Offensive Women and Defensive Men in Ibsen’s Plays

V. Meenakshi and Dr. M. Premavathy (2015) in the article ‘Offensive Women and Defensive Men in Ibsen’s Plays’ attempt to highlight Ibsen’s protesting female characters who renounce their meek and submissive nature to revolt against the controlling and dominating male characters, be it brother, father or husband. This rebel of women against men makes them the real victims because they are eventually unable to deal with the circumstances in the conventional world.

Kamaluddin Nilu (2008) in the article ‘A Doll’s House in Asia: Juxtaposition of Tradition and Modernity’ studies the impact of the travelling of the play ‘A Doll’s House’ from Europe to Asia, on the creation of realistic works by Asian authors. Since the play reflects conflict between traditional constraints and modern ideas of women-independence in a patriarchal society, it drew attention worldwide. This controversial story of struggle against man dominance became so popular that many Asian authors tried their hands in replicating the story in their languages. The article also studies the changes that were made in the original play according to time, place and motifs. As per the targeted culture, new expressions were created in the play. Rabindranath Tagore’s short story ‘Payala Number’ (1918) which is modeled on the play is a satire on the egoism and smugness of Indian husband. The wife in the story is neglected and undermined. Eventually vexed with the long-lasting subjugation and negligence, she deserts her husband and leaves her home. Nora is clearly reflected in the female protagonist Anila of Payala Number. In 1958, Sombhu Mitra presented the Bengali adaptation of ‘A Doll’s House’ in form of the play ‘Putul Khela’ in which he made careful choices of Ibsen’s swear words to fit the Bengali culture and tradition. These adaptations realistically portray the ideology, beliefs and trends predominant in the contemporary Indian society and reveal the plight

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