A Doll's House Analytical Essay

In Henrik Ibsen's, A Doll's House, the character of Nora Helmer goes through the dramatic transformation of a kind and loving housewife, to a desperate and bewildered woman, whom will ultimately leave her husband and everything she has known. Ibsen uses both the characters of Torvald and Nora to represent the tones and beliefs of 19th century society. By doing this, Ibsen effectively creates a dramatic argument that continues to this day; that of feminism.

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer is a traditional “angel in the house” she is a human being, but first and foremost a wife and a mother who is devoted to the care of her children, and the happiness of her husband. The play is influenced by the Victorian time period when the division of men and women was evident, and each gender had their own role to conform to. Ibsen’s views on these entrenched values is what lead to the A Doll’s House becoming so controversial as the main overarching theme of A Doll’s House is the fight for independence in an otherwise patriarchal society. This theme draws attention to how women are capable in their own rights, yet do not govern their own lives due to the lack of legal entitlement and

Nora and Torvald have been married for a long time and they do their best to make sure they are happy. Nora loves Torvald very much and would do anything to

At the end of the play Torvald finds out that Nora has deceived him about borrowing money without his permission and this triggers an epiphany for Nora, who realizes she needs to finally realize the truth of her situation and recognize her desire to escape this doll house. During yet another argument, Torvalds loses it and says, “From now on, forget happiness. Now it is just about saving the remains, the wreckage, and the appearance” (1013-1014). Finally, in this moment, Nora realizes that Torvald is just a self-centered, petty man who is concerned only about keeping up the lie of marriage. It is this realization that allows Nora to appreciate the reality of her situation. “I've been performing tricks for you, Torvald, that’s how I survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. It’s because of you I’ve made nothing of my life” (1015). By the end of the play, Nora has emerged as a stronger, tougher and more independent individual who is determined to make her own life free from the gender roles that have been placed on her by

Ibsen’s character Nora in A Doll’s House, shows gradual development throughout the play to support his theme that above all else, you are human; even in marriage both parties should be given the equal opportunities, rights and respect. While Nora may at first seem happy with her life inside her “doll house”, she begins to recognize that she must find herself, and stop being a toy in the lives of men.

Nora’s marriage has been a sham ever since the start. By the standard of modern day, she has legitimate ground to leave her husband Torvald. Because Torvald only cares about his image, he treats Nora as an object rather than a wife, Nora has never been taken seriously by her husband, and Torvald only loves her for her appearance. Torvalds image is of great importance to him considering now he is a bank manager, and he will not allow anything standing in his way to ruin this image this includes his wife. All of Nora’s life has been controlled by a male figure, first her father which just transitioned to her husband. Towards the end of the play suggests he never actually loved Nora, it was in fact just an act to have more control over her, and to prevent her from leaving.

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

The role of being a husband in both A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Fences by August Wilson is failed to a certain extent due to the fact that they cannot meet the expectations of their wives. By failing to do so, they both damage their relationships. In Fences, we learn that Troy Maxon’s failure as a husband started when he cheated on his wife, Rose, with another woman, who soon became pregnant with his child. In A Doll’s House, Nora would do anything to save her husband, Torvald, but that that feeling wasn’t mutual, and in the end, Torvald shows Nora who he really is, someone she did not expect him to be.

In the play “A Doll’s House” Henrik Ibsen introduces us to Nora Helmer and shows us how spontanesly her design of the ideal life can change when a secret of her is revealed. Nora’s husbands promotion to Manager of the town Bank, leaves her convince she will be living a wonderful life; stress and worry free. However, Nora’s idea of a wonderful life is completely changed when her long-kept secret is revealed.

She points out to Torvald that their marriage was a clear failure when she questions Torvald, “How could you ever teach me to be a proper wife? Your wife?” (Ibsen 82). To this question Torvald is unable to provide a reasonable answer hence proving Nora’s point about the failure of their marriage. Further, the sudden change in Nora’s behavior during the second half of the play is significant as it symbolizes her clear intent to depart from the house in search of her inner-self.

In the beginning of the play there are many significant events that reveal the kind of marriage Nora and Torvalds have. It is normal that a husband considers his spouse as a wife but in this case, Nora was nothing but a Puppet to Torvalds. Her duties were restricted to being a caregiver to her kids, house maid and most importantly pleasing her husband. Ibsen uses several analogies to show the readers the descriptive insight on how Torvalds view his wife .She was never accustomed to having her husband call her by her rightful name, she was always address as “doll” or “my little song-bird” and other childish names. At First Nora doesn’t seem to mind Torvalds’s demeaning behavior. She even encourages it by saying things like “Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice ….” (Ibsen). Torvalds demanded total submission from his “squirrel” not only physically but also mentally and

Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House examines a woman’s struggle for independence in her marriage and social world. Through the use of character change, Ibsen conveys his theme that by breaking away from all social expectations, we can be true to ourselves. When Ibsen presents Nora Helmer, we see a “perfect” wife, who lives in a “perfect” house with a “perfect” husband and children. The Helmer children have a nanny that raises them. By having the nanny, Nora has the freedom to come and go as she pleases. Torvald Helmer, Nora’s husband, will begin a new job as bank manager, so they will be rich, which will make her “perfect” life even better. Torvald even calls Nora pet names like “my sweet little lark” (Ibsen 1567) and “my squirrel”

Nora Helmer and Kristine Linde represent the role of women in Henrik Ibsen’s, A Doll House. Their lives had always been in parallel. In the beginning of the story Nora lives a very happy life and has the role of a loving wife, while Kristine is a lonely widow. As the story develops; Nora Helmer and Kristine Linde emerge as contrasting characters; one goes on to liberate herself, while the other comes to security.

Ibsen’s “A Dolls House” is a story about a wife who forges her father's signature to obtain a loan that can save her authoritative husband from a life-threatening illness. Unfortunately, her husband’s co-worker Krogstad discovers the forged document and threatens to reveal her which would bring shame upon both Nora and her husband. Krogstad’s motivation to blackmail Nora begins when he finds out Mrs. Linde is now an employee at the bank. Believing Mrs. Linde was hired to replace him, Krogstad need’s Nora to influence her husband to retain his position.

A Doll’s House was published in Norway in 1879 by Henrik Isben. He is known as the father of Modern Theatre. He is also referred as the father of realism. The play is very interesting because of the funny dialogue, the unique characters, and Ibsen 's view of the place of ladies in the public eye. The main characters of the play is Nora Helmer and her husband Torvald Helmer. Imagine what it would be like to live in a doll 's home? It 's a house in which you are controlled and have no energy to settle on any solid choice; It 's a house in which you are a play thing for another person 's amusement. This sounds a ton like an awful marriage, so it 's a house in which your husband holds the satchel strings, in a manner of speaking, and abandons you with no influence over your family 's accounts. In fact, your husband keeps you on a tightrope. Such is the perceived life of Nora Helmer.