In Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House” and James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” the primary interest lies in the representation of masculinity. Ibsen’s representation of masculinity is reflected through such characters as Krogstad, Dr. Rank and Helmer Torvald. In Thurber’s short story, his main figure is Walter Mitty. To adequately investigate the representations of masculinity in Ibsen’s “A Doll House,” this essay will first examine Ibsen’s male characters. Krogstad is essentially a character who has suffered under the clutches of society and who is represented as a man who strives for relief from how society has viewed him—a fraud. Dr. Rank is a male representation of a shy man who has fallen deeply in love with Nora (the protagonist in Ibsen’s story), yet suffers from the physical illness of a spinal injury passed on to him by his father. However, uniquely, Helmer Torvald does not suffer from anything except a delusional belief system in class distinguishing. Torvald believes in a hierarchical feudal-like system where he thinks he can decide who should follow his lead and who should not. Torvald is a representation of a type of masculinity whose primary importance lies in the value of currency and his responsibilities outside the family domain. As for Thurber’s Mitty, Walter is a representation of a man whose position is non- authoritative. Always taking orders from his wife, Mitty succumbs to daydreams to express the masculine roles he would like to acquire. Aside from the plot, the differences in terms of a narrative construct lie in the facts that Ibsen constructs a play whereas Thurber made a short story. Although they may be different in that respect, the narratives are quite similar in their representations of masculinity in that men engage in conquering their foes. This essay will analyze how Ibsen and Thurber explore masculinity as levels of potential male desirable roles, which the men in both stories wish to acquire.

 

 

A Doll House

In order to effectively analyze the idea of conquering their foes, this essay will examine characters separately as different representations of a type of masculinity. Even though the situations may be different, the desire to conquer is very poignant in both stories. Oddly enough, the title of Thurber’s story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” engages the reader in assuming that it is a professional masculine figure who Thurber will be discussing about. Also the words “Secret Life” play an important role when describing how the masculine figure dominates the scene. In Mitty’s daydreams, the first character he enacts is precariously an Old Man on board a ship which is bombarded by ocean waves, which Mitty would “‘get us through’” (Thurber 348) and that “‘[Mitty] ain’t afraid of Hell!’” (Thurber 348). In Mitty’s second daydream, he enacts the role of a surgeon who practically saves the life of a patient. His quick orders relieve the stress of the situation. Essentially, Mitty gives the orders unlike the situation in reality where he follows orders. Interestingly, Thurber demonstrates an interesting situation where Mitty conquers a medical meltdown, “‘The new anesthetizer is giving way!’ shouted an interne. ‘There is no one in the East who knows how to fix it!’ ‘Quiet, man!’ said Mitty, in a low, cool voice” (Thurber 349). When he imagined he was the captain, he practically fought against the waves. Thurber depicts a man who daydreams about having to save the day and conquering his foes. Much of his foes are the seas, medically-associated problems, and jury convictions. Thurber, using Mitty as his framework for representing masculinity, depicts the nature of men as constantly working to find a way to defeat foes and conquering challenges.

 

 

Walter Mitty

Similarly, in Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House,” this idea of conquering is a primordial representation of masculinity. This prehistoric conquering representation is depicted through historical references when the men in Ibsen’s time conquered the females. Every male character in Ibsen’s play represents a type of masculinity. For instance, Krogstad is a type of masculinity that represents a strong-willed man who would do anything to get what he wants; in this case, what he does is use his excessive control to conquer Nora by blackmailing her unless she found him a job at Torvald’s bank. Krogstad displays his cunning when Nora says, “But for heaven’s sake, Mr. Krogstad, it’s simply not in my power to help you” (Ibsen 2200) to which Krogstad replies, “That’s because you haven’t the will to—but I have the means to make you” (Ibsen 2200). Rank, on the other hand, represents a weaker version of a type of masculinity. His weakness lies indirectly in his constant meanderings. For instance, he comes over to Nora’s house everyday like he practically lived there and becomes very fond of Nora, but in the end he wishes to take his life because he does not have anything left. For example, this is what Dr. Rank tells Nora when having engaged her in one conversation:

 

 

NORA: [Putting both hands on his shoulders.] Dear, dear Dr. Rank, you’ll never die for Torvald and me.

RANK: Oh, that loss you’ll easily get over. Those who go away are

soon forgotten.

NORA: [Looks fearfully at him.] You believe that? RANK: One makes new connections, and then—

NORA: Who makes new connections?

RANK: Both you and Torvald will when I’m gone. I’d say you’re well under way already. What was that Mrs. Linde doing here last evening? (Ibsen 2212).

Here Ibsen creates a masculine figure that has grown old, weak and insecure. Due to his ailment of the spinal cord, Dr. Rank becomes a weak representation of masculinity in that he does not conquer his ailment but succumbs to it. It becomes difficult for Dr. Rank to move on with his life beyond Nora and Torvald. Torvald, having been a good friend of Krogstad since their youth, now feels that he can easily conquer his foes and challenges with his new position as the Bank chief. Moreover, because Torvald has so much power, he decides who gets to be an employee at his bank. Essentially, in every occurrence, he conquers his wife in that he tells says to her “Now, now, the little lark’s wings mustn’t droop. Come on, don’t be a sulky squirrel” (Ibsen 2187). However, Ibsen constructs Torvald’s character as one who is ill-informed regarding the grand scheme of events in that too much power will result in the lack of concern for those in a lesser position. Evidently, when Torvald discovers that his position could potentially be threatened, he also reinforces his domineering behaviour towards his wife; therefore affecting his lack of judgment—he does not know who to conquer and who to place among his allies. His ill-informed arrogance is also a representation of masculinity. Essentially, each of the male characters in Ibsen’s play conquers their foes and stand up to their challenges similar to Thurber’s Walter Mitty who, in his daydreams, also conquers his challenges.

Beyond the representations of masculinity in Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House,” another important distinction about masculinity in both stories lies in how they represent masculinity. Thurber’s story is fundamentally about the reversal of male-female relationships. Moreover, Thurber toys with the idea of reality and imagination. Mitty’s wife becomes the authoritative individual of the story in that she believes Mitty cannot take care of himself. Consequently, in his daydreams, Mitty becomes the authoritative figure and restores the ideals of the past—masculine figure remaining dominant. However, Thurber continuously moves from the real world to the imaginative world, which at the end of the story is depicted as Mitty having realized an epiphany but becomes indiscernible from his constant daydreaming. Also, Mrs. Mitty constantly orders Walter to do something and stop daydreaming. Mitty tells her, “’Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?’” (Thurber 351) to which his wife responds, “’I’m going to take your temperature when I get you home’” (Thurber 351). Essentially, Walter Mitty becomes a masculine figure of old age and is increasingly watched over by his wife. Having lost his masculinity, Mitty’s lack of bravery and courage are made up for when he daydreams. In this respect, Mitty gains his masculinity in an alternate reality which Thurber deconstructs. This deconstruction is uniquely interesting in that Thurber published this story in 1942. Historically, 1942 depicted a time when confusions about male-female roles were effectively embedded in the cultural makeup of society. Through Mitty’s fantasies and daydreams, he becomes potential masculine figures which depict great manliness: a sea captain, surgeon, witness and war captain. Unlike Thurber’s representation of masculinity and his interplay of reality and fantasy, Ibsen takes a dynamic look into the differences between the men of his play. In “A Doll House,” Henrik Ibsen also analyses the levels of potentially desirable roles Krogstad, Dr. Rank, and Torvald wish to achieve. Krogstad wishes to get his life back in order, but to do that he must blackmail Nora. Though reality cannot completely be brought back as it had been long before, Krogstad too fantasizes that he will have his life back and will have enough money to help his children. Similarly, Dr. Rank fantasizes that Nora will become fond of him, yet knows that he cannot possibly get in between Torvald and Nora. Torvald too lives in a fantasy in which he believes he will rise from his status and become first class from his middle class income as a banker. However, although these characters desire a role clearly resembling a fantasy like Mitty, Krogstad does not get the job at the bank, Dr. Rank wants to kill himself, and Nora leaves Torvald. The threshold of reality is interestingly poignant when Torvald realizes that he has lost what really meant something to him. Ibsen describes Torvald’s reappearance into reality

“Helmer: [Sinks down on a chair by the door, face buried in his hands.] Nora! Nora! [Looking about and rising.] Empty. She’s gone.

[A sudden hope leaps in him.] The greatest miracle—?” (Ibsen 2233).

Essentially, both Ibsen and Thurber create dynamic characters whose fantasies spin into reality, from the masculine roles they play in reality as opposed to the masculine roles they wish they had in fantasy (becoming an alternate reality). In Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House” and James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” the primary concern between both stories regards their representation of masculinity. In “A Doll House,” Ibsen represents different types of masculinities. Ibsen utilizes Krogstad, Dr. Rank, and Torvald uniquely by representing them as strong-willed, weak, and over-indulged respectively. Moreover, Ibsen represents each character as having a desire to be a different masculine figure. Krogstad wishing he could bring his life back together, Dr. Rank wishing he would be remembered and loved, and Torvald desiring wealth and fortune with a higher upper class position. Although these are mere fantasies existing in an alternate reality, these characters realize too late that they cannot achieve these goals. Similarly, Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” explores masculinity by going through phases of reality and fantasy, of the real and the imagination. Moreover, unlike Ibsen’s story, Thurber flips the male role of one who gives orders to one that receives orders. Interestingly, Thurber has created a masculine figure that moves from reality to an alternate reality (i.e fantasy) through repetitious daydreaming sequences. Essentially, these roles become a desire which Mitty wishes he could play in reality. In conclusion, Thurber creates a representation of masculinity that rehearses past adventures through a society that has become extremely serious.