A Doll’s House by Henrik Isben Essay

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

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, Ibsen 's view of the place of ladies in the public eye and the unique characters. 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.

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.

With the home she lives in, her "self" is very much silenced, and this eventually comes to displease her. As she confesses to Torvald of her decision, she tells him her most sacred duty, "Duties to myself"(Act III, 76). She begins to realize that not every woman has to rely on a manly figure to survive in society, and begins to take on the rebellion by going on a journey to seek her own individuality with determination. It will make one inhumane if they lost their own precious soul; Nora created the right path for herself and also for future women who struggle with finding their own

Commonly, we see female characters in literature completely at the discipline of their male counterparts. However, some females challenge the notion that subservience to the patriarchy is absolutely ‘necessary’. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd both create interesting female characters in Nora Helmer and Bathsheba Everdene respectively. Whether these women are truly either independent or dependent, is ambiguous in their pieces of literature.

Nora also receives the command from her husband that she should “...make your mind at ease again, my frightened little singing bird. Be at/ rest and feel secure; I have broad wings to shelter you under”(3. 1. 543-544). After showing his whimpering self at realizing that society might find out that he owes his wife, he then receives a note promising not to reveal the truth. Torvald reacts with happiness and pretends that he did not just hurt his wife. His wife does not let this go as he rants with sexist remarks bluffing about his strengths. The pride Torvald has as a man makes him discriminate against women and what they stand for showing making the break up within this family. Also in The House on Mango Street, one of the protagonist's friends must take care of their family because she is the eldest daughter but this has only made her hope for a man to get out of here since all she has learned is that men are superior to her. This shows how dominance of a family member can make other family members want to leave, therefore breaking the family

Although men often prevail over women regarding superiority, women have always had to take on necessary roles in society. In works of literature, women often portray caregivers, villains, significant others, and lost individuals, inevitably impacting the outcome of the work. Beowulf and Hamlet demonstrate how women characters in literature take on imperative roles which impact other characters, thus deepening the themes of the work.

When Krogstad threatens to expose the truth, Nora must use her craftiness to distract Torvald and sway him into letting Krogstad keep his job. Unfortunately, she is not able to change his mind, but she does succeed in diverting his suspicions of her motives. She praises him and lulls him into a false sense of security by telling him that "[n]o one has such good taste as [he has]" and then goes on to ask him if he could "take [her] in hand and decide what [she is] to go as" for the dance. She confesses to him that she "can't do anything without [him] to help [her]". These statements lead him to believe that he is the one to "rescue" her, when it is in fact Nora who is trying to rescue him from dishonour. Later on, when Krogstad puts a letter in Torvald's mail, explaining everything that Nora has done, Nora uses her charms once more. She pretends that she has forgotten the tarantella so that Torvald will spend all his time with her and think nothing of the mail that awaits him. Nora truly believes that by deceiving her husband, she is protecting him from worry. Because of Nora's deception, the person that Torvald believes her to be is quite different from the person she actually is. He believes that she is a "spendthrift," infatuated by expensive things when in reality, she saves her money to pay back Krogstad and buys cheap clothing and gifts. Torvald

In act two, Nora is slowly beginning to understand Trovald's true persona. Nora, maybe for the first time in her life, asks Torvald for a favor, to not fire an employee. He replies to her by asking "Do you suppose I am going to make myself ridiculous before my whole staff, to let people think that I am a man to be swayed by all sorts of outside influence"(Act II). This rhetorical question reveals Torvald's main concern of appearance. His greater concern for the image rather than Nora displays the lack of love in the relationship. It contradicts Nora's courageous act of borrowing money for Torvald, despite the government, for the sake of her love. This argument leads Nora to

All things considered, women are very underestimated when being compared to men. All women in this play were without power, a stay at home wife, without a clue and without the ability to stand on their own two feet. Whereas every male character in the play held all the power, were the bread winners, were rational and more than capable to think and be on their own. What this

Torvald is constantly embracing society's view, calling her a squirrel, or implying that she is too stupid to go on alone. Every independent action Nora takes - such as bringing up Krogstad for the position, or asking for money is met with criticism from Torvald, who believes in this norm society, and his own upbring have created. This desire for independence is first shown as Nora proclaims her desire to say Bloody Hell to Torvald. When faced with the opportunity, she fails to do this - but this desire remains in her, especially as the crisis escalates. Through Nora’s interactions with Linde - and also with Rank, this other side of her, the independent side is seen almost fully.

Torvald’s wife Nora is the center of several of the traits that classify him as a morally ambiguous character. Nora is more like a possession to Torvald than a soul mate or wife. She is like a doll to him, something that he can control and shape into what he wants. Nora is treated like a child and as if she can not function a second without him to be there to tell her what to do. Her dependency on him is extremely important to him because that is

In preparation for Nora's dance at the party, we again see Ibsen showing us Torvald's and Nora's roles. "I can't get anywhere without your help."(Ibsen 91) "Direct me. Teach me, the way you always have."(Ibsen 91) Nora's lines reflect the "costume" that Torvald expects her to wear (and which she wears obligingly), that of the meek, subservient, childlike wife.

Torvald is just as much of a victim to nineteenth century societal norms as Nora because that was how they were raised and how life was for people back then. Torvald is a victim by playing the role of being the boss over the people in his house and being able to hit the people in his household if he decides he needs to. He also thinks he is the only one that is suppose to be bringing in income and the only one to have a job. Just as Nora thought she was suppose to take orders from him and go shopping with his money or stay at home all day. Until she realizes when he hit her that she doesn’t have to be bossed around by him and listen to everything he says. Torvald was shocked by her thoughts because she realized she can go out into the world

Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.