OCR 1900s Drama and Pre-Poetry
Ibsen and Rossetti Themes & Context
Table of Contents
OCR 1900S DRAMA AND PRE-POETRY.............................................................................................. 1
IBSEN AND ROSSETTI THEMES & CONTEXT.......................................................................................... 1
GENDER..................................................................................................................................... 1
IBSEN..................................................................................................................................... 2
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................... 3
POWER...................................................................................................................................... 5
IBSEN..................................................................................................................................... 5
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................... 6
GRATITUDE/SELFISHNESS.......................................................................................................... 7
IBSEN..................................................................................................................................... 7
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................... 7
LOVE/MARRIAGE/RELATIONSHIPS............................................................................................... 8
IBSEN..................................................................................................................................... 8
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................. 10
RELIGION................................................................................................................................. 11
IBSEN................................................................................................................................... 11
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................. 12
GENDER
1
, Gender is shown as a constructed role rather than an innate trust- one that
can be resisted, but never without cost
Both writers interrogate how femineity is taught, internalised and policed,
but they respond differently due to genre, belief systems and personal ideology.
~ Women are passive acquiescent characters in Literature
IBSEN
Gender as social training
Nora has been raised to perform femineity- obedience and loyalty to
husband, emotional dependence and charm.
She states she has passed from 1 authority to another (father- > husband)
Its not natural weakness and submission, it is what she has been
educated to be like.
Anne-Marie- gives up her child to take care of Nora (example of the Old
Woman)
“I was simply transferred from Papa’s hands into yours’ - Nora
CONTEXT:
19th century Scandinavian gender ideology- rooted in the doctrine of
separate spheres: men = public, rational / women = private, emotional
support
Middle class women weren’t encouraged to develop moral or intellectual
autonomy- they were trained for marriage.
Nora’s femininity is manufactured by society, not essential.
Infantilisation
Nora is positioned as childlike, reinforcing the Victorian belief that women
were closer to children than adult men.
‘My little skylark must not droop her wings’ -Torvald
CONTEXT:
Victorian evolutionary discourse often claimed women were ‘arrested’ in
development.
Aligns with contemporary pseudo-scientific beliefs- that women were
biologically less developed (misused Darwinism).
Men were move ‘evolved’ than women due to greater selective pressure in
competition for survival and mates.
Ibsen subtly critiques this- Noras rapid intellectual awakening once she
rejects imposed gender roles.
2
Ibsen and Rossetti Themes & Context
Table of Contents
OCR 1900S DRAMA AND PRE-POETRY.............................................................................................. 1
IBSEN AND ROSSETTI THEMES & CONTEXT.......................................................................................... 1
GENDER..................................................................................................................................... 1
IBSEN..................................................................................................................................... 2
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................... 3
POWER...................................................................................................................................... 5
IBSEN..................................................................................................................................... 5
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................... 6
GRATITUDE/SELFISHNESS.......................................................................................................... 7
IBSEN..................................................................................................................................... 7
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................... 7
LOVE/MARRIAGE/RELATIONSHIPS............................................................................................... 8
IBSEN..................................................................................................................................... 8
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................. 10
RELIGION................................................................................................................................. 11
IBSEN................................................................................................................................... 11
ROSSETTI............................................................................................................................. 12
GENDER
1
, Gender is shown as a constructed role rather than an innate trust- one that
can be resisted, but never without cost
Both writers interrogate how femineity is taught, internalised and policed,
but they respond differently due to genre, belief systems and personal ideology.
~ Women are passive acquiescent characters in Literature
IBSEN
Gender as social training
Nora has been raised to perform femineity- obedience and loyalty to
husband, emotional dependence and charm.
She states she has passed from 1 authority to another (father- > husband)
Its not natural weakness and submission, it is what she has been
educated to be like.
Anne-Marie- gives up her child to take care of Nora (example of the Old
Woman)
“I was simply transferred from Papa’s hands into yours’ - Nora
CONTEXT:
19th century Scandinavian gender ideology- rooted in the doctrine of
separate spheres: men = public, rational / women = private, emotional
support
Middle class women weren’t encouraged to develop moral or intellectual
autonomy- they were trained for marriage.
Nora’s femininity is manufactured by society, not essential.
Infantilisation
Nora is positioned as childlike, reinforcing the Victorian belief that women
were closer to children than adult men.
‘My little skylark must not droop her wings’ -Torvald
CONTEXT:
Victorian evolutionary discourse often claimed women were ‘arrested’ in
development.
Aligns with contemporary pseudo-scientific beliefs- that women were
biologically less developed (misused Darwinism).
Men were move ‘evolved’ than women due to greater selective pressure in
competition for survival and mates.
Ibsen subtly critiques this- Noras rapid intellectual awakening once she
rejects imposed gender roles.
2
