stressed-both exposed to more network stressed and more emotionally responsive to them (Gove, 1972). Kessler and McLeod (1984) found women to be much more emotionally affected than men by the death of a loved one and other network events. It is said by many of these references, 'adherence to the traditional family roles not only oppresses women, but can have a pernicious effect on all family members, on marriage relationships, and on family functioning' (Cohler & Lieberman, 1980). In recent years women have been marrying later and less often and having fewer children. They are divorcing more-current estimates are that 50% of all marriages will end in divorce (Glick 1984) -and those with the most education and income are the most likely to divorce and the least likely to remarry.

By contrast, the wealthier men are and the more educated they are, the more likely they are to stay married or to remarry quickly. Women are likely to move down to the poverty level after divorce, experiencing and average 73% decline in their standards of living. Traditionally, women have been held responsible for the maintenance of family relationships and for all-family care taking-for their husbands, their children, their parents, their husbands' parents, and any other sick or dependant family members. Even now, almost 1/5 of women 55-59 are providing in-home care for an elderly relative. Usually one daughter or a daughter-in-law has the primary care of an elderly woman. Clearly care taking to the very old (who are mostly women) is primarily a women's issue.

Increasingly younger women are in the labor force and thus unavailable for care taking without extreme difficulty. Presently more than half of all women between the ages of 45 and 64 are in the labor force, most of them working full time. Increasingly with more and more four-generation families, the caregivers themselves are elderly and struggling with declining functioning. Today's middle-aged women are caught in a 'dependency squeeze' between their parents and their children (Baruch & Barnett, 1993; Belle, 1982; Brody, 1981; Lang & Brody, 1993).

The laws which regulate social services to support families are determined primarily by men and do not support the women who bear the burden of family responsibilities but do not wield power. Contrary to the claim that government services sap the strength of family supports, the failure to provide public services to families will most likely exacerbate inter generational conflicts, turning family members against each other. The overwhelming majority of lawmakers in our society is male. Their record on legislation in support of family care taking is poor. This is a critical issue for divorced women, mothers of children, minorities women, the elderly and other groups who do not have the power to make the laws and thus get doubly burdened- with the responsibility and without the resources to take care of their families. There has always been a 'his' or 'hers' versions of human development or culture, although until recently only the former was described in the literature.

Female development was seen as from a perspective and involved learning to become an adaptive helpmate to foster male development. Basically, whatever the male tells her. Most male theoreticians such as Fred, Ko hlberg, and Piaget tended to ignore female development. Only within the last 10-12 years female development described in literature at all (Gilligan, 1992). While separation, differentiation and autonomy have been considered the primary values for male development, caring and attachment, interdependence, relationship and attention to context have been primary in female development. Women have tended to define themselves in the context of human relationships and to judge themselves in terms of ability to care.

As Gilligan has described a woman's place in man's life cycle, it has been that 'nurturer, caretaker, and helpmate, the weaver of those networks of relationships on which she in turn relies upon. But while women have taken care of the men, men have, in their theories of psychological development, as their economic arrangements, tended to assume or devalue that care' (Gilligan, 1982, p. 17). Concerns about relationships has been seen as a weakness of women (and men) rather than human strength. Erickson's (1963) eight stages of development suggest that human connected-ness is part of the first stage, trust vs. mistrust, which covers the first year of life.

This aspect does not appear again till age six, intimacy vs. isolation. All of Erickson's other stages leading to adulthood involve individual rather than relational issues' autonomy vs. shame and doubt initiative vs. guilt and identity vs. role confusion. Identity is defined as having a sense of self apart from one's own family. In addition, from age twenty those characteristics that refer to interpersonal issues: doubt, shame, inferiority and role confusion (all of which are associated with female's characteristics) signify failure.

It is unfortunate that doubt, guilt, inferiority, and awareness of role confusion are thus defined out of a healthy identity. The amazing development of the ability to talk or communicate, which occurs between the ages of one and three and is the primary differential characteristic between us and other animals, is not even mentioned in this schema. In fact, girls demonstrate greater and earlier verbal ability than boys (Gilligan, 1984). And remarkably, Erickson's phase of generative ly occurs at the time of greatest human generative ly producing children, which does not even enter the scheme.

The last stage of adulthood is ego- integrity vs. despair this appears to relate to the individual rather than interpersonal aspects of development. Erickson's ideal characteristics of a healthy adulthood-autonomy, initiative, industry and a clear identity apart from one's family-create a seriously imbalanced human being. In our view, all stages of the life cycle have both individual and interpersonal aspects. The failure to appreciate this has led to seriously skewed conceptions of human development. In Levingson's account the most significant relationships for men in early adulthood are the mentor and the special women or helpmate who encourages the hero to shape and live out his dream. The significant relationships of early adulthood have been construed as 'traditional figures' that are the means to an end of individual achievement (Gilligan, 1982, p. 152).

Men focus on work and minimize the importance of attachment of others. Even language which has evolved to describe human development (culture) uses peculiarly impersonal terms such as 'object relations' to refer to human relationships. The sexist bias of our language appears also in the use of the terms 'material deprivation' on the one hand, but 'father absence,' a much less derogatory term although what is usually meant is a father who was completely unavailable and a mother who was present but did not give all that was expected of the ideal material figure, defined in object-relations theory as the 'good enough mother'. Developmentally women have been expected from the point of early adulthood to 'stand by their man' to support and nurture their children, and paradoxically, to be able to live without affirmation and support themselves. Adaptability has probably been the major skill required of women. They were expected to accept being uprooted every time their husbands moved for a better job, to accept their husbands of communication and unavailability, and to handle all human relationships themselves.

It is ironic that women, who are seen as 'dependent' and less competent than men, have had to function without support in their marriages, to be, indeed, almost totally emotionally self-sufficient. Women have typically had to encourage their husbands self-esteem, but have been seen as 'nags' when they sought emotional support for themselves. In comparison, men's typical complaints are centered upon their wives nagging and emotional demands, while wives' complaints center on their husbands' lack of emotional responsiveness and their own sense of abandonment (Horner 1972, p. 157). While for men, work and family function as mutually supportive and complementary, for women, work and family have posed conflicting demands. As a culture we claim that 'love and work' are equally important. We act as if work is what matters for a man, it is the standard by which we judge him, while we continue to judge a woman solely as wife and mother.

Furthermore, we demean the importance of her work, whether within or outside of the home, and value her only for her ability to 'love- that is to respond to the needs of others. Women have been in a painful bind regarding family and work. Although labor force participation has been found to be a primary determinant of women psychological well being (Kessler, 1984) in the dominant culture the value persists that women belong in the home. We know that women who work show fewer symptoms of psychological distress (Bernard, 1982), and yet there are many pressures presenting women from feeling good about working.

The family is seen as supporting and nurturing the male worker for his performance on the job. There is little support for the management of conflicting demands and no sense of the family as a 'refuge' for women as it has been for men. Even thought the majority of today's women work, the sharing of family responsibilities to balance the workload is not occurring. While husbands and children participate slightly in housework, the vast majority household tasks are done by the wives-between 74% an 92% of the major tasks according to one study by (Berheide, 1984).

The traditional household is fast becoming a relic of the past. Very few families fit into the traditional ideal of the working father, stay-at-home mother, and children. Currently only 29% of households consist of couples with children under 18, compared to 44% in 1960. At least half of those mothers work.

The total number of families still living in a traditional family appears to be no more than 6% (Hewett, 1985). Young adulthood has, until very recently, been a phase for men only. Women passed from their families of origin to their families of procreation, with no space in between to be independent. For men this phase has tended to emphasize their development of a career, while for a woman career has usually taken second place to the search for a husband. Women are confronted with a clash between roles, family and social pressure conflicting with career demands. In contrast to the situation for men, where education increases the likelihood of marriage at any age for women with college education chances of marrying after age 30 diminish rapidly.

While women are to stay with their educational and career possibilities longer than in the past, they still tend to drop out of college and employment at higher rates than men do. The pressure on women not to take full advantage of independent living may be intense. They may lower their sights because of educational, social, internalized or family attitudes [relationships]. Women worry that their families may disapprove of their high aspirations, fearing it will mean the loss of marital possibilities.

'Such fear exists because for most women the anticipation of success in competitive activity, especially against men, produces anticipation of certain negative consequences, for example, threat of social rejection and loss of femininity. (Horner 1968, p. 125). ' In recent years, women are marrying later or choosing not to marry at all, they are having fewer children and having them later, and many are opting not to have children at all. Marriage and divorce have profoundly different implications for men and women. Generally, the women had given up more to be married than the man; their occupation, friends, residence, and family name.

She adjusts to his. Although men remain ambivalent about getting married, fearing 'entrapment' women become more symptomatic and prone to stress in the married state on virtually every indicator (Bernard, Chapter 14). Married women experience more depression and more marital dissatisfaction than married men; in addition, women in traditional marital relationships have poorer physical health, lower self esteem, less autonomy and poorer marital adjustment than women in more equal relationships (Avis, 1985). During the courtship men are willing to spend intimate time with women, after marriage they tend to spend less and less time talking to their wives, often considering doing chores around the house to be an adequate demonstration of caring and intimacy and feeling mystified about what women want when they seek more contact in marital relationship (Goleman, 1986). Generally women do want intimacy and are frustrated by the limited degree of relating to their husbands' offer.

Women are more willing to admit to problems and are much more likely than their husbands to evaluate their relationships as problematic. Women value their husbands earning potential a major attraction in marriage. Men say that what is important is sexual responsiveness and shared interests, while their wives say that the husbands' ability to get along with her family and friends is more important. Men generally rate their marital communication, relationships with parents, and sexual relationships as good, while women rate all of these problematic. Furthermore, it seems that the double standard continues to operate, with women considering their husbands fidelity more important than men do, and men more likely to expect loyalty from their wives than from themselves (Goleman, 1986). With the transition to parenthood, the family begins a threesome, which makes it a permanent system for the first time.

If a childless spouse leaves, there is no system left, but if one leaves the new threesome of couple and child, the system itself survives. Thus, symbolically and in reality this transition is a key in the family life cycle. The patriarchal system that has characterized our culture has impoverished both women and men, I look forward to a changing life cycle in which men and women will be free to develop themselves equally inside and outside the family. The devaluation and relegation of the former women have been costly to all family members, men and women alike. I believe that it is the socialization of the women that makes them 'intuitive' and that men could be raised to be equally sensitive if our patterns of education were changed to include this as a desirable value. Our world needs to appreciate both perspectives and move towards a society in which men and women both abilities; to function autonomously and to be intimate.

Basic to this change is the notion that nurturing would not be the province only of women and that work and money would not be primarily a male controlled sphere.

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