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A Doll's House

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A Doll’s House takes place in 19th century Norway and Ibsen provides the audience a view of the societal shackles of the era that would imprison women in their own houses. Ibsen introduces Mrs. Linde at early stage of the play as Nora’s old school friend with whom Nora could share her secret and this serves as a way of letting the audience know about Nora’s struggles. Mrs. Linde is an independent woman whose character serves as a foil to Nora’s character in the play. Throughout the play, A Doll’s House, Mrs. Linde acts as a mentor to Nora, providing her with advice and guidance which plays a vital role in Nora’s awakening. Coming from an impecunious family, Mrs. Linde had to give up her true love Krogstad and marry a man she did not …show more content…

She only does what is acceptable to society disregarding her own joy. She acts as Torvald’s puppet, following as his wishes and his commands. Nora has never had the chance to grow as a person on her own, and as a result remains very erratic and irresponsible. In the very first scene, Nora pays the Porter hundred pence instead of fifty pence. Though it is not a significant amount of money, it shows how reckless and irresponsible she can be. Nora also has a disregard for others’ feelings and their welfare. An example of this is when Nora starts talking about her children, immediately after learning that Mrs. Linde did not have any children, without paying any attention to possibly hurting Mrs. Linde’s feelings. She blames Mrs. Linde for smuggling the forbidden macaroons into the house in an attempt to hide Nora’s crimes. Even though Nora insists that she had taken out the loan only for Torvald’s sake, she also says that once Torvald knows about the loan she wants him to appreciate and admire her for being more than just an ordinary housewife – which shows Nora’s actions were not as selfless as she made them appear. Nora had talked about her marriage to Dr. Rank and it’s almost as if she could not see the lie she was living. She talked about how they were not happy together and how she wished for Torvald to value her for who she really is and not just as something to decorate his house with. Nora is always trying to make herself happy

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