Compare and Contrast Five Stories to 'A Dolls House'

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

In A Doll’s House, Nora lies to Torvald in order to save his life. This one deception that took place in the past leads to many more and helps her realize that she is unhappy in her

Norma Jean is presented as a dynamic character due to the fact that her attitude and outlook starts changing towards her husband Leroy and her marriage. She went from spending time with her husband to being an introvert. She begins enjoying her time alone and becomes very selfish. She was strong at one point and the past just ate her up inside letting it get the best of her. All the attention is drawn to herself and she does not take the time to see how Leroy is feeling or reacting to this sudden behavior. In paragraph fifty four it states how Norma Jean changes into this selfish creature that Leroy does not even know anymore after sixteen years of marriage. "Before his accident, when Leroy came home he used to stay in the house with Norma Jean, watching TV in bed and playing cards. She would cook fried chicken, picnic ham, chocolate pie-all his favorites. Now he is home alone much of the time. In the mornings, Norma Jean disappears, leaving a cooling place in the bed" (Mason paragraph 54). Norma Jean loses her father and son and now she is just letting herself slowly drift away out of her husband's life. Norma Jean's appearance does not change much in Leroy's eyes. She keeps up with her physical and outer appearance but its her inner self that need massive work. Her attitude with her mother and husband starts coming off aggressive and careless. In paragraph 110, Norma Jean's repsonse is spoken without proper mannerism.

In Henrik Ibesen's play A Doll House, Nora Helmer struggles with telling her husband, Torvald Helmer, the truth about a loan she receives for them to go to Italy when he was sick. Consequently, when Torvald learns of the news he instantly insults Nora and declares that she has "ruined [his] happiness" (Ibesen 93). However, when Torvald tries to dismiss his insults after receiving a note that her contract was revoked, she does not accept his apologizes and decides to leave Torvald and her children to "make sense of [her]self and everything around [her]" (Ibesen 100). Her selfish decision to leave makes her a bad wife and mother, but she there are a few more characteristics that makes her a bad wife. The characteristics that Nora shows in

In A Dolls House, Torvald has a very narrow definition of women 's roles. He believes that it’s a woman duty to be a mother and a good wife, however he thinks women are helpless and childlike. Nora’s understanding of freedom changes during the play. In the first act, she believes that she will be “free” as soon as she repays her debt, because she will be able to devote herself to her domestic responsibilities. However after she gets blackmailed by Krogstad she reconsiders her understanding of freedom and questions whether she is happy in her house. By the end of the play, Nora seeks a new kind of freedom. She wishes to be relieved of her family obligations to pursue her own ambitions, beliefs, and identity.

Throughout A Doll’s House, Torvald views Nora’s actions as being deceiving not only towards him but also towards her family. However, Nora gain her perspective on her own actions and begins observing it differently than Torvald’s. The play states, “ It was me they told that his life was in danger...well, well, I thought, you’ve got to be saved somehow. And then I thought of a way-,” (Ibsen 35-36). Within Nora’s and Mrs. Linde’s private conversation, Nora conveys that her manipulation of money revealed how she deceives her husband even though it was in good intent to save his life. In addition, this demonstrates Nora’s willingness to think about others, such as her husband, before realizing for herself that there were going to be consequences for her later on. Within the play, Nora states, “ You have never understood me. A

Ibsen highlights both aspects of their relationship, comparing Torvald to “Papa”, and further commenting that Torvald’s and Nora’s relationship mirrors Nora’s and her father’s. Nora also says “You couldn’t possibly know that Torvald has forbidden them. You see, he’s afraid they’ll ruin my teeth.” (Ibsen 59). Prohibiting certain foods because they may cause cavities is an action a parent often takes to a child that does not understand how to take care of themself, not something a person would do to another of equal standings. Nora seemingly has no qualms about this probation; she does not question him, but instead chides (whoever she taking to) for not being as aware as she is. Torvalds himself even directly calls Nora a child: “The child can have her way.” (Ibsen 93). Torvald looks at Nora as a child. His actions of policing her actions show this, but actively calling Nora a child is concrete evidence of his true belief of who she is. Nora is unable to properly lead herself, as an adult should. To Torvald, Nora says: “But I can’t go anywhere without your help...Yes, take care of me, Torvald, please!” and “Torvald, I can’t get anywhere without your help.” (Ibsen 91). Nora follows the directions of Torald instead of making her own personal decisions. A friend, Mrs. Linde asks, “Really, are you giving a whole performance?” and Nora replies “Torvald says yes, I should.” (Ibsen 74). A grown woman is

Torvald was ill and the only thing that could save him would be time spent away from the cold. Nora never tells Torvald about this loan because he doesn’t believe in borrowing. Toward the end of the play when Torvald finds out about the loan, his true colors come out and Nora finally gets to see what her husband is really like. This is what really causes Nora to leave her family and to try to find who she really is. This situation also causes Torvald to change a little as well. Near the end when Torvald finds out about the loan, he gets angry with Nora. Once he learns that she is going to leave him and the children, he begins to change his ways a little and starts treating her with a little more respect. He hopes this will make Nora stay, but she already has her mind set and finally has control for once in her life.

Torvald had a view of how he thought his life should be lived, and it was not exactly in Nora’s favor. He believed that his reputation was a very important part of his life and Nora knew that and that is why she contemplated committing suicide before he found out about the loan. Nora did not want to hurt his social reputation. Nora lived for him; she never wanted to disappoint him or cause him any harm. Unfortunately, Torvald did not care near as greatly about Nora as she did for him. He treated her poorly, by constantly telling her that her actions were careless and that a disease was the cause. Also, Torvald was selfish and controlling. He never really said “we” when having a conversation with her it was all about him and how her actions

In A Doll’s House, Torvald and Nora shared an interesting father daughter relationship, even though they are a married couple. Torvald described his wife to have a “young, trembling loveliness”, as though her being frightened excites him. His need to be protective and manipulative shows his desire to be in power and also the father figure. Before all the secrets were revealed, Torvald confessed to Nora, “I’ve often wished that you could be threatened by some imminent danger so that I could risk everything I had - even my life itself - to save you.” He wants her to suffer so that he could look heroic.

In A Doll's house, there are many characters with a wide variety of different personalities and objectives. Even though there are many similarities between characters, there are just as many differences. Out of all the characters Torvald and Nora are the ones with the biggest differences in personality and opinions. Even though they are married and most of the time seem to have the perfect home life, it becomes easier to deduce throughout the drama that they are two completely different people that want different things out of their lives. Some main differences that Nora and Torvald have are the way that they perceive their self-image, what they want out of life, and the actions that they will take to overcome problems. (1)

In the play “A Doll House” first act, Torvalds wife, Nora, is thought to be a ruthless spender by her husband, Torvald. He then states that women cannot possibly know the hardships one goes through to make money, but they do know how to spend it. Nora’s husband, Torvald treats Nora as a doll. Torvald does not permit her to eat any sweets, such as macaroons. He does not really think Nora is capable of doing anything besides spending money and entertaining him. Nora acts in a childish way in order to please her husband and making him feel

The conclusion of “A Doll’s House” begins with Nora walking out on Torvald and her children in order that she might progress in of her own accord. Her reason for doing this is Torvald unforgiving criticism of her telling her that she is “forsaking her most sacred duties” by abandoning him and their children. She is unphased in the least by his statement and advises him that the only obligation she now has is to herself. Nora has come to the realization that continuing to adhere to society’s ideas of what a woman’s role is, no longer benefits her. Having to adhere to society's ideals of what a woman should or should not be renders her incapable of reaching her full potential.

Torvald only sees his wife as his most prized possession and trophy wife. Nora has no identity of her own and is never taken seriously by her husband. Nora acts on command and is often humiliated by being treated as a child instead of a woman. Torvald has instilled in her that she is only strong because she is dependent on him and without him, she cannot function in everyday life. Nora is so controlled by Torvald that she does not indulge in sweets because he wants her pretty teeth to stay white.

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)