A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Essay

Humanism is an idea which focuses on the importance of oneself, rather than the importance of divine or supernatural matters. Humanism is often mistaken for feminism which is one of the major controversies of A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen. The idea of humanism becomes apparent through Nora’s interactions with Torvald, Torvald’s interactions with Nora, and Torvald’s interactions with other characters in the play. Many argue that A Doll House, is a feminist play due to its portrayal of the characters which emphasized many values of feminism, but in actuality the play addresses views on the value of dignity in one’s character and the need for one’s identity to be found based on positive choices which defines humanism. Ibsen was able to develop the idea that A Doll House was a humanist play through the way characters made decisions within their lives, even though within the play there were related notions of feminism.

tricked into leaving with "the Father of Lies" who entices her ear with what she wants to hear.

when the girl came in to tell him how happy she was that he was leaving. “Then she

and his dog happen upon her and pull her out of the ditch. He also

stuff. He plans a surprise trip to where she states she lives to get to the bottom of it. After meeting with

but he makes her feel so special that she can't help but fall in love with him and it

In the end she is the only one who still loves him, tries to accepts him

Much of Nora’s change and growth is shown in Act III. As the party begins to die down, Torvald takes Nora and tells her how he feels towards her.

However, Nora does eventually realize that she has been treated like a child all her life and has been denied the right to think and act the way she wishes. When Torvald does not immediately offer to help Nora after Krogstad threatens to expose her, Nora realizes that there is a problem. By waiting until after he discovers that his social status will suffer no harm, Torvald reveals his true

   In his play, A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen depicts a female protagonist, Nora Helmer, who dares to defy her husband and forsake her "duty" as a wife and mother to seek out her individuality. A Doll's House challenges the patriarchal view held by most people at the time that a woman's place was in the home. Many women could relate to Nora's situation. Like Nora, they felt trapped by their husbands and their fathers; however, they believed that the rules of society prevented them from stepping out of the shadows of men. Through this play, Ibsen stresses the importance of women's individuality. A Doll's House combines realistic characters, fascinating imagery, explicit stage directions, and

What comes to mind when the word morals is said? Whose morals should be followed, individual or group? In A Doll House, Ibsen portrays the protagonist, Nora, to follow the morals of her husband, Torvald. Four key aspects that help Nora decide to change her mind and make a decision to leave Torvald. These include the constant change of nicknames, the questioning of her own independence, the questioning of Torvald's love, and the realization that Torvald loves his reputation more then herself. As a result, Nora sets out to find her own individuality and moral beliefs.

Krogstad feels threatened by her influence because she can be the pivotal deciding factor in whether or not he keeps his job. Nevertheless, Krogstad tries to turn her influence to benefit himself by threatening to reveal her crime if she does not help him to keep his job. This backfires on Krogstad when two women, Nora and Mrs. Linde, manipulate Krogstad into feeling obstinate and therefore he promises never to tell anyone of what Nora has done. Nora's power helped her to remain protected throughout the entire play.

Later in the play things start getting complicated for Nora. Her husband Torvald had become Mr. Krogstad boss at work, and Torvald wanted to fire Mr. Krogstad. This is when Mr. Krogstad starts to blackmail Nora. He wants Nora to stop Torvald from firing him. If she does not, Mr. Krogstad was going to tell Torvald her secret. This should have been the perfect time for Nora to tell the truth to her husband, but she believed that telling Torvald the truth will ruin their relationship. Nora says to her friend Mrs. Linde “Torvald, with all his masculine pride – how painfully humiliating for him if he ever found out he was in debt to me. That would ruin our relationship. Our beautiful, happy home would never be the same” (Iben 802)

Phylogeny versus misogyny, arguable one of the greatest binary oppositions in a work of literature, is present in Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 Norwegian play A Doll’s House. The title itself suggests a misogynist view, while the work mainly consists of feminist ideology, as Ibsen was a supporter of the female as an independent, rather than a dependent on a male. Nora knew herself that her husband did not fully respect her, and this became a major conflict in the play as Nora progressively became more self-reliant in the play. Ibsen created Nora to give an example for all women, showing that they are more than what their husbands make of them. The misogynistic views in the play can be seen through Nora’s husband Torvald, due to the fact that he

Mrs. Linde assumes that Dr. Rank is the person that Nora borrowed money from, but Nora denies it and doesn’t tell her who the real person is. Torvald shows up. Nora begs him to not fire Krogstad. Her begging only angers off Torvald, and he tells the maid to send Krogstad his notice. Torvald goes to his office. Nora then had a plan to ask Dr. Rank for the remainder of the money that she owes, but her plan fails when he tells her that he will be dying soon and that he is in love with her. She feels guilty and doesn’t ask. As Dr. Rank goes in to see Torvald, Krogstad comes storming in, upset that he was fired. He yelled at Nora and then put blackmail in Torvald’s mailbox on the way out. In a fret, Nora tells Mrs. Linde everything. Mrs. Linde explains that she used to have a relationship with Krogstad that maybe she could change his mind. Mrs. Linde leaves to give a note to Krogstad, while Nora has to keep Torvald from reading the letter. The next night, while the costume party was taking place, Krogstad met up with Mrs. Linde to talk. The conversation revealed that they were once both deeply in love with one another, but Mrs. Linde left him for another wealthier man. She then confesses that she wants to get back with him. He accepts. They agree that they would leave Krogstad’s letter for Torvald to read because it would be better if Krogstad knew what his wife did for him. They ran