Close Reading Of A Doll's House

The Helmer marriage is very deceptive. They appear to be happy, but it’s all an illusion. Marriage is like a flower; It needs sunlight, water and soil to grow. For a marriage to work, there must be love. Torvald does not respect Nora as a man would if he considered his partner as equal. He talks down to her, considering her inferior by using terms of endearment. This is exemplified by the names he calls her such as, ‘my little skylark’, ‘ my little squirrel’, ‘my little singing bird’ and ‘sweet-tooth’. Nora does not know any better from early childhood. She has been pampered for the greater part of her life through first, her father and then her husband. This mentality makes their relationship much like that of a father and a child. “Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice and do what she asks.” Torvald asks her to speak plainly. “Your skylark would chirp, chirp about in every room, with her song rising and falling----”. Torvald answers, “Well, my skylark does that anyhow.”(34) The communication between the Helmer’s displays no signs of a love between a man and a woman, but rather that of a doll’s house. Nora is a doll living in a doll’s house controlled

Written in 1879 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (1829-1906). Though his plays suggest otherwise, Ibsen revered the state of marriage, believing that it was possible for two people to travel through life as perfect, happy equals.

19th century Norway experienced a great economic boom, with both wealth and prosperity being granted to the upper middle class. In this background, Henrik Ibsen attempts to reveal and criticise explicitly the apparent problems in society that no one wishes to acknowledge. Nora and Torvald, the two main characters in the play A Doll’s House, represent the typical middle class family, who show the audience a yearning for financial success without debt, a desire for upward social mobility, and the maintenance of a secure patriarchal marriage. Such factors are portrayed throughout the play through the use of diction, tone, and various literary devices.

Deborah Tannen Author of “Sex, Lies and Conversation” says “Men tend to talk less at home and this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage” (Tannen, Sex, Lies and Conversation:1) also says “If their husbands don’t adapt, the wives may look to their friends or family for that kind of talk” (Tannen, Sex, Lies and Conversation:3). In the play we can see, Dr. Rank a close friend of Torvald visits almost every day in their house. He knows Nora never gets enough accompany from her husband and takes that advantage to get more close with her. He is the first person ever to tell Nora that there are others who can easily give up their life for her and made her to realize how important she can be. Interestingly, Nora welcomes Dr. Rank and says “I always have an hour to spare (Ibsen 870)”. In fact, her relationship with Dr. Rank helps us to understand that there definitely lies a distance between Torvald and Nora. For Nora, Dr. Rank is the only person she is able to reveal her true self. Nora feels she can speak with Dr. Rank in a way she can never speak to Torvald. She could also talk more seriously with Rank and by the same time feels so relieve around him. Dr. Rank also is the most important character for Nora's transformation who acted as an adviser for her, helps her to realize her personal feelings. On other side, Nils Krogstad, Torvald's childhood friend

The audience learn that Helmer and Nora's relationship is not a relationship with equality between genders. Through the way Helmer speaks to Nora, the audience can infer that he thinks that Nora is a child and he keeps Nora dependent on him. Helmer also plays the role of Nora's second father. Nora seems to be a woman who is unaware of the true aspect of their relationship and is quite oblivious.

Nora plays with Dr. Rank 's emotions; though by accident, she does so more than she had intended. Nora becomes desperate for money at one point and intends to use her sex appeal and subtle charm to get some from Dr. Rank. Nora is in the process of flirting

Another function that Dr. Rank serves is that of reflecting upon the true personalities of Nora and Torvald. Rank's friendship with Nora and Torvald is thought to be the same, yet they are independently different. Nora is able to talk more seriously with Rank then she is with Torvald. This aspect of Rank's friendship with Nora becomes evident in her statement:

The role of being a husband in both A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Fences by August Wilson is failed to a certain extent due to the fact that they cannot meet the expectations of their wives. By failing to do so, they both damage their relationships. In Fences, we learn that Troy Maxon’s failure as a husband started when he cheated on his wife, Rose, with another woman, who soon became pregnant with his child. In A Doll’s House, Nora would do anything to save her husband, Torvald, but that that feeling wasn’t mutual, and in the end, Torvald shows Nora who he really is, someone she did not expect him to be.

Quote: After Kristine hears of how regularly Dr. Rank visits the Helmer’s household, she advises Nora by saying, “Now listen, Nora; in many ways you're still like a child. I’m a good deal older than you, with a little more experience. I’ll tell you something: you ought to put an end to all this with Dr. Rank.” (Ibsen 1271).

To begin with, the plot starts when Nora saying that her and her husband have never had a serious conversation. They have never solved any problems they were having previously in their marriage. Torvard her husband, is confused and doesn’t understand what she is saying. She goes on about how he doesn’t understand her and why she feels like she’s been treated unfairly. Like the treatment that her dad would give her when she was younger. Nora never had her own thoughts or opinions and was taught to only think one way, the way that her father wanted her to think. Feeling like she is property that was passed down from her father to her husband. Torvard asked her if she is unhappy and she admits to never being happy even though he treated her nicely. Explaining to him how she wants to find herself and put herself first. The husband begs

Nora’s secret regarding her forgery of her father’s signature creates a dilhemma for herself and others because of the circumstances surrounding it. For Nora, the secret is a burden on her that she has had to stealthily repay to Krogstad overtime as to not raise suspicion in Helmer. This idea is also exemplified when Nora becomes worried about the note Krogstad had left in Helmer’s mailbox, as it would reveal her secret to Torvald and sever their relationship. Due to this dilhemma, however, Nora tasks Mrs. Linden with asking Krogstad to request his note without Helmer reading it. In turn, Mrs. Linden has to decide whether or not to have Krogstad do this, with her choosing to keep the note as the truth must be known.

Cracknell’s portrayal of Nora in the play is one of the clearest portrayals of betrayal. The role of her character and her interactions with other characters gives the audience an insight to what her character is like. Nora’s close relationship with Doctor Rank is shown multiple times through the show, such as this scene in act 2. Nora and Doctor Rank are left alone in the loungeroom, initially they speak about his declining health and then progress to flirting with each other. Nora passes him her new stockings, which is soon followed by Doctor Rank confessing his love for Nora. This interaction between the two alone clearly shows the betrayal that Nora has committed on her husband as she

Urban, critiques how Nora was affected by gender role, and how gender role was an obstacle to her personal fulfillment. In his critiques he stated that “Most theater productions treat the play as Nora, using minor characters as foils for a leading actress”(Urban). Meaning that theater productions do not consider Nora’s character seriously. Indeed Urban criticizes that Nora chose Torvald by an intellectual rather than an emotional process. Which proof that back then women get married with a man, they even love, just as a cause of how society expected. Then female's feelings weren't into consideration, they have to marry someone they don't love, neither to fit into a social status or because that’s the way they were tough it should be. Urban emphases that Nora was a victim of her gender role “You see, there are some people that one loves, and others that one would rather be with.” She knows that she does not love Torvald, nor he her. However, Nora is really in love with Dr.Rank, “She finds Dr. Rank good company,sexually attractive, and most importantly, a true friend to whom she can open her soul with few reservations”.which make the situation even worse. As cause then women cannot ask for a divorce. Divorce was seen as a moral everyone must follow. Not to mention that Torvald is way older than Nora, Urban says “ She can see that physical attraction will not hold him much longer”. Another hint that lets the reader see that Nora is not truly in love with Torvald, he’s older than her. Besides Nora has morals and respect to herself as Urban says “Other women in Nora’s situation could easily become the doctor’s mistress-Nora suggest to Kristina that some “admirer” might give her presents- but Nora was still feeling a deep obligation to Torvald for having saved her father, and she was, after all, his wife”(Urban). His opinion about Nora, says a lot about her. Although Nora’s not in love with Torvald,

To begin, Nora’s actions whilst being mischievous, cause her to be frantic and panic a lot in the play. Her husband’s whereabouts and thoughts are always a concern for her. While she expects him to be happy with trying to help him out, she knows that he would be disappointed. Her being secretive could land her in geat trouble, as she lies often. For instance, her forged signature could land her

In “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen was created during 1800s time period. This play helps shine a light on the gender roles of the 1800s while also creating a twist that was uncommon for this period. During this time period, women were left home to oversee the domestic duties, while men went to commuted to work (Hughes). Men were seen as physically superior but morally inferior to women; which is also portrayed within this book (Hughes). This play marks the beginning of Henrik Ibsen’s realist period, which he explored the ordinary lives of small-town people (Kirszner and Mandell 881). This “modern tragedy” helped make Ibsen famous internationally because of the real-life story it captured (Kirszner and Mandell 882). Henrik Ibsen uses an array of literary devices to help keep the reader captivated from beginning to end. Three of the most prominent literary devices used by Henrik Ibsen are symbolism, foreshadowing, and an array of themes. These literary devices help transform a basic play into a complex story of lies and deception.