A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

Ibsen 's play A Doll 's House centers on a stereotypical and comfortable family in the nineteenth century which, outwardly, has the appearance of respectability to which any audience can relate. There are many indicators that reveal that this family upholds a false image, such as the symbolic title “A Doll 's House". Nora is introduced as a "little Spendthrift" (p 6), which foreshadows future tension in her relationship. Torvald believes she is spending money frivolously, but she has actually secretly borrowed money to save his life, and is using the money he gives her to pay back her debt.

A Doll 's House by Henrik Ibsen, is a play that has been written to withstand all time. In this play Ibsen highlights the importance of women’s rights. During the time period of the play these rights were neglected. Ibsen depicts the role of the woman was to stay at home, raise the children and attend to her husband during the 19th century. Nora is the woman in A Doll House who plays is portrayed as a victim. Michael Meyers said of Henrik Ibsen 's plays: "The common denominator in many of Ibsen 's dramas is his interest in individuals struggling for and authentic identity in the face of social conventions. This conflict often results in his characters ' being divided between a sense of duty to themselves and their responsibility to others." All of the aspects of this quote can be applied to the play A Doll House, in Nora Helmer 's character, who throughout much of the play is oppressed, presents an inauthentic identity to the audience and throughout the play attempts to discovery her authentic identity.

In the beginning, Nora and Torvald's relationship appeared to be a good marriage according to the principles of the time. However, this marriage was based on fairly different and unequal roles. Torvald is a banker and he holds the power of the house as a man. He is very much concerned about his status and value in the society. Nora is a housewife who is supposed to take care of her husband and children. Torvald understands that Nora needs his guidance with every decision she makes and he treats

Mr. Krogstad, a former employee of Torvald is the leading antagonist in A Doll House. He clearly has an agenda and a lust for power. Krogstad’s lust for power gives the reader a sense of subtle rage because Krogstad only wants what’s best for him and his family but he exploits Nora for his own gain. Krogstad advances the plot by controlling Nora through a loan, while illuminating both main characters, and reinforcing the themes of confusion and lost love.

Nora plays the part of a slave in her subservience to her husband, for she is supposed to

Nora was just the toy in their marriage. Nora was just like the Christmas tree, an ornament that charmed others. She must always be on watch with her behavior, as it could ruin Torvald’s image. When Torvald becomes sick, Nora paid it. However it was just a loan and now she must pay the money back. Nora must keep it a secret though because if Torvald finds out about it, he would be infuriated. It would ruin their marriage and drastically destroy it. Torvald cannot accept the fact that his wife, a woman, helped him. Furthermore, it is illegal for a wife to obtain a loan without the consent of her husband. This shows the power of Torvald over Nora or the power of men over women. In the end their marriage or bond was broken. . However, it was ironic in the end as the lies, that Nora created, did destroy their marriage but not in the way we would expect. Torvald did think about ending it but when he saw that the signature that Nora forged was handed back to them, Torvald calmed down. “His behavior makes Nora realize that, in their eight years of marriage, he has never looked on her as a human being but only as a doll, and she leaves him in order to learn to become a person in her own right” (Doll’s House). Nora finally severed all ties with him.

The play also does suggest that women should leave their controlling husbands or lovers in order to gain the independence they are seeking. Nora’s husband Torvald plays the dominant role in their relationship. Torvald often would degrade Nora by calling her “silly girl” referring to her not being able to make decisions on her own, so he thought. Nora plays the role of a loving mother and respectful wife, whom is all about her family. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That’s how I’ve survived.

A Doll House showcases the harsh reality and truth of someone being something that they are not, and it shows the journey that Nora Helmer has to take to realize what she wants in life to find the real her. Throughout the play A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen, we learn about the main character and her qualities. Nora Helmer is the wife of Torvald Helmer, who became very unhealthy. By trying to help her husband’s health, Nora begins going into debt and commits a criminal offense, forgery; she does all this for the man that she loves. Nora has many challenges and difficulties to deal with during the play. Nora goes from being a childish and scatter minded woman to one that knows what she wants in life and shows us that she has more wisdom than we had first thought.

My understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, was deepened through the interactive oral. We discussed about the cultural values of the time with its emphasis on the position of women, and the play’s influence on feminism in Norway. In fact, A Doll’s House is more relevant than before, since a paradigm shift occurred in the modern society that women are no longer dependent upon men.

A commonality in society is the portrayal of women as the ones who always “take the fall” for others. It is women who, on most occasions, give themselves up for the benefit of others, which negatively impacts their welfare. In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the characters of Nora Helmer, Mrs. Linde and Anne-Marie each exemplify the sacrificial qualities often implemented by women. They show that the negative effects of womanhood occur regardless of age, economic status, or social class.

Nora Helmer from the play called, "A Doll 's House" by Henrik Ibsen is the main character of the play. By Nora committing a crime, forgery, to save her husband 's life, Torvald, she realizes that she has never been herself. At the beginning of the play, Nora seems happy with her life, her marriage, and her family. It seems that everything is going well because now they have some extra money to support their needs and live a better life without limitations, but there is always something wrong when there is too much happiness. Nora keeps a huge secret from Torvald, but she does this because she doesn 't want to end her family 's happiness and stability, and she also doesn 't want to be seems as she is against society 's expectations. Torvald always tells her that they should never take a loan even if they need it because borrowing money from the bank takes people 's liberty. Nora disobeys and she takes a loan, but she doesn’t do it to do the opposite of what Torvald says, she does it because she wants to save Torvald 's life. She even lies to him telling him that all the money comes from her father 's, but he dies before that money is available to her, and who knows this is Krogstad, who gives her the money.

Another way Torvald exercises his power over Nora, is by constantly scolding and lecturing her. Torvald treats Nora in such a way that it seems he truly believes her to be an incompetent fool, perhaps even a child, who cannot do anything for herself. It was very

In the play, “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, and the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the two protagonists named Nora Helmer and Edna Pontillier depict feminist ideals during the Victorian era in their struggle for independence, both sexually and emotionally. Nora and Edna are feminists in the late 1800s, trapped in an era and a society dictated by men. Both works parallel together and are significant because they show how Edna and Nora awaken, as their roles and self-realization progress in their respective families. Edna and Nora are emblematic of many women of this era whose roles also began to change as they became activists for women’s rights. Ibsen and Chopin utilize setting, characterization, and plot to depict realism in these works making a social statement.

Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll 's House is a work of literature genius. This three-act play involves many literary technics that are undermined by the average reader such as the fact that the plot shows the main characters Torvald and his wife Nora live the "perfect life." An ironic paradox based around the fact that Nora and Torvald’s relationship is the complete opposite of perfect. Also, bringing upon a conflict as well, appearance versus reality. These little hidden meanings within stories are what are undermined such as foils, characters that are used to develop a character further. Such as Torvald Helmer for Nils Krogstad and Nora Helmer also for Nils Krogstad. These foils help in showing the theme, the sacrificial roles of women.

Henrik Ibsen composed the drama A Doll’s House in 1879. The play was an everyday tragedy that a women put upon herself with impulsive actions, resulting in the calamity that it did. It was written in prose, an older type of writing used by Shakespeare, giving it a specific feeling of the past and transporting you back to the time period of the late 1800s. Many things are shown in this play such as women and human rights, consequences, and hasty actions, but the author made realism an important thing in his writing.