Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll House

Societal appearance and acceptance is an utmost characteristic an average individual tends to underestimate. It may seem as if individual morals go against the social appearance, but in value, individuals perceive a need for an appearance to convey a sense of belonging. Within two diverse yet similarly realist drama's, A Doll’s House and Death of a Salesman societal appearance’s stands above all else. Henrick Ibsen's A Doll's House embarks on the gender fitting and domesticity of the Victorian Era at its worse as Nora Helmer's unrealistic marriage falls within her grasps, leading to rebellion. Arthur Miller, on the other hand, sets forth the "tragedy of the common man" through the tragic hero of Willy Loman and the “American Dream” in

Rank about Krogstads job being in jeopardy. Although she is going against her husband, she is deathly afraid of what will happen if he were to ever find out that she was siding with Krogstad. She is seemingly Krogstad’s puppet because he has leverage over her for what she has done. “Does your husband love you so little, then? He knows what I can expose you to, and he still goes ahead and-.” Nora answers and says “How do you think that he knows any such thing.” When saying this she is implying that her husband knows nothing about the secret Krogstad is talking about or the agreement they have. Although she is still being devious, she will go to great lengths to make sure her husband never finds out. Krogstad said “I just want to hold onto it, just keep it in my possession. No one who isn’t involved in the matter will ever know anything about it. So, if you’ve been thinking about doing something desperate-.” Nora responds with saying “I have.” Then he asks if she thought of anything worse than running away and she responds saying once again “I have.” When reading this it can be interpreted that she would kill herself if Tolvard were to ever find out about the secret she is hiding. The secret she is withholding is the forging of her father’s signature to save the life of Torvald when he was very ill a couple years earlier. She now secretly keeps money

Humanism is an idea which focuses on the importance of oneself, rather than the importance of divine or supernatural matters. Humanism is often mistaken for feminism which is one of the major controversies of A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen. The idea of humanism becomes apparent through Nora’s interactions with Torvald, Torvald’s interactions with Nora, and Torvald’s interactions with other characters in the play. Many argue that A Doll House, is a feminist play due to its portrayal of the characters which emphasized many values of feminism, but in actuality the play addresses views on the value of dignity in one’s character and the need for one’s identity to be found based on positive choices which defines humanism. Ibsen was able to develop the idea that A Doll House was a humanist play through the way characters made decisions within their lives, even though within the play there were related notions of feminism.

In Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” Nora and Torvald Helmer are the average, happy married couple. They are thrilled that Torvald got a new job as a manager of a bank. Money won’t be an issue anymore, as they have struggled for some time. But, Nora has been keeping a secret from her husband. Early in their marriage, Nora borrowed money because Torvald became ill. At the time, they did not have any money to pay for medicine or the bills. She funded a year in Italy, in order to pay off the debt and skimmed from the allowance. A man named Krogstad works with Torvald at the bank—something about this man intrigues Nora, as she thinks she knows him.

In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, pointedly captures the reality of the Victorian Era within the play. Nora Helmer, the protagonist of the story, represents the typical women in society during that era. The audience’s first impression of Nora is a money obsessed, childish, obedient house wife to her husband, Torvald Helmer. However, as the play progresses one can see that Nora is far from being that typical ideal trophy wife, she is an impulsive liar who goes against society’s norm to be whom and what she wants. Her husband is illustrated as the stereotypical man during the 19th century, as he is the dominate breadwinner of the family, who too deserts his position as the play reaches its end. A key theme that is brought to light in A

Point of View - Since A Doll’s House is written in play form, all of the action is displayed in front of the audience with actors portraying the roles. We as readers only get to read the text of the play. However there is no particular scope to visualize any individual character perspective. Further more, the point of view is third person, limited.

The world as it is depicted in Beowulf is home to many aspects of society that are at odds with behaviors acceptable in modern culture, but perhaps shares a startling number of similarities as well. As part of the Anglo-Saxon society, the concept of loyalty is imbued into the seams of the civilization, and allegiance can be found split between lords and kin. Tales concerning themselves with eternal human problems are not few and far between in Beowulf—given that it is an epic poem—and antithesis governs the flow of the narrative. In the midst of the battles raging between evil and good, heroes and villains, mourning and glory, and victory and defeat, death is omnipresent, constantly looming and prompting men to drift towards their swords. This is a society in which chances for a clean slate—a tabula rasa—are minimal, and every action is chiseled in stone, forever etched into eternity. During a time period when very little is certain, the only guarantee of being remembered, of having your name go down stamped with your identity, is through heroism and action. Boasting is a means through which one can build a reputation for himself, planting his name into his opponents’ heads and setting a foundation for success. It remains a skill to be used prudently, though, as overstating and misrepresenting one’s abilities has the great potential to yield adverse repercussions.

Word has traveled across the seas to Geatland of a great disturbance in Heorot. A threatening creature has befallen on Hrothgar, King of the Danes, and his people. In no time, a Geat by the name of Beowulf arrives at Heorot. However, why would one man, an unpopular man at that, not known of possessing any strength or talent, travel a great distance to offer his services to the Danes? Textual evidence provides that Beowulf, although he proves himself brave and strong, expresses his ego through boasting of his epic deeds, illuminating on his strength and wit. In addition to feeding his ego, it can be proved that Beowulf is out to make a legend of himself since he comes from a broken lineage, and in the time of the Danes and

Krebs faces his old life and how his family remembered him while trying to balance

The play A Doll’s House (Henrik Ibsen) is centered around the lives of the antagonist, Torvald Helmer and his wife Nora Helmer. Torvald is deemed as the antagonist based on the belief that he is a power hungry misogynist whilst his wife naturally becomes the protagonist, as her husband does not treat her as an equal. The entire play itself is submerged in the issue of individual versus society. Women and men during the Victorian Era were known to have two separate callings known as separate spheres. The idea of separate spheres is based on the ‘natural’ characteristics of men and women. It is said that women are weaker and more moral thus they are more suited for the domestic sphere whilst men were to be the breadwinner and labour all day.” Ibsen uses interpellation in his play to allow for an even deeper insight and understanding of Torvald Helmer’s life. Interpellation is an ideology/philosophical ideal that has two forms: Repressive State Apparatuses and Ideological State Apparatuses. Repressive State Apparatus deals with persons being subject to ideologies or certain principles solely because it is seemingly the norm whilst

Since women were not able to borrow money without the consent of their husband or father, Nora faces trouble with the law when she illegally borrows money from her husband’s coworker, Nils Krogstad. Because her husband is a very proud man and would never borrow money in fear of damaging his reputation, Nora could not ask him to sign the loan even if the loan pays for the trip that would save his life. Nora did not want her dying father to worry about it so she broke a law and forged his signature onto the I.O.U. Afterwords she lied to Torvald and said she received the money from her father. She defends her crime by stating,

Krogstad influences the plot in a very influential way from the very beginning when Nora and Krogstad both meet. He tries to use Nora as a puppet in order to save his job at the bank, Krogstad asks Nora to “influence on my behalf (837).” He is clearly trying to persuade Nora in order to keep his “subordinate position in the bank (837).” Nora then tries to play this down by informing Krogstad that she has no influence and that no one is trying to take his position at the bank. Krogstad lashes out at Nora in order to order to get a reaction. To understand this aggression the reader needs to understand male psychology. “According to the recalibrational theory of anger, anger is an adaptation designed by natural selection to regulate conflicts of interest.” (Physical Strength). Krogstad’s anger lead him to the decision to lash out at Nora because Krogstad believed that Nora had the power to control Torvald. Krogstad’s anger influenced Nora because Nora was frightened of Krogstad. The reader eventually finds out why. “I’m not

Imagine being in a completely different situation from another person in which you both have different actions and motivations, but similar consequences. Two female characters from different works of literature are in that exact situation. Nora Helmer from Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Psyche from Edith Hamilton's Mythology depict different actions with similar consequences and different motivations. Because of her actions, Nora Helmer was forced to live a lie. In the story, Nora got a loan from Krogstad (a bank teller) years prior.

What comes to mind when the word morals is said? Whose morals should be followed, individual or group? In A Doll House, Ibsen portrays the protagonist, Nora, to follow the morals of her husband, Torvald. Four key aspects that help Nora decide to change her mind and make a decision to leave Torvald. These include the constant change of nicknames, the questioning of her own independence, the questioning of Torvald's love, and the realization that Torvald loves his reputation more then herself. As a result, Nora sets out to find her own individuality and moral beliefs.

In the play “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen the story focuses on the gender differences between a man and woman. One way Ibsen display feminism in A Doll House is through the relationship of the two main characters Torvald and his wife Nora. Nora and Torvald to have the perfect life, however behind closed doors it isn’t as it seems. The play begins with a happily married couple and ends with a woman wanting to be her own human being. Nora has been treated like child throughout the play by Torvald, she finally decides she has other duties such as herself that are just as important as everyone else. Through the play Ibsen provides the readers with insight how society views women. During this particular generation men were much higher ranking in society than women, women were not viewed as individuals but as shadows of their men. Ibsen provides many examples throughout the play how women were treated less than men.