How Is Nora Presented In A Doll's House

We also see his demeaning behavior when he underestimates her ability to handle money. Herman Weigand points out that "Torvald tells her in money matters she has inherited her father 's disposition" (Weigand 27). So Torvald 's condescending language and names keep Nora in her place as a doll where he likes her to be. James Huneker put it best when he said

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

A doll house is based on Nora understanding how she feels about her relationship with her husband Torvald. The play opens up with Nora arriving home from Christmas shopping, excited to show her husband what she has purchased. Torvald will be getting a promotion at his bank so Nora feels that she gets to splurge a little on gifts. Torvald calls Nora a child, spendthrift, and a lark for her actions on spending a lot of money. Torvald teases Nora and compares her to her father by saying the following:

Torvald constantly calls his wife childlike names like “my little squirrel” and “my little skylark” as he talks to her in the same tone he would a child (Ibsen 229). Torvald treats Nora as an adolescent in substitute of an adult. Although his playful nature portrays a certain type of joyous love they have for one another, these terms degrade Nora as a human and as an equal. It also shows his dominance over her as he always begins the playful names with “my” (Ibsen 229). In times Nora attempts to act like an adult in conversation, Torvald belittles her and assumes she is not serious such as when he says, “Just listen!

And to live a happier and stress free life. When Nora clarifies her statement of not loving Torvald, she doesn’t hesitate or back down, instead she states clearly, a second time, that she is sure she doesn't love Torvald. That statement alone helps get her point across to Torvald that she has no romantic emotions towards him. Nora is showing that she is capable of making her own decisions and doesn’t need to be watched over. She doesn't need anyone, let alone Torvald, telling her what she can and can’t do.

A doll is not a real person. In the same way, torvald is treating Nora as a person without feelings, opinion, or input. He doesn’t consider them as worthy. If he had, there would be no need for her to be discreet about anything. She could have easily asked and maybe even persuaded Torvald in signing a loan.

Nora metaphorically calls herself a doll and their house a playroom because she was never really taken seriously, she was just for Torvald's amusement much like a child with a doll. The doll is put in a dollhouse to give the illusion of having life when in reality the child controls the doll. Much like Torvald with Nora. Not only was Nora a doll to her husband but to her father as well. Everything in her life was censored to fit the beliefs of the men she lived with.

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.

Another main difference between Torvald and Nora is how much their self-image matters to them individually. Nora's self-image is the complete opposite of Torvalds. From Nora's perspective she doesn't have much of an image to produce, but she does have the image of herself that Torvald can see along with her close friends. She really cares about what her husband thinks about her so she does whatever she can to make sure that his opinion doesn’t change, she gets worried by how she will look in his eyes after he finds out about the crime she has committed, this is why she tries to stop Torvald from sending Krogstad his notice, "Call it back, Torvald! There's still time. Oh, Torvald, call it back!..."(1304) Nora acts like this because once Torvald finds out what she has done, she knows that he is going to look at her a different way than what he does now. Nora doesn’t want this so she tries preventing Torvald from doing his job. On the other hand, Torvald cares a lot about the way others look at him, he thinks that once people find out what his wife has done that it will destroy his reputation and people will tend to look down upon him. When he finds out about what his wife has done

By saying all these things Nora is seemingly proving to Torvald that he has power over her. Luckily, Torvald is not incredulous and feels that Nora is being

ruined my whole future.?(Ibsen 916). Torvald has no compassion for her. He does not care that she took out the loan to save his life. Torvald just wants to order Nora around. His love is not true, but it is an angry petty obsession.

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

This tone gives the statement a endearing and protective connotation. However, it illustrates how Torvald manipulates Nora to control her actions, revealing his dominating character and Nora's insecure and submissive characters are revealed. As Nora continues to be obedient, Torvald takes advantage of her; furthermore, Torvald does not want to discuss official issues with her, and teases her about her "silly and insignificant" character. The negative denotation of Torvald's diction emphasizes the abuse in the relationship. The lack of communication allows Torvald to continue abusing her. Abuse forces a person to stay in a relationship. It makes the victim feel unimportant and unloved. Open communication can bring equality and love to the relationship.

Despite her grand revelation and advancement as a character, Nora is still devastatingly childish and naïve. This is shown in the final act and scene of A Doll’s House, after her fight with Torvald. On the surface it seems like the right choice for Nora to leave because of this nasty fight; however, she too, like Torvald, is somewhat clouded by emotion. In reality she is running from her problems without making any actual effort to salvage her marriage. Over and over again, Nora solves her problems by going behind Torvalds’s back instead of actually communicating with him. Even in the end, she lies about such a trivial thing such as attempting to break into their mailbox, this being at a point where she has mostly accepted defeat. This could show how afraid Nora has been afraid of her husband, however, it mostly shows how avoidant of confrontation she is. Not to mention, she puts Torvald on a sort of pedestal, having expectations that are idealized and not based in reality. Yes, Torvald is indeed manipulative, but he does have very reasonable cause to be furious. Most of Nora’s

restricted to playing with the children, doing little housework, and working on her needlepoint. A problem with her responsibilities is that her most important obligation is to please Torvald, making her role similar to that of a slave. Torvald easily talks down to Nora saying things like: “…worries that you couldn’t possible help me with”, “Nora, Nora, just like a woman”, and “Mayn’t I look at my dearest treasure? At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me—that’s my very own?” as if she is considered his property.