Gender stereotypes in A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen and Trifles by Susan GlaspellIn the plays A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, male characters propagate stereotypes and make assumptions regarding female characters. These assumptions concern how male characters view female characters, on a purely stereotypical and gendered level. The stereotypes and assumptions of A Doll's House manifest themselves in the way Torvald Helmer treats his wife, Nora, and the way Nora acts to please her husband. These include the belief that women are inferior people, childish in their actions, and in need of being controlled. Nora knows that as long as she performs as expected, she will get what she wants from Torvald. The stereotypes and assumptions made in Trifles are that women only care about insignificant things, that they are faithful to the female gender, and that women are subservient to their spouses. Torvald Helmer is the stereotypical nineteenth-century husband, as well as a controlling and condescending patriarch. By referring to his wife with diminutive names, Torvald propagates the "women are inferior to men" stereotype and keeps his wife in a submissive position. In line 11 of Act I, we find Torvald's first reference to birds to Nora with "Is that my little lark chirping out there?" This reference is the first of many in which Torvald refers to Nora as a lark. Often this reference is preceded by diminutive terms such as "little" and "sweet, little." Torvald also refers to Nora as a squirrel, a spendthrift, a songbird, and a goose, these terms also preceded by a diminutive. The meaning of......middle of the card......literature. 5th edition. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1999. 1564-1612.Ibsen, Henrik. A doll's house. Lives through literature: a thematic anthology. Ed. Helane Levine Keating et al. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995. 782-838. Longford, Elizabeth. Eminent Victorian women. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1981.McFarlane, James, compiler. Henrik Ibsen: a critical anthology. 1970.Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart. "The angel over the right shoulder." Solomon 1:156-64. Sigourney, Lydia. "The Intemperate." Solomon 1:70-85.Solomon, Barbara H., ed. Rediscovered: American Women's Stories, 1832-1916. New York: Penguin Group, 1994. Templeton, Joan. “Is A Doll's House a Feminist Text?” (1989). Rpt. To Meyer. 1635-36.Templeton, Joan. “The Dollhouse Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen.” PMLA (January 1989): 28-40.