This post will be a response to another blog post called “Background of A Doll’s House“, by Shannon Cron.
What do you believe to be the three most important facts about 19th century Norway?
1. The first fact that really stood out to me was that there was an expectation that families in the middle were required to have a patriarchal figure that made sure that there were no debts. As mentioned in the blog post, “expectations of the upper-middle-class included financial success without any debt, good morals (or at least making it appear that’s the case), and a stable, patriarchal family.” This is quite surprising considering that the middle class had only just started to form. It is interesting that they had already built a stable reputation for themselves. However, it is clear that it was viewed to be a success only on the man’s part and that the women were there to simply serve the men.
2. The second fact that I picked up was that Norway’s middle class only started developing around halfway through the 19th century, and lasted continued to expand rapidly for approximately 30 years. Shannon Cron attributes this economic boom to, “Norway’s success in foreign trade, mining and growth in agricultural productivity. [They also] industrialized, therefore bringing more money into the country as well as creating more jobs and opportunities.”
3. The last fact that struck me as interesting was that Henrik Ibsen wrote the setting and world of the play to match what was happening in Norway at the time. He was aware that his ideas regarding women being independent would be controversial at the time, yet wrote his play anyway. His intentions and reasoning behind the play are extremely clear in that he wants to make a difference.
Why do you think the concept of respectability became more important as the middle class expanded?
As mentioned by Cron in her own blog post, “people could work their way up, and enter into the upper-middle class through hard work and education”. People increasingly found themselves in the middle class as a result of their own efforts and not because their parents were rich. Citizens wanted to be acknowledged for their hard work and became frequently obsessed with managing their money.
Works Cited :
Cron, Shannon. “Background of “A Doll’s House” | Theater 271.” St. Olaf Pages, pages.stolaf.edu/th271-spring2014/background-of-a-dolls-house/.
