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10th Unit 5 - Informational Writing on Human Rights Issues: Divorce

Companion libguide to help students choose a topic related to the Unit 5 tasks and our anchor text (Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House").

Topic Overview

MAIN IDEAS

 

  • Divorce is the legal termination of a marriage contract. As with marriage, practices and laws related to divorce vary significantly between and among cultures.
  • Divorce proceedings often involve financial settlements that outline the division of wealth and debt as well as custodial arrangements for children.
  • As of 2021, divorce was legal in every jurisdiction in the world except Vatican City, which is governed by the Roman Catholic Church, and the Catholic-majority nation of the Philippines.
  • In most of the world, divorce has historically been controlled by men. The rise of women's rights movements in the twentieth century led to the liberalization of divorce law in many places.
  • Since the 1960s, divorce rates have spiked in industrialized higher-income countries as marriage rates have declined, leading some religious and cultural leaders to express concern over the impact of divorce on the nuclear family.

Connection to ADH

Although divorce is much more common today, during the time of A Doll's House divorce was seen as being taboo and against cultural norms. To make matters worse, women lacked the upward social mobility that made being single a viable choice, causing many women to marry for security instead of happiness. Women were more likely to stay in an unhappy or abusive marriage for fear of being destitute or looked down upon. Nora and Torvald's marriage is all appearance and no substance, leading one to wonder what Nora's options may have been if divorce had been more common or an acceptable option.

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