"Some writers reflect the culture they live in, others challenge it. Henrik Ibsen criticizes the Norwegian culture at his time in the play A Doll's House and so does Arthur Miller in Death of a Salesman,
187 words
2001 November Exam (SL)
(c) "Some writers reflect the culture they live in, others challenge it."
In what ways and with what effects have works in your study either conveyed to you an appreciation of the culture of the works or offered a critique of it?
Authors usually choose to set their work in the culture they are living in themselves.
Hence, literal works often reflect the culture the author is living in. However, a very important function of literature has always been to criticize. Victims of such critique can be of various sort, but especially culture has always been subject of criticism in literature. Also Henrik Ibsen criticizes the Norwegian culture at his time in the play A Doll's House and so does Arthur Miller in Death of a Salesman, where he criticizes the US-American culture.
Ibsen criticizes in A Doll's House the Norwegian culture at his time (in the 1880's). More specifically he criticizes the role of women in Norwegina society.
Ibsen paints a bleak picture of the sacrificial role held by women of all economic classes in his society. In general, the play's female characters exemplify Nora's assertion (spoken to Torvald in Act Three) that even though men refuse to sacrifice their integrity, "hundreds of thousands of women have." In order to support her mother and two brothers, Mrs. Linde found it necessary to abandon Krogstad, her true-but penniless-love, and marry a richer man. The nanny had to abandon her own child to support herself by working as Nora's (and then as Nora's children's) caretaker. As she tells Nora, the nanny considers herself lucky to have found the job, since she was "a poor girl who'd been led astray."
Though Nora is economically advantaged in comparison to the play's other female characters, she nevertheless leads a difficult life because society dictates that Torvald be the marriage's dominant partner.This is also reflected through literary devices. While throughout the drama "Helmer", Torvald's last name, is used to indicate that Torvald speaks, for Nora always the first name is used for that purpose. This emphasizes that Torvald is the more respected and dominant partner. Torvald issues decrees (an official order from a ruler) and condescends (to behave towards sb as though you are more intelligent amd important than they are) ...
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Though Nora is economically advantaged in comparison to the play's other female characters, she nevertheless leads a difficult life because society dictates that Torvald be the marriage's dominant partner.This is also reflected through literary devices. While throughout the drama "Helmer", Torvald's last name, is used to indicate that Torvald speaks, for Nora always the first name is used for that purpose. This emphasizes that Torvald is the more respected and dominant partner. Torvald issues decrees (an official order from a ruler) and condescends (to behave towards sb as though you are more intelligent amd important than they are) to Nora. The Christmas tree, a festive object meant to serve a decorative purpose, symbolizes Nora's position in her household as a plaything who is pleasing to look at and adds charm to the home. There are several parallels drawn between Nora and the Christmas tree in the play. Just as Nora instructs the maid that the children cannot see the tree until it has been decorated, she tells Torvald that no one can see her in her dress until the evening of the dance. Also, at the beginning of the second act, after Nora's psychological condition has begun to erode, the stage directions indicate that the Christmas tree is correspondingly "dishevelled". In consequence, Nora must hide her loan from him because she knows Torvald could never accept the idea that his wife (or any other woman) had helped save his life. Furthermore, she must work in secret to pay off her loan because it is illegal for a woman to obtain a loan without her husband's permission. By motivating Nora's deception, the attitudes of Torvald-and society-leave Nora vulnerable to Krogstad's blackmail.
Nora's abandonment of her children can also be interpreted as an act of self- sacrifice. Despite Nora's great love for her children-manifested by her interaction with them and her great fear of corrupting them-she chooses to leave them. Nora truly believes that the nanny will be a better mother and that leaving her children is in their best interest.
Also Miller criticizes his culture, the US-American culture, in his play, Death of a Salesman. It is important to understand who may be blamed for Willy's death. One thing that may very well be responsible for his death is capitalism. An unwritten law of capitalism says that a human has only then a right to a piece of the cake, if he presents corresponding achievements. If this is not the case, he is worth nothing and has to see how he gets through life. Profit is the most supreme command and the one, who has the money, has the say.
The clearest representative of capitalism in the play is Howard Wagner. It is him, who fires Willy, because after decades in which he has worked more or less successfully for the firm he does not make good profits any more. The tape recorder, which distracts Willy so much during the "sacking scene", represents the material prosperity. Material prosperity that is too often gained at the costs of humanity.
In this context, it is also important to realize that Charley as entrepreneur has a capitalistic attitude: "The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell". In contrast to Howard, however, he is still pretty humane: "No man only needs a little salary".
But would Willy have acted differently in Howard's position? Very likely not. Willy has internalised the capitalist point of view. To have no success means for him to have lost one's right for existence. Hence, he seeks death, when he has to face the understanding of his own failure.
Hence, since capitalism is at least partially to blame for Willy's death, Death of a Salesman can be considered to be an anti-capitalistic drama. In my opinion, this is where the play criticizes the US-American culture. In all of Miller's early works, the heartlessness of an entirely profit oriented society has always played a major role. Miller also sympathized with the American left wing in a movement that was in the 30's and 40's much more powerful than it is today. In the 50's, during the time of the Cold War, people of the movement were even prosecutd by the government. Also Miller was victim of the prosecutions. 1956 he had to name the names of people he knew where involved in the movement in front of the committee of "Unamerican Activities". But he refused to name any names. In this context, it becomes clear that it is very likely that Miller is criticizing capitalism in Death of a Salesman. Thus, Miller's play is criticizing the capitalistic culture of the US society in his time.
To conclude, both, A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller contain criticism of the culture of the authors to a pretty great extent. However, while Henrik Ibsen rather criticizes an issue in his culture that has been changed completely, namely the role of women in the Norwegian culture, Miller criticizes an issue that has still not changed at all. As in all Western European cultures, the role of women has changed drastically since the 1880's where Ibsen wrote A Doll's House. Today, feministic movements have achieved emancipation in most parts of Western Europe. Miller criticizes the capitalistic US-American culture of his time. But the American culture is still as capitalistic today as it was in 1949 if not more.
