Abstract:
A Doll’s House brought about the disillusionment of many men and women in the 19th century with its unique probing of the dynamics of married life as well as its uncompromising critique of a society that did not respect the freedom of human beings. Drawing on the works of stylisticians like Jeffries and Mills as well as using stylistic tools including endearments and sexist language, modality, and negation, this study aimed to analyze Helmer’s and Nora’s language. This research clarifies Nora’s doll-like status at home and sheds some light on the strategies her husband adopts to maintain a kind of husband-doll relationship. Findings show that Nora sometimes acts like a doll on purpose to achieve her goals without posing any threat to Helmer’s authority at home. Helmer seems to dote on Nora; he does not respect her as an equally respectable human being.
Machine summary:
Femininity and Helplessness1 Rajabali Askarzadeh Torghabeh2 Received: 27/04/2019 Accepted: 21/07/2019 Abstract A Doll’s House brought about the disillusionment of many men and women in the 19th century with its unique probing of the dynamics of married life as well as its uncompromising critique of a society that did not respect the freedom of human beings.
Drawing on the works of stylisticians like Jeffries and Mills as well as using stylistic tools including endearments and sexist language, modality, and negation, this study aimed to analyze Helmer’s and Nora’s language.
Also, this disbelief can be seen in the way others received the play; for instance, The Daily News wrote about Nora, “in spite of Ibsen or any other theorist, it may be confidently asserted that no women who ever breathed would do any such thing” (as cited in Egan, 1972, p.
For instance, in the sentence “I wish you had told me the truth,” the word wish has a modal meaning in that it shows what the situation is like at the same time as it opens up the possibility for an alternative that is the one the speaker desires.
If we accept that Nora is a doll in a doll’s house, modality seems a rather convincing way for her to voice her opinions mildly without sounding too assertive, especially when talking to Helmer.
4. Conclusion The stylistic analysis of A Doll’s House illuminates the outcome of Helmer’s and Nora’s relationship by explaining the effects of certain conscious choices in language.