[寫作指導] 比較文學Comparative Literature｜口說呈現 Oral Presentation｜文學課 IB Literature｜玩偶之家A Doll's House｜標誌藝術 Sign Art｜學生作品 Writing Clinic
Today, I’m going to discuss the theme “Culture, identity, and community”. The global issue is how women suffer in a world with gender inequality. I will analyze two bodies of work with the theme. The first is “A Doll’s House,” a play by Henrik Ibsen in the 19th century that portrays a housewife, Nora, who follows the rule of gender inequality. She suffers from the fact that her husband calls her a little animal, treats her like a pet, and doesn’t listen to any of her words. Even if she is a mother who loves her kids, however, she later disagrees with the situation, divorces her husband, and goes on searching for a new identity for herself. Understanding gender inequality is important for us. The current society has allowed gender inequality to women, who could also be a wife, a mother, a sister, or a daughter. The people we love in our family actually suffer in this society. Without the awareness of gender equality, we could be the one who hurt them just like how Nora’s husband deprives her autonomy and sees her as a subordinate.
The second is the sign art “Balance the Power” by Ilona Granet in the 21st century. It depicts a similar global issue of “A Doll’s House”. However, it also conveys the fact that men have more power than women in the working place. Women suffer because men don’t need to try as hard as women to get the same position. It's the 21st century, but still, many women are suffering from gender inequality and live under a power imbalance. This shows that people are not improving from before and keep continuing the tragedy. Society rewards men more and doesn’t do women fair just because of their gender identity. It’s important for us to recognize the faults for centuries and make changes to make our world better. “A Doll’s House” explores how social expectations restrict women’s freedom of expression, while “Balance the Power”’ illustrates that systemic gender inequality causes a polarized power situation between men and women regardless of skill and social contributions.
BODY 1:
First, I’m going to talk about “A Doll’s House” and the extract. The extract I choose is the part where Nora realizes gender inequality in her life in act 3. Life with her husband restricts Nora’s freedom of expression. She confronts her husband and tells the truth about how gender inequality makes her suffer. Nora fakes being a “doll-wife” on line 24 in the extract. This is a symbol that shows Nora as a speechless and brainless figure. She always obeys the action that Helmer will like and never speaks up for herself. This symbol is effective for us to understand her condition. She is treated as a doll who is expected to abandon her freedom of speech. It is important because it shows how a woman lives in gender inequality and needs to suffer the whole time to just obey and butter up and please a man.
Again, Nora shouts out the desire to be independent. She doesn’t rely on Helmer, the man who always poses gender inequality to her. In line 14 of the extract, Nora says that Helmer “arranges everything according to [his] own taste, and so [Nora] got the same tastes as [Helmer’s]”. Nora chooses to brainwash herself into a follower of Helmer. In the previous text, he actually does what Nora accuses. In line 11 of Act 1, he called Nora “my little skylark” and “my little squirrel” and didn't listen to her word. The metaphor is that Helmer did not see Nora as human and he just sees her as an object. In order to live as a woman in a world controlled by men, Nora has to pretend herself as a powerless animal who can’t live without men. This tells the truth that a men has more power than women. They even deprive women’s voices and make them suffer. Words of Nora are important. They prove that gender inequality leads to a society of powerful men and powerless women. Women have to be submissive to men to survive, and men reinforce gender inequality more. This vicious cycle goes on and will never stop.
At last, she’d like to try to live a new life. She holds hope for the new identity and a world of gender equality by saying “I must try and educate myself—[Helmer is] not the man to help me in that” on line 37 of the extract. After suffering so much, Nora makes a risky but meaningful decision against gender inequality. This is not surprising because her secret desire to be herself was foreshadowed in Act One. In the stage direction, she ate some macaroons, the sweets Helmer didn’t really want her to have. However, she still made up her mind to enjoy it. Nora finally takes action to enjoy her life and divorces Helmer. The ending is so important because she sends some positive messages to herself and other painful women: Women are able to live a life with their true selves. Women should remind themselves that she is their own teacher to create their own rules in life. This action shows how women awaken from the life controlled by men without freedom of expression. Finally, she says no to the system that rewards men only, re-educate herself to change her life, and calls for actions for gender equality.
TRANSITIONAL:
In A Doll’s House, Nora suffers from gender inequality but finally gives us a hopeful message that gender equality will come. Similarly, the theme of gender inequality is in sign art across in the 21th century. It shows that this global issue has not been resolved. It has been ongoing for centuries and different art forms prove gender inequality is still haunting and hurting women.
BODY 2:
Next, I’m going to talk about Ilona Granet's sign “Balance the Power”. This sign suggests how gender inequality causes the power imbalance between men and women. In the middle of the sign, a woman loses her balance and almost falls down. Around the woman, there is a table with a microphone, a lot of documents, a book, and a cup with spilled water. While on the right side of the sign, a man lies on the ground and reads a book, while using the ball as a pillow. There is also a cup of cocktail and a candle. These entertainment goods show that men have time to relax, have fun, and don’t need to work hard like women to be recognized. However, the objects around the women and the artwork present a brutal society. It constantly rewards men and makes women suffer mainly based on gender other than their professional performance. It is important because even if women can work outside of the home, unlike how Nora lived her life in the past, society still judges women based on their gender.
In addition, in Ilona Granet’s sign, the artist puts the caption “Balance the Power” in bold and capitalized letters in the middle of the sign. It looks like a slogan on the poster to warn everyone of a dangerous truth and reality. The literary technique in sign art is irony. It has the meaning that the power in the workplace has to be gender equal and balanced. It is ironic because writing the caption in bold has a meaning of warning and the artist warns everyone who glances at her art: a dangerous thing is happening in our reality and nobody notices. It is the gender inequality in the workplace right now. It is important because this technique immediately triggers people’s emotions and sends the message right away. It changes the way people communicate because it literally attacks you with a short slogan but not a long play like A Doll’s House to take hours to feel something. Everyone cannot escape from the intention of the artist and must rethink gender issues.
What’s more, the artist puts the caption diagonally like a see-saw that shows that men weigh more than women. It is a symbol that the working place in the 21st century has a war on power. Men are powerful and weigh more while women are powerless and weigh less. It also suggests that society values men and dismiss women in specific positions just because he is a man instead of any other factors in the workplace, such as working ethic, working performance, and ambition. The symbol is important because it brings up two sides at the same time. When A Doll’s House uses tons of symbols of women, the art piece uses a sea-saw-like caption to attract both genders’ attention because gender equality takes men and women to work on, not just women’s responsibility to change the problematic society.
CONCLUSION:
From the analysis I have offered, it is proved that women suffer in a world with gender inequality. Both of the works portray how women make an effort to leave the society with gender inequality. While “A Doll’s House” portrays how social expectations limit women’s freedom of expression, “Balance the Power” demonstrates how systematic gender inequality still hurts women after centuries. It steals work opportunities from them and favors men for no reason. The global issue is important because the pain women feel is in a lot of places over time. However, the pain is unseen and unsolved. Gender inequality makes women hate their roles and lose trust in people. Gender inequality underestimates women’s talent to contribute. The suffering of women becomes the other trust issue problem and even the economic loss of society. Gender inequality is not only about women. It also damages the world when we are blind about gender inequality and turn away from this important issue.
The second is the sign art “Balance the Power” by Ilona Granet in the 21st century. It depicts a similar global issue of “A Doll’s House”. However, it also conveys the fact that men have more power than women in the working place. Women suffer because men don’t need to try as hard as women to get the same position. It's the 21st century, but still, many women are suffering from gender inequality and live under a power imbalance. This shows that people are not improving from before and keep continuing the tragedy. Society rewards men more and doesn’t do women fair just because of their gender identity. It’s important for us to recognize the faults for centuries and make changes to make our world better. “A Doll’s House” explores how social expectations restrict women’s freedom of expression, while “Balance the Power”’ illustrates that systemic gender inequality causes a polarized power situation between men and women regardless of skill and social contributions.
BODY 1:
First, I’m going to talk about “A Doll’s House” and the extract. The extract I choose is the part where Nora realizes gender inequality in her life in act 3. Life with her husband restricts Nora’s freedom of expression. She confronts her husband and tells the truth about how gender inequality makes her suffer. Nora fakes being a “doll-wife” on line 24 in the extract. This is a symbol that shows Nora as a speechless and brainless figure. She always obeys the action that Helmer will like and never speaks up for herself. This symbol is effective for us to understand her condition. She is treated as a doll who is expected to abandon her freedom of speech. It is important because it shows how a woman lives in gender inequality and needs to suffer the whole time to just obey and butter up and please a man.
Again, Nora shouts out the desire to be independent. She doesn’t rely on Helmer, the man who always poses gender inequality to her. In line 14 of the extract, Nora says that Helmer “arranges everything according to [his] own taste, and so [Nora] got the same tastes as [Helmer’s]”. Nora chooses to brainwash herself into a follower of Helmer. In the previous text, he actually does what Nora accuses. In line 11 of Act 1, he called Nora “my little skylark” and “my little squirrel” and didn't listen to her word. The metaphor is that Helmer did not see Nora as human and he just sees her as an object. In order to live as a woman in a world controlled by men, Nora has to pretend herself as a powerless animal who can’t live without men. This tells the truth that a men has more power than women. They even deprive women’s voices and make them suffer. Words of Nora are important. They prove that gender inequality leads to a society of powerful men and powerless women. Women have to be submissive to men to survive, and men reinforce gender inequality more. This vicious cycle goes on and will never stop.
At last, she’d like to try to live a new life. She holds hope for the new identity and a world of gender equality by saying “I must try and educate myself—[Helmer is] not the man to help me in that” on line 37 of the extract. After suffering so much, Nora makes a risky but meaningful decision against gender inequality. This is not surprising because her secret desire to be herself was foreshadowed in Act One. In the stage direction, she ate some macaroons, the sweets Helmer didn’t really want her to have. However, she still made up her mind to enjoy it. Nora finally takes action to enjoy her life and divorces Helmer. The ending is so important because she sends some positive messages to herself and other painful women: Women are able to live a life with their true selves. Women should remind themselves that she is their own teacher to create their own rules in life. This action shows how women awaken from the life controlled by men without freedom of expression. Finally, she says no to the system that rewards men only, re-educate herself to change her life, and calls for actions for gender equality.
TRANSITIONAL:
In A Doll’s House, Nora suffers from gender inequality but finally gives us a hopeful message that gender equality will come. Similarly, the theme of gender inequality is in sign art across in the 21th century. It shows that this global issue has not been resolved. It has been ongoing for centuries and different art forms prove gender inequality is still haunting and hurting women.
BODY 2:
Next, I’m going to talk about Ilona Granet's sign “Balance the Power”. This sign suggests how gender inequality causes the power imbalance between men and women. In the middle of the sign, a woman loses her balance and almost falls down. Around the woman, there is a table with a microphone, a lot of documents, a book, and a cup with spilled water. While on the right side of the sign, a man lies on the ground and reads a book, while using the ball as a pillow. There is also a cup of cocktail and a candle. These entertainment goods show that men have time to relax, have fun, and don’t need to work hard like women to be recognized. However, the objects around the women and the artwork present a brutal society. It constantly rewards men and makes women suffer mainly based on gender other than their professional performance. It is important because even if women can work outside of the home, unlike how Nora lived her life in the past, society still judges women based on their gender.
In addition, in Ilona Granet’s sign, the artist puts the caption “Balance the Power” in bold and capitalized letters in the middle of the sign. It looks like a slogan on the poster to warn everyone of a dangerous truth and reality. The literary technique in sign art is irony. It has the meaning that the power in the workplace has to be gender equal and balanced. It is ironic because writing the caption in bold has a meaning of warning and the artist warns everyone who glances at her art: a dangerous thing is happening in our reality and nobody notices. It is the gender inequality in the workplace right now. It is important because this technique immediately triggers people’s emotions and sends the message right away. It changes the way people communicate because it literally attacks you with a short slogan but not a long play like A Doll’s House to take hours to feel something. Everyone cannot escape from the intention of the artist and must rethink gender issues.
What’s more, the artist puts the caption diagonally like a see-saw that shows that men weigh more than women. It is a symbol that the working place in the 21st century has a war on power. Men are powerful and weigh more while women are powerless and weigh less. It also suggests that society values men and dismiss women in specific positions just because he is a man instead of any other factors in the workplace, such as working ethic, working performance, and ambition. The symbol is important because it brings up two sides at the same time. When A Doll’s House uses tons of symbols of women, the art piece uses a sea-saw-like caption to attract both genders’ attention because gender equality takes men and women to work on, not just women’s responsibility to change the problematic society.
CONCLUSION:
From the analysis I have offered, it is proved that women suffer in a world with gender inequality. Both of the works portray how women make an effort to leave the society with gender inequality. While “A Doll’s House” portrays how social expectations limit women’s freedom of expression, “Balance the Power” demonstrates how systematic gender inequality still hurts women after centuries. It steals work opportunities from them and favors men for no reason. The global issue is important because the pain women feel is in a lot of places over time. However, the pain is unseen and unsolved. Gender inequality makes women hate their roles and lose trust in people. Gender inequality underestimates women’s talent to contribute. The suffering of women becomes the other trust issue problem and even the economic loss of society. Gender inequality is not only about women. It also damages the world when we are blind about gender inequality and turn away from this important issue.
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