preview

A Doll's House Lies And Deception Essay

Decent Essays

In Act I of A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Ibsen shows Nora Helmer’s progression of deception and lies, which causes chaos within her life, as well as those around her. Throughout Act I, Ibsen introduces how lies become ingrained within, the reaction to lies, the admission of lies, as well as the impact of lies. Ibsen makes it clear to the audience that Nora’s deceitful manner comes from love in order to protect herself as well as her family’s social status. The audience also becomes aware of the many lies told by Nora, as she reveals them throughout most of Act I. Nora’s terror of her biggest and most dangerous secret getting out leads her to tell lie after lie. With the reveal of lies to the audience, this also creates dramatic irony, as her husband, Torvald Helmer does not know that deceit lies within his wife. Nora eventually comes to terms with her deceitfulness, as she acknowledges her possible future. Ibsen shows how …show more content…

In response to Nora’s confession of writing her father name on the document, Krogstad asks “Did it never occur to you that you were committing a fraud on me?”(23). When Nora first revealed that she made the decision to save her husband's life, it made her seem noble and caring. However, at this point Krogstad makes the audience aware that Nora does not care about anything except her and her family's reputation. Krogstad attempts to make Nora feel bad for him by telling her that she has ruined his reputation, but this make Nora more defensive of her own family. After Krogstad leaves, Nora speaks with her husband and at this moment he proclaims how a poisoned house begins with deceitful mother. Torvald leaves Nora alone to think “Deprave my little children? Poison my home? It’s not true. It can’t possibly be true” (28). Nora coming to the realization of the effect of her lies foreshadows how her life and family will eventually fall

Get Access