A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen

Nora is introduced as a housewife who believes the true meaning of marriage revolving around obedience. She demonstrates the true definition of a respectful daughter, a faithful and obedient wife, and a dependable mother. It wasn’t unusual for Torvald to throw his weight around towards Nora. He attempts to limit her macaroon intake “Hasn’t nibbled some pastry,” (Ibsen 788) she replies, “You know I could never think of going against you” (Ibsen 788). In the eyes of Nora, he is considered a confident, powerful, and successful businessman since he is receiving a promotion as a bank manager after the New Year. Torvald’s sense of marriage can be summed up that he is the king of the castle “This is the way it should be my darling Nora. What-ever comes, you’ll see: when it really counts, I have strength and courage enough as a man to take the whole weight myself” (Ibsen 814). Torvald’s view is she is just a “doll” in his doll house. To him, it was important to stress there was no such thing as equality in their partnership, he

The main character, Nora, in Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll House” is a character that had been held back and repressed by the patriarchal society she existed in. Throughout the play it can be seen that most of the issues and struggles the character, Nora, faced were created and brought on by the men who were in her life. From the very beginning it is evident that Nora is as an undermined and restrained woman. Nora’s husband, Torvald, is her overseer. Torvald treats Nora like a child. He gives her nicknames like “squirrel” as if she is a little animal that only scurries about. When Nora wants money she must ask Torvald for permission to borrow some. Torvald also calls Nora a “spendthrift” as he does not trust Nora with money and believes she just wastes it on useless things. Torvald’s little nicknames for Nora seem to dehumanize her and make her seem less than her husband. When Nora suggests to Torvald to borrow money until he gets paid, Torvald responds “how like a woman! You know what I think about that. No debts! Never borrow!” (Ibsen 884) as if to indicate all women are incompetent and don’t know how to handle money. Although Nora is a victim of a destructive patriarchal society, she is also an example of what it meant to be a part of the feminist movement. Feminism is a movement and ideology that believes in the establishment of economic, political, and social equality of the sexes. At

Although Nora is secretive about the crime she committed, which is forging her father’s name in order to borrow money; she does it to save her husband. During Act I when Nora is speaking to Mrs. Linde about someday revealing to Torvald about the secret loan Nora exclaims: “One day I might, yes. Many years from now, when I’ve lost my looks a little. Don’t laugh. I mean, of course, a time will come when Torvald is not as devoted to me, not quite so happy when I dance for him, and dress for him, and play with him.” (Act I, pg. 12). This quotation shows that even early on in the play Nora understands the reality of her marriage, and her existence to Torvald. Therefore, Act I is merely an introduction to the overall overarching theme of independence. Act I shows the obedient side of Nora, until later scenes when she reveals her independence. Torvald attempts to oppress his wife, but his actions do not stop Nora’s independent thoughts from forming.

Torvald would never have thought she were capable of it, since during that era it was unrealistic of women to leave their houses but rather put up with the difficulties they faced. Ibsen highlights society's domineering outlooks of marriage and the interactions of two people naïvely pretending to be in love. Throughout the play Ibsen reveals the fragile attributes of his characters to help enhance the play-like nature of their relationship, the role of women, and Nora's course of self-discovery.

Firstly, Nora and Torvald have different opinions regarding money: he upholds that borrowing is never an alternative to financial problems, but acknowledges that Nora does not follow this rule. Torvald believes she cannot help her tendency of over-spending, describing it as a hereditary condition: "It is in the blood; for indeed it is true that you can inherit these things, Nora." (p 9). She has been content to maintain her secret of borrowing money from Krogstad without her husband’s consent. This allows her husband to think of her as a possession and an expense, as "One would hardly believe how expensive such little persons are." (p 8). This becomes the main source from which the play 's tension originates. This is essential, as Nora’s terror of Torvald uncovering this secret causes her to weave an increasingly unstable web of lies, which subsequently collapses around her

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.

Nora is treated like a child by Torvald, but she is accustomed to it and believes he loves her dearly. However, an important component of a successful and true marriage is trust, which is lacking in the Helmers’ marriage. Nora keeps a secret from Torvald while he is reluctant to trust her with money, let alone his reputation (Ibsen 2, 3, 13). When Torvald discovers that Nora has kept a secret from him, he is furious and takes away her right to raise the children without a second thought (Ibsen 83). However, while Torvald was throwing a fit, Nora comprehends that he has never loved her and that she was forcing herself to believe she loved him (Ibsen 87). Like Nora, Edna knew that she and her husband, Leonce, never loved each other; she thought he was her ticket out of her old life while he thought of her as his possession (Chopin 8, 29). Both Edna and Nora were raised to be obedient wives, but Edna, after her awakening, felt like marriage was “one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth” and did not try to save her marriage (Chopin 100). Love was sometimes not a factor that determined marriage; money and image was usually more preferred.

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

In the beginning of the play, Nora was a typical housewife for that time. She would obey her husband and never challenge him.Torvald her husband provides for her and the family, Nora doesn’t have to work she depends completely on her husband and enjoys spending his money on gifts and cloths. Because of that Nora lives to serve her husband even though he constantly belittles her and treats her like a little child that is very inferior to him. He calls her pet names like when he said in the first act “where’s my little squirrel”. Names like these may seem sweet but actually show how inferior and small he sees her.Torvald enjoys being the strong man that provides for his family and when Nora asks him for money or when he gives her money it feeds

Nora proceeds to apologize and plays the role of the obedient wife. Nora has the right to spend extra money after what she has been through for the first few years of marriage. Nora and Torvald were very poor. Torvald also became sick and had to travel to Italy to recover. Nora secretly and illegally got a loan to pay for the trip to Italy. During the time setting of the play, women weren’t allowed to do certain things without their husband’s permission such as take out loans. Nora has been working extra hard to pay back her debt and the promotion that Torvald will receive will help Nora become debt free.

In most societies, the person who holds the most money is considered to hold the most power. In the case of the household, the person who holds the most power is the person who handles the money, and in our man-centric world, it is usually the man who holds both money and power. In Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll’s House, the theme of money is used to establish power roles between the characters of the play, and how the theme contributes to typical gender roles in the 19th century.

Since the beginning of modern history, humans have been living in a patriarchal society. While men went out and worked, women were typically confined to the home. In the first scene of A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, the narrator introduced the protagonist, Nora, and her husband, Torvald. Torvald and Nora were the stereotypical nineteenth-century couple. While Torvald worked at a bank, Nora was at home, caring for the household. The play took place around Christmastime, and the Helmers were shown to be preparing for the upcoming festivities. The household was bustling with joy as they celebrated Torvald’s new job promotion. As the plot thickens, numerous symbols were presented throughout the play. Three major symbols present within the play were macaroons, nicknames, and New Year’s Day. While macaroons represented Nora’s desire for independence, Torvald’s nicknames for Nora represented the couple’s relationship. Lastly, New Year’s Day symbolized a new start for both Nora and Torvald.

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House play things was not what it seemed. It also teaches us a lesson on the consequences of having a marriage lacking trust and poor communication. The marriage of Torvald and Nora seemed normal like any other marriage in that time period. Torvald was the bread winner Nora was a house wife and she took care of their two children. Nora thought that the only thing she was missing to be the happiest person on earth was money, and all her problems were going to disappear. Since her husband was going to start a new job she believed that soon her dream was going to come true. All Nora wanted was to have a good life with her family, but what she did not know was that her secret was going to destroy her marriage with

Henrik Ibsen wrote the play A Doll’s House in 1879. In the play Ibsen describes how the society trapped women in marriages and how they carry no value to the family. Just like Stasz Clarice writes “Society, particularly through social class, structures men and women alike to be insensitive and inhumane.” Nora Helmer is apparently happily married to Torvald, he is a lawyer who is about to be promoted to a management position. They have three small children. Early in their marriage Torvald became seriously ill, and the doctors advised a stay in a more southerly climate. Nora had to get hold of the money for the journey in secrecy and so borrowed it from Krogstad, a lawyer who had been a coworker of Torvald. As security for the loan she forged her dying father’s signature. Ever since then she has saved some of the housekeeping money in order to pay back the loan with interest, and she has taken on small jobs to earn some money herself. When the play opens, an old friend of Nora’s, Mrs. Linde, has arrived in town to look for work, and Nora sees to it that Torvald gives her a post at the bank. But this means that Krogstad is dismissed from his post at the bank, and in desperation he goes to Nora and threatens to tell Torvald about the loan and the forgery unless he is allowed to keep his post. Nora considers asking Dr. Rank, an old friend of the family, for the money, but when he declares his love for her, she finds it impossible

There are two other major themes in this play, femininity and masculinity. Nora has often been given the title of one of modern drama’s first feminist heroines. She breaks away from a dominating and opressive marriage. Ibsen, denied that he had intentionally written a feminist play and preferred to think of it as humanist. This said though, the traditional roles of women and the price of them breaking tradition is a constant thread throughout the play. The men of this play, in many ways, are just as trapped by gender roles as the women. An example of this is the job that Torvald Helmer holds at the bank, chief. The men must be providers and alone must support the entire household. At the end of this play these traditional ideas are put to the test, when Nora leaves and Torvald must care for the children and be their provider.