Henrik Isben's A Doll's House Essay

Later in the play, Nora’s spirit of indulgence advances to the stage that she is not afraid to ask Helen for “lots [of macaroons], just for once” for their banquet, and she does this in front of Helmer’s face. The lying about a small thing like macaroons foreshadows how she then becomes revealed as a character that lied about a major financial scandal that broke the law. Nora’s open rebellion by purchasing the macaroons was a very minor act in the start of Act 1, however her idea of freedom extends from eating sweets to freeing herself of familial obligations and going out “to see if [she] can make out who is right, the world or [herself]” (Ibsen). The macaroons were a method for Nora to escape from the miserable reality of living with Torvald, and this foreshadowed how she eventually would actually leave her world at home to escape this reality.

Imagination overcomes reason at times of strange and unexplained circumstances allowing for fear to enter the mind and people to act irrationally, or instinctively. In House Taken Over, we are introduced to two siblings who seem to live in a large, empty house and go through every day with a dull repetitive routine. Notwithstanding, this changes when they find themselves faced with an ominous threat. The first time this happened the siblings react on instinct and panic. They seclude themselves in the unpenetrated part of their house, uneasy at the thought of what could be lurking on the other side. Thusly, after a second infiltration, this time to the main part of the house, they abandon the house running instinctively to escape while they are taking over.

In the play, Nora never leaves her house or the living room like someone controlling a doll. Nora is a doll living in her own doll house under the watch and command of Torvald. This shows how he is in control over her and it also represents her lack of freedom. The readers and audience can see this form of control when Torvald says “As for you and me, we must make no outward change in our way of life…But the

Nora’s Tarantella Dance is an important dramatic movement in the play. Nora is frustrated by the other character of the play, Torvald call Nora with different name “Songbird “and “squirrel”. Torvald know about the debt and fails to forgive until she is not sure about it. She decide that she can no longer be happy in her life and her marriage with Torvald and she also wants to resolve the matter with Torvald, so that she could live a peaceful and a happy life. The tarantella dance in “A Doll House” is an allegory. She plays different roles, predetermined by the society. Nora changes her tone of her language during the conversation s peak in a different idiom when they are out of the company of men. Ibsen used Nora to perform the dance because she was one of the important character in the play. Nora thinks that if she performs the dance then Torvald would understand her problem and he would also things that there is something wrong with her and she is facing some problem in her life. As Nora was living in the Norwegian region where women were not given much respect. Nora was also blackmailed by krogstad about the letter. So to protect herself he was going to perform the tarantella

Although these roles were restrictive to being a homemaker and mother, both wives were further restricted by isolation. Minnie Wright was with a husband that worked long hours and was without child. While Nora Helmer was stripped of all responsibility of her children’s upbringing by Torvald hiring a nursemaid for them and he also told her, “I shall not allow you to bring up the children; I dare not trust them to you.” (Ibsen 3.836). Both male and female gender roles exploited in a form of imprisonment for every character in both plays either from marriage or from the social economic stressors of the era. The façade in which they lived seemed normal, nearly perfect, but it was an illusion to obscure the reality of unsettled marriages. According to Mr. & Mrs. Hale, John Wright was a hard man that was close who isolated, deprived, and disrespected Minnie to the point that he may likely have strangling her treasured song bird. In contrast, Torvald treated Nora like she was nothing more than his plaything as she was raised to be, as she said “at home I was papa’s doll-child” (Ibsen 3.838) and in matrimony, Torvald expected her to get in costume and dance her tarantella for his pleasure. Nora’s tarantella was empowered by the metamorphism of costume, in which it was easier to reach an out-of-self state (hysteria) in costume than in constrictive everyday dress. These meta-acts like Nora’s tarantella gave nineteenth-century women the

When Krogstad threatens to expose the truth, Nora must use her craftiness to distract Torvald and sway him into letting Krogstad keep his job. Unfortunately, she is not able to change his mind, but she does succeed in diverting his suspicions of her motives. She praises him and lulls him into a false sense of security by telling him that "[n]o one has such good taste as [he has]" and then goes on to ask him if he could "take [her] in hand and decide what [she is] to go as" for the dance. She confesses to him that she "can't do anything without [him] to help [her]". These statements lead him to believe that he is the one to "rescue" her, when it is in fact Nora who is trying to rescue him from dishonour. Later on, when Krogstad puts a letter in Torvald's mail, explaining everything that Nora has done, Nora uses her charms once more. She pretends that she has forgotten the tarantella so that Torvald will spend all his time with her and think nothing of the mail that awaits him. Nora truly believes that by deceiving her husband, she is protecting him from worry. Because of Nora's deception, the person that Torvald believes her to be is quite different from the person she actually is. He believes that she is a "spendthrift," infatuated by expensive things when in reality, she saves her money to pay back Krogstad and buys cheap clothing and gifts. Torvald

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.

Act II continues with Nora attempting to keep her secret loan and forgery unrevealed from Torvald, but her efforts are futile. In Act II Krogstad loses his job and writes a letter addressed to Torvald explaining the crime Nora committed. During this frightening night for Nora she must perform the Tarantella dance while also attempting to distract Torvald. The Tarantella is known as the dance that is supposed to rid the dancer of the bite of the tarantula. This dance can be seen as a symbolic

Nora, unlike Meursault, is contained by a mental block, a societal influence that dresses her, feeds her, makes her dance the Tarantula, and ultimately loathe her place in the literal Dolls house. Nora, called many pet names such as “a little spend-thrift” (Ibsen 2), “a squirrel” (2), and her husband, Torvald’s “little songbird” (25), faces constant reminders of her oppression. Like Meursault, Nora yearns for the all-encompassing feeling of free will, and once she gets a taste, the ache becomes a severe painful longing until, as Torvald accurately predicts, she dances “as if [her] life depended on it” (48).

Dr. Rank is a friend of both Nora and Torvald and for Nora to offer the macaroon would mean for Dr. Rank go against Torvald. Dr. Rank knows they are not allowed in the house and questions her soon after about it raises the question if Nora has any real obedience toward Torvald. As Nora continues to develop she, Dr. Rank, and Torvald try to prepare for a banquet by having Nora practice the tarantella. In doing so she does everything wrong, which upsets her husband. At dinner Nora is still a bit wound up and talks about the banquet with him.

The Tarantella is an Italian folk dance. The name “Tarantella” derives from the name of a poisonous spider; the Tarantula. When bitten, the venom will of the Tarantula makes the person move uncontrollably as if dancing. This movement believes to relieve the person from pain. Thus, dancing non-stop wards off the venom of the spider (Streetswing.com). The Tarantella dance relates to Nora as trying to rid herself of the pain and problems in her life. Additionally, Nora’s infuriating movements implies her suicidal intentions after the dance to save her husband’s reputation. Likewise, the Tarantella signifies the gruesome climax of Nora’s doll life. This dance reveals the transformation of Nora from an innocent woman

In preparation for Nora's dance at the party, we again see Ibsen showing us Torvald's and Nora's roles. "I can't get anywhere without your help."(Ibsen 91) "Direct me. Teach me, the way you always have."(Ibsen 91) Nora's lines reflect the "costume" that Torvald expects her to wear (and which she wears obligingly), that of the meek, subservient, childlike wife.

            Nora does not at first realize that the rules outside the household apply to her. This is evident in Nora's meeting with Krogstad regarding her borrowed money. In her opinion it was no crime for a woman to do everything possible to save her husband's life. She also believes that her act will be overlooked because of her desperate situation. She fails to see that the law does not take into account the motivation behind her forgery. Marianne Sturman submits that this meeting with Krogstad was her first confrontation with the reality of a "lawful society" and she deals with it by attempting to distract herself with her Christmas decorations (Sturman 16). Thus her first encounter with rules outside of her "doll's house" results in the realization of her naivety and inexperience with the real world due to her subordinate role in society.

The Tarantella is a fast-paced folk dance which originated from Southern Italy. Ibsen uses the dance for heavy symbolism in the A Doll House, but the dance quite ironic as well. In one part when Nora is vehemently dancing the Tarantella, Torvald comments, “My dear darling Nora, you are dancing as if your life depended on it,” to which Nora says, “So it does” (Ibsen 58). Regrettably, Torvald does not catch on to the double meaning of Nora’s statement. Torvald may not see the fuss, but to Nora the Tarantella is the last nail holding the cracking foundation of their marriage. She wants perfection and to pretend to be the fragile doll one last time before the truth is revealed to Torvald. Before her whole life is turned upside down and reality finally hits her. Therefore, Ibsen uses dramatic irony with the dance to display the inevitable consequences of Nora’s lies and false identity as this flawless, innocent

Another very interesting symbol is the dance, Tarantella, which Nora practices for Torvald in preparation for the fancy ball. Tarantella is a dance with a powerful choreography that expresses the movements of a person stung by a tarantula spider attempting to rid oneself of the poison. Nora first insists Torvald to "criticize...and correct" her as she is practicing (48). Torvald becomes displeased with her performance, as she dances "more and more wildly," while Torvald repeatedly advises her to dance "slower" and "not so violently” (48). However, she "does not seem to hear him" and "pays no attention" to his words while continuing to dance. (48). Even Mrs. Linde remarks on how she is "dancing as if [her] life depended on it" (48). The urgency