Crystallization Paper

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

Torvald is very ignorant towards Nora. He controls her from every little point and doesn’t take into consideration what Nora actually wants. Torvald controls how many macaroons Nora can eat and with whom she can be and what she should wear. He doesn’t treat Nora as a human, but rather as a robot who is programmed to do what the owner demands it do. This ignorant trait is still widely visible in the 2st century.

When the character Helmer states, “My little song bird must never do that again. A songbird must have a clean beak to chirp with—no false notes. (Act 1, Line 435)”, he is basically saying that Nora must not lie again because that is what will ruin her marriage. Eventually Krogstad did not want to blackmail them anymore, the things that Torvald said to Nora just did not sit well with her. That entire act shows that because she hid that lie, her marriage was ruined. When Nora states “How painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual regulations altogether.” (Act 1, Line 197), that shows how much the disbelief of the lies would hurt their marriage, and it did just that. Instead of the truth fixing things it made it worse causing Nora to leave with the slam shut of the door. That door also represented the stop to their marriage. The hurtful and loud statement that she made only by shutting the door. However before Nora makes her dramatic exit from the family’s home, she says “Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll wife. (Act 3, Line 286)”, which gives meaning to the title of the play. She is expressing that she feels as if she has been nothing but a doll to her husband, which now a day means a trophy wife. Torvald control her every move and spoke to her with nothing but dominance in her voice. Yet, she made one mistake, which was

Nora and Torvald have been married for a long time and they do their best to make sure they are happy. Nora loves Torvald very much and would do anything to

Nora begins to take offence to the words of Torvald. He refers to her as his most “prized possession”, and continues to say that he often imagines her as though she is his mistress, and she is a temptress. Nora continues to get offended, telling Torvald she doesn’t want any of this. Nora begins

Nora is outwardly submissive and always eager to please Torvald. By contrast, Torvald is a dominant figure that takes control over Nora’s life similar to the way a father would with his daughter. For most of the play, Torvald rarely calls Nora by her name, using pet names instead. For example, “my little lark,” “my squirrel,” and “little spendthrift” are used to describe Nora in the scene of the play (1251). The use of the word “my” emphasizes the control and ownership Torvald feels like he has over Nora’s life. Additionally, their relationship is characterized by a giving and receiving roles. However, the give and take is not shared equally enough. Nora remarks on this when she says, “But don't you think it is nice of me, too, to do as you wish?’ Torvald: ‘Nice?—because you do as your husband wishes? Well, well, you little rogue, I am sure you did not mean it in that way’” (1279). Nora is recognizing the inequality in her marriage when she tells Torvald that she is being “nice” when she follows his directions and cares for their family. This is crucial because Torvald disregards Nora by belittling her role in their marriage and making it seem as though she contributes nothing to their relationship. The interactions between Torvald and Nora emphasize the inequality in their

This is men talk, woman" (1.1.41). This can be read in connection with Torvald’s attitude towards Nora. He does not want any woman to interfere in any serious matters. The same mentality of the patriarchal society is highlighted here as well.

Nora’s marriage has been a sham ever since the start. By the standard of modern day, she has legitimate ground to leave her husband Torvald. Because Torvald only cares about his image, he treats Nora as an object rather than a wife, Nora has never been taken seriously by her husband, and Torvald only loves her for her appearance. Torvalds image is of great importance to him considering now he is a bank manager, and he will not allow anything standing in his way to ruin this image this includes his wife. All of Nora’s life has been controlled by a male figure, first her father which just transitioned to her husband. Towards the end of the play suggests he never actually loved Nora, it was in fact just an act to have more control over her, and to prevent her from leaving.

In the story “Doll House” Nora had been previously scolded by her husband and finally informed Torvald, “I’m saying we’ve never sat down seriously and got to the bottom of things” (936 MLM). Nora was done being treated as a child by Torvald. He shielded her from the world, like her father, and would never let her form an opinion stray from his own. He wouldn’t let her talk of the serious matters in life, from morality to simple decisions with money, that had to do with being her own person with her own mind. This led Nora to leave and find herself as Torvald would not let her just be with his grown instinct that love from a husband must have a controlling nature over the wife in the marriage, not an equality between the

     Through their everyday conversation, Nora and Torvald reveal that they have a relationship full of meaningless talk and games. “Is that my little squirrel rummaging around”, Torvald questions Nora. “Yes!” (1569) she answers, running up to Torvald like a puppy. Because of her childish attitude, Torvald must have assumed that Nora was always happy and carefree. What reason would there be for meaningful conversation if she never obliged? Their relationship consisted of nothing truly real. Everything they talked about or enjoyed together was fun, games, and for show. Often times Torvald would even scold Nora like he would a child and wave his finger in disapproval. “Surely my sweet tooth hasn’t been running riot in town today, has she?”(1571) Then, Nora would respond as a young child would face punishment, “You know I could never think of going against you.” Then Torvald responded, “No, I understand that; and you have given me your word” (1571). I believe much of their marriage was ruined by their childish behaviors and antics; never telling each other the truth, living lies, and playing foolish games with each other.

The play also does suggest that women should leave their controlling husbands or lovers in order to gain the independence they are seeking. Nora’s husband Torvald plays the dominant role in their relationship. Torvald often would degrade Nora by calling her “silly girl” referring to her not being able to make decisions on her own, so he thought. Nora plays the role of a loving mother and respectful wife, whom is all about her family. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That’s how I’ve survived.

The attitude Torvald has towards his wife, Nora, throughout the play almost makes it seem as though he is constantly judging her for her actions without telling her how he truly feels. As any married couple should know, “lack of communication is a prime cause for divorce” (Perry). He does not express his concerns in a mature manner but instead he talks to her like she does not know any better for the little things she has done. For instance, when she mentions that she is not allowed to have the macaroons because of Torvald, this shows that he has a way of controlling her. It continues by him calling her names such as song bird, squirrel, spendthrift, or skylark. He also has no trust for her. He shows this by mentioning her actions in regards to spending money. “You always find some new way of wheedling money out of me, and, as soon as you have got it, it seems to melt in your hands” (Ibsen “A Doll’s House” 930). With this lack of trust, they simply could not thrive and last nearly as long as they may have once thought. Marriage does not bind people if they cannot find the truth in one

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

Torvald is only concerned with, in regard to his relationship with Nora, how well she makes him look and what other people think about it. If he has a beautiful, obedient wife and joyful relationship, people will respect him. They’re relationship, on the outside appears to be happy. But, when you analyze their relationship, you see Nora is treated like a child in this relationship, but as the play progresses she begins to realize how phony her marriage is. Torvald sees Nora 's only role as being the subservient and loving wife. He refers to Nora as "my little squirrel" (185), “my little lark” (185), or “little spendthrift” (185). He only sees her as a possession. Torvald calls Nora by pet-names and speaks down to her because he thinks that she is not intelligent and that she can not think on her own. Whenever she begins

Torvald, Nora's husband, feels powerful by referring to Nora as different types of feeble animals. Nora realizes this and uses it to her advantage. During act II she wants a favor from Torvald so she manipulates him by calling herself the animal names that make Torvald feel dominant. She says,