How Is Nora Selfish

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

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

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

In relation to today’s societal standards, it is easy to judge Torvald for how he treated Nora, however, his behavior is not very outrageous given the time period. Ibsen created Torvald in the image of a typical Victorian era male. Torvald is a product of his society, the same way Nora is. It can be argued he is equally as imprisoned. At the beginning the play, Nora seems completely happy. She encourages Torvald’s teasing, speaks with excitement about the extra

In Act 1, it’s made clear that Torvald has redeeming qualities. In the story it is Christmas, the glorious holiday season. Torvald is all about keeping his wife happy as it seems, Nora wants an extravagant Christmas this year. He isn’t too fond of the idea, he

         At the beginning of the play, Torvlad made it seem that Nora is really dependent on him. Torvald always calls Nora by pet names such as “my little lark…” (943). By doing this, he acts in such a way that suggests that “his” woman is dependent on him. In this way, Torvald serves as the typical man who wishes to make his own wife an object that he can control in his life. He feeds her

Nora’s second rebellion was when she left Torvald and her children. The society she lived in demanded that she should submit to her husband and that she should take a place under him. Society considered women to be property of their husbands and that they should fulfil their every command. When Krogstad tries to blackmail Nora, and Torvald didn’t even support her she realized that there was a problem. Then finally when Torvald realizes that his social stature will not be harmed he displays his real feeling for Nora, both physically and emotionally. It is at this time when Nora decides that she doesn’t want to be controlled by Torvald anymore and she told him that she was going to leave him. By leaving Torvald she is not only shutting him out but also forgetting everything in her past. When Torvald tries to reconcile with her she explains that all her life she was treated like a child. And how she was "always merry, never happy", she never got to make any decisions on her own. Then she explains to him how she

Nora's second, and strongest, break from society's rules was shown by her decision to leave Torvald and her children.  Society demanded that she take a place under her husband.  This is shown in the way Torvald spoke down to her saying things like "worries that you couldn't possibly help me with" (Ibsen Page #), and "Nora, Nora, just like a woman" (Ibsen page #).  She is almost considered to be property of his: "Mayn't I look at my dearest treasure?  At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me - that's all my very own" (Ibsen page #)?  By walking out she takes a position equal to her husband and destroys the very foundation of society's expectations of a wife and mother.  Nora also breaks society's expectations of staying in a marriage since divorce was frowned upon during that era.  Her decision represented a break from all expectations placed upon a woman by society. Throughout the play Nora is looked down upon and treated as a possession by her husband. She is

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.

The works of fiction also demonstrate defects in the characters’ relationship with their spouse by the men belittling their wives. From the beginning of the play, it is evident Torvald treats Nora like a pet. This is seen when Torvald hears Nora and asks “is that [a] little lark twittering out there” (Ibsen, 42). Through this quote, it is seen that Torvald treats his wife as a pet other than the human being she is.

Muzio Clementi known as “the father of the piano” was born in Rome, Italy in 1752. When he was very young his father became aware of his musical talent. He studied the fundamentals of music from his local church’s choirmaster. At the age of seven, he started taking organ lessons with Cordicelli. Clementi was so good that at the age of 14 he was appointed to the position of church organist. His exceptionally amazing talent was becoming known to more and more people. A wealthy Englishman by the name of Peter Beckford who is the cousin of the novelist William Thomas Beckford, visited Rome in 1766. He was so impressed with the young prodigy’s music talent that he made a deal with his father to take Clementi with him to Dorset, England. He agreed

Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.

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

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

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.