When I first read A Doll’s House, I was instantly reminded of a movie that came out in 2005 called The Stepford Wives. The movie is about a family that moves to Stepford, Connecticut. There, Joanna Eberhart, the wife and mother figure played by Nicole Kidman, notices how creepily perfect all of the women are. They not only have perfect hair, clothes, and smiles but also display acts of complete obedience to their male partners. Joanna, who had led a professional life working for a TV network prior to her move, finds these women to be quite disturbing and deranged.
The play and movie are similar in that they both bring about the belief that women must self-sacrifice their individuality for the household to “work” and also to create a “family paradise.” In the play, this sacrifice is somewhat voluntary. From expectations and pressures from society and the male figure, Nora is unable to express her opinions and is ultimately oppressed. However, she does in the end, rebel. On the contrary, the women in the movie have no choice; their husbands place a microchip inside their brains to make them their robot wives. What is interesting is that the women before their transformations were CEOs, judges, and executives—women who were financially independent and successful.
Both the play and movie illustrate the pressures not just for women to conform to society’s expectations but for men to do so as well. In The Stepford Wives, Matthew Broderick’s character gives in to the pressures to change his wife to a Stepford wife. He tells Joanna that he really had no choice and that “ever since we’ve meet you’ve beaten me at everything. You’re stronger, you’re faster, a better executive and you’re even better at sex.” This line sums up the pressures being imposed on him. In A Doll’s House, Torvald says something quite similar. When Torvald finds out about Nora’s lie, he yells at her and demands, “the thing must be hushed up at all costs. And as far as you and I are concerned, things must appear to go on exactly as before. But only in the eyes of the world, of course.” Clearly, Torvald cares strongly about what society thinks of him. Matthew Broderick’s character appears to feel the same way.
The fact that this movie, released only five years ago, is relatable to audiences today makes me question if our society has really changed since the days of Henrik Ibsen. Sure, women are treated with more respect and equality but when it comes to the family structure, men are pressured into being “better” than their wives. Perhaps, society still expects the family structure to be male-dominated. But then again, there are so many different types of family structures today. For example, families with single parents are not uncommon at all. Maybe the movie was popular not because it was relatable but because it was a twisted take on society’s expectations.
I like that comparison a lot. It's interesting that A Doll's House comes across as so feminist to us when Ibsen clearly states he didn't mean for it to be that way. Ibsen says that his play is about Human Rights, not women's rights...it's been a while since I've seen Stepford Wives but I think that one was a lot more focused on women's issues. It's hard for me to not interpret Ibsen's work as feminist work. That's how it really speaks to me. I have heard from some of my friends, though, that Ibsen actually wrote some stuff that was pretty anti-feminist.
ReplyDeleteYou may be interested to know that The Stepford Wives was originally a novel that was written way back when, in like 1972 I think, and the original film was made in like 1975 or something. The one with Nicole Kidman was a remake...I think I would interpret the fact that it was remade as a sort of commentary on how far we've come since the original movie came out.