You're such a doll! Flatter me!

We have encountered many themes in the past. Out of all of these themes, the one that compares to the dramatic play “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen is the control men have over woman. When I was reading the dramatic play, I noticed that much of Helmer’s treatment to Nora gives a funny, childish manner. Instead of treating her like a mature wife that deserves the treatment of equality and understanding, he gives her nicknames like “little squirrel”. This precise treatment is compared to the short story called “A Yellow Wallpaper”. John would also give his wife childish names which would bring her down instead of treating her like his wife. Through this treatment they develop a type of control over their wives due to the fact that the wives play the part of a little child. They do as they are told without giving the care of questioning whether they are wrong or right. They accustom themselves to ask before doing anything for they know they are not masters of their own lives, and so on. Even though, at first, this control seems harmless and somewhat cute at first, the consequences seem always to lead to something horrible. Nora ends up leaving her husband and children behind in order to find herself, instead of seeking approval of how she should be. The narrator or wife of “A Yellow Wallpaper” ends up insane and kills her husband due to the fact that the reality she was forced to accept ended her touch with what was real and what wasn’t real.

Another example of total control over women is “A Rose for Emily”. In her story, her father would control her every move and would not let her get married in order to keep her to himself. She grew accustomed to this life and as a result, after her father dies, she loses touch of her main guide. By losing her guide we see her break her touch with reality as well. She cannot fathom the thought of being alone and letting go old habits. So she ends up killing the man she loves (for she never knew how it really felt to have a man by her side or know how to deal with a relationship) and afterwards keeps the body as a cuddle toy in her bed. Due to the confliction of not knowing how to deal with life due to her entrapment, she ends up not knowing how to react to life on her own, leading to her insane tactics of not letting go and murder.

The theme is treated more exaggeratedly in dramatic plays due to the fact that people must act it out to show how horrible the event is or how exciting it is. In stories we can only imagine to the limitations of our imagination how it can act out. So I see a difference in exaggeration when comparing the themes to a dramatic play or a short story.

Through the process of seeing how the consequences of complete control of women can lead to disastrous circumstances, I realized, society back then was ghastly!