A Doll's House

Nora starts off the play essentially as Torvalds toy. She is obedient, she is cute, she rarely goes against his wishes, and she is nothing without her “owner”, Torvald. The reader, however, discovers early on that all is not what it seems to be. Nora is actually a very rebellious woman who enjoys going against Torvald’s wishes. There are scenarios where she does this out of the sheer enjoyment she gets. Nora loves macaroons.

Nora’s second rebellion was when she left Torvald and her children. The society she lived in demanded that she should submit to her husband and that she should take a place under him. Society considered women to be property of their husbands and that they should fulfil their every command. When Krogstad tries to blackmail Nora, and Torvald didn’t even support her she realized that there was a problem. Then finally when Torvald realizes that his social stature will not be harmed he displays his real feeling for Nora, both physically and emotionally. It is at this time when Nora decides that she doesn’t want to be controlled by Torvald anymore and she told him that she was going to leave him. By leaving Torvald she is not only shutting him out but also forgetting everything in her past. When Torvald tries to reconcile with her she explains that all her life she was treated like a child. And how she was "always merry, never happy", she never got to make any decisions on her own. Then she explains to him how she

As long as Nora stays with Torvald, she would never find the freedom that her heart desires. In the novel, the reader can understand that Nora's main conflict is her finding her own individuality and her husband blocks the ability of her to see the path to her goals. A huge amount of bravery, courage and strength would have been aqcuired to make such a decision and she had all three characteristics. Nora decides to leave her family with many justified reasons, which makes her choice understandable.

Torvald was ill and the only thing that could save him would be time spent away from the cold. Nora never tells Torvald about this loan because he doesn’t believe in borrowing. Toward the end of the play when Torvald finds out about the loan, his true colors come out and Nora finally gets to see what her husband is really like. This is what really causes Nora to leave her family and to try to find who she really is. This situation also causes Torvald to change a little as well. Near the end when Torvald finds out about the loan, he gets angry with Nora. Once he learns that she is going to leave him and the children, he begins to change his ways a little and starts treating her with a little more respect. He hopes this will make Nora stay, but she already has her mind set and finally has control for once in her life.

Nora was portrayed as an object, which Torvald dominated. Due to this she leaves to be independent and not be controlled any

Nora begins to take offence to the words of Torvald. He refers to her as his most “prized possession”, and continues to say that he often imagines her as though she is his mistress, and she is a temptress. Nora continues to get offended, telling Torvald she doesn’t want any of this. Nora begins

A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, portrays a young married woman, Nora, who plays a dramatic role of deception and self-indulgence. The author creates a good understanding of a woman’s role by assuming Nora is an average housewife who does not work; her only job is to maintain the house and raise the children like a stereotypical woman that cannot work or help society. In reality, she is not an average housewife in that she has a hired maid who deals with the house and children. Although Ibsen focuses on these “housewife” attributes, Nora’s character is ambitious, naive, and somewhat cunning. She hides a dark secret from her husband that not only includes borrowing money, but also forgery. Nora’s choices were irrational; she handled the

Leaving her husband meant that she chose to abandon her children without so much as a “goodbye.” She also never gave Torvald a second chance to redeem himself and to save their family, even though he begged her for one. Nora’s decision was also unjustifiable because went she left she didn’t have any resources to live on her own. First, when Nora decided to leave Torvald she abandoned her children.

Nora's second, and strongest, break from society's rules was shown by her decision to leave Torvald and her children.  Society demanded that she take a place under her husband.  This is shown in the way Torvald spoke down to her saying things like "worries that you couldn't possibly help me with" (Ibsen Page #), and "Nora, Nora, just like a woman" (Ibsen page #).  She is almost considered to be property of his: "Mayn't I look at my dearest treasure?  At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me - that's all my very own" (Ibsen page #)?  By walking out she takes a position equal to her husband and destroys the very foundation of society's expectations of a wife and mother.  Nora also breaks society's expectations of staying in a marriage since divorce was frowned upon during that era.  Her decision represented a break from all expectations placed upon a woman by society. Throughout the play Nora is looked down upon and treated as a possession by her husband. She is

Ibsen utilizes the boundaries of the “inexpensively furnished” (147) room to create Nora’s symbolic cage displaying how she is physically unable to leave the confines of the room and the role in which every 19th century wife must play. In Act I, Nora plays her façade of the frivolous “funny little spendthrift” (150) in an effort to seem as defenseless as the woodland creatures Torvald finds so endearing and subsequently patronizing. Nora’s quarantine is enhanced as she is called a “squirrel…skylark, and little bird” (150) by Torvald, infantilizing her character and consequently solidifying her inability to escape the confines of her assumed womanly role. Nora readily assumes the position of a subordinate and feeble woman to protect the illusion she perceives as a complete home in addition to avoid “[being] completely alone” (154). This absolute isolation in adherence to the role in which she has been nurtured to conform to is slowly deteriorating her character, which is displayed in the increased sporadic nature of “poor little Nora’s” (152) actions and her lack of ability to focus as the play progresses. Nora’s childlike behaviors steadily become more obvious as her fixated birdcage becomes increasingly suffocating, the discomfort with her current isolation grows and as her mask of perfection slowly disintegrates.

Evidently, Nora wants to obtain the right to be a part of something big. She saves Torvald from death by borrowing money in loan, however knowing her husband, she is afraid to reveal about her deed. Torvald is an obstacle for her to grow as an individual using all the talents. She asserts that he committed “a great sin” against her in discouraging her from growing up as a

Torvald was trying to cover up and say that it was not his fault that they had not had a serious talk because if they would have had a serious talk, it would just get Nora into problems that he has in his life. This really made Nora realize that their relationship was not real and that they did not truly care for each other and their problems like a normal couple would. Nora had also come to the conclusion that she has “lived by doing tricks” (III) for Torvald all of her the years that she has been with him and she was tired of it. This is showing that Nora is claiming that she felt like Torvalds doll wife and that she was always just there for fun for Torvald and not for being in a serious relationship with him. This made Nora realize that she was never happy when she lived with Torvald and that she wanted to leave and start a whole new life.

Both pieces as they progress demonstrate and develop woman as being neglected and left as just less than just an object. In act three Ibsen includes “I have been your doll wife just as at home I was papa’s doll-child”. This demonstrates Nora coming to her senses. She sees then in herself the means that Torvald is treating her Torvald is also numb to all the obligations as a husband to Nora. Nora was subjugated to this type of treatment for eight years. It makes it seem as if it’s natural and she was most definitely was not going to take no more. Swenson mentions “The pegs of their ears so familiar and dear the trusting fists to be chafed”. It feels as if these “pegs” are the “strings” that men use to control the woman as a “doll” if you will. That same type of control is that one uses with the “fist” is dominant like with a man as Swenson includes in the poem fists are to be used for control. As Nora realizes that once those “fists” are to be leg go she asserts and grasps that reality. Nora finally realizes “you have never understood me. I have been greatly wronged, Torvald first by papa and then by you”. She responds with this as if the veil was finally taken off of her eyes. The attitude that she takes is significantly different from where she started. She knows now what she is doing and is no longer waiting for someone else to take actions in the means of her authority.

Her determination is broken when she yields to Torvald’s command to see the children one more time. With this, Torvald seeks to let Nora’s emotions defeat her courage, and he is successful. This suggests Nora is indeed not as strong as she portrayed herself to be, and, perhaps, she is only Torvald’s doll. This ending greatly weakens the play by making Nora seem like a tragic hero. Her decision that she must stay with her demanding and insensitive husband because of the children, could be considered a misjudgment.

Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.