Extended Metaphors Of Nora As A Doll In Torvald's House

Dolls represent the way women were treated back then, the way women are seen as and behave. Women behaved in such a way because men and society molded them in that direction. Dolls have lifeless lives without someone that interacts with them; in the play we can see how Nora and Christine represent those dolls in society. Christine, a widower, is a doll because she is lifeless at first because nothing motivates her to work or do something about her life; she doesn’t have anyone to work or support for. That’s why she is lifeless, but as soon as she agrees to go back with Krogstad, she feels that she had “Someone to work for and live for- a home to bring comfort into” (65). She needed someone to string her. Nora has also a lifeless life just because of the idea that her father and husband run her life for her; decide everything for her as if she is a little child, “I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa’s doll-child” (77). She is influenced and is being treated like a doll, a little child, from her “male figures”. Nora did not have a mind of her own, and didn’t approach everyday life situation just like every other women in that era. She is being sheltered like a child; she is sheltered like a doll would be protected by a child. Ibsen portrayed the idea of women being treated like dolls through the title of

During this period, women were subjected in their gender roles and were restricted over what the patriarchal system enforced on them. Everyone was brought up believing that women had neither self-control nor self-government but that they must capitulate to the control of dominate gender. The ideology that “God created men and women different - … [and they should] remain each in their own position.” (eHow, Ibsen's Influences on Women's Rights) is present in A Doll’s House with Nora’s character, as she is seen as the ideal women during the Victorian Era, who is first dutiful as wife and mother before to her own self. Whenever Torvald gives Nora money, she spends it on her children so that they are not “shabbily dressed” (Act 1). Though she loves her children it is all the more shocking when she leaves them.

The inferior role of Nora is extremely important to her character. Nora is oppressed by a variety of social conventions. Ibsen in his "A Doll 's House" depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize their role in society. Nora is oppressed by the manipulation from Torvald. Torvald has a very typical relationship with society. He is a smug bank manager. With his job arrive many responsibilities. He often treats his wife as if she is one of these

It is Nora as an individual cheated of her true rights that the dramatists first depicts, for her marriage, as she discovers in the crisis, has been merely material and not that spiritual tie Ibsen insists upon as the only happy on in this relationship. (Huneker 64)

Torvald berates Nora about her physical appearance, saying, "Has my little sweet tooth been indulging herself in town today by any chance? ..." (Act 1). Nora often sneaks macaroons, because she can not eat them in front of Torvald for fear of his disapproval. Torvald is very particular about Noras figure, as he wants her to stay small, dainty, and delicate. This is Ibsen showing the “role” of the male in that society. He has to always be in control, and for Torvald, his and Nora’s image are the most important things in the world, whether it was Nora’s figure or the fact that Nora forged her father’s signature to obtain the secret loan, which angers Torvald a great deal.

   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

Ibsen utilizes the boundaries of the “inexpensively furnished” (147) room to create Nora’s symbolic cage displaying how she is physically unable to leave the confines of the room and the role in which every 19th century wife must play. In Act I, Nora plays her façade of the frivolous “funny little spendthrift” (150) in an effort to seem as defenseless as the woodland creatures Torvald finds so endearing and subsequently patronizing. Nora’s quarantine is enhanced as she is called a “squirrel…skylark, and little bird” (150) by Torvald, infantilizing her character and consequently solidifying her inability to escape the confines of her assumed womanly role. Nora readily assumes the position of a subordinate and feeble woman to protect the illusion she perceives as a complete home in addition to avoid “[being] completely alone” (154). This absolute isolation in adherence to the role in which she has been nurtured to conform to is slowly deteriorating her character, which is displayed in the increased sporadic nature of “poor little Nora’s” (152) actions and her lack of ability to focus as the play progresses. Nora’s childlike behaviors steadily become more obvious as her fixated birdcage becomes increasingly suffocating, the discomfort with her current isolation grows and as her mask of perfection slowly disintegrates.

People cannot survive on their own in this world, so they form relationships. Relationships play an important role in a person's life; it influences and defines one's character and ideals. It can make someone the happiest person in the world or the most miserable. In order to establish a stable and long lasting relationship, there must be proper communication at the base of this bond. The rules of proper communication include: listening to each other, understanding the other person's emotions and needs, truthfully expressing one's view's, and supporting each other during times of adversity. In Henrick Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, he uses the character development of Nora Helmer, the protagonist, and Torvald Helmer, the

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)

Ibsen details the parallels between Nora and Krogstad as they both committed their crimes for love. Thus, in the first conversation between Nora and Krogstad, Ibsen establishes Krogstad as the cunning antagonist and the extremity of Nora’s crime to build up the climax of the play whilst continuing to portray Nora as childish.

The character of Nora goes through the dramatic transformation of a kind and loving housewife, to a desperate and bewildered woman, whom will ultimately leave her husband and everything she has known. Ibsen uses both the characters of Torvald and Nora to represent the tones and beliefs of 19th century society. By doing this, Ibsen effectively creates a dramatic argument that continues to this day; that of feminism.

In “A Doll’s House,” Ibsen presents us with the drama of Torvald and Nora Helmer, a husband and wife who have been married for eight years and whose lives are controlled by the society in which they live. Their relationship, although seemingly happy, is marred by the constraints of social attitudes around them and their perceived gender roles. Creating even more conflict is the thin veil of deceit between them, which inevitably breaks them apart.

“Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll wife here. I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That’s how I’ve survived. You and papa have committed a grievous sin against me. It’s your fault that I’ve made nothing of my life.” (Page 226) This shows how Nora has finally realised how she has been treated and has decided to move on with her life independently, leaving her husband as well as her children. “I won’t see my children. I’m sure they’re in better hands than mine.” (Page 231) This dialogue in the play portrays the main irony. She transforms this devotion into anger and frustration and this, finally, finds a way when she decides to leave everything so that her children can live a better life. This is titled as the final irony in Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s

The inferior role of Nora is extremely important to her character. Nora is oppressed by a variety of "oppressive social conventions." Ibsen in his "A Doll's House" depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize their role in society. Nora is oppressed by the manipulation from Torvald. Torvald has a very typical

     Ibsen’s purpose for writing this piece is to entertain while pointing out an injustice. Through the events of the play, Nora becomes increasingly aware of the confines in which Torvald has placed her. He has made her a doll in her own house, one that is expected to keep happy and