Is Nora A Narcissist

Nora is one of the main characters in A Doll’s house and is a women struggling with the patriarchal values of the late 1800’s while also having internalized them so greatly her idea of freedom is what patriarchal society tells her she wants. She is labeled as a degenerate in the play due to her behaviour throughout the play which is considered morally bad because it goes against the values and expectations of the time. The first instant is a conversation between Dr. Rank and Nora with Mrs. Linde present: “Rank: See here, macaroons! I thought they were contraband here. Nora: Yes, but these are some that Kristine gave me.” (Ibsen, p.199). This first instance shows her behaviour going against the value of the time because she has lied to Dr. Rank about the origins of the macaroons which is considered morally wrong because you are not supposed to lie, especially a women. This impulsiveness to lie and to hide the true origins of the macaroons Nordau states is a symptom of being a degenerate: “The two psychological roots of moral insanity, in all its degrees of development are, firstly, unbounds egoism, and, secondly, impulsiveness i.e., inability to resist- sudden impulse to any deed.” (Nordau, p. 18-19).

Throughout the entirety of the play, Nora's conformity is shown through the conventional lifestyle of Nora and her husband. Her calculated actions are determined by the need to maintain this image placed upon her as wife and mother. As a wife, she worries

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 However, when Torvald tries to dismiss his insults after receiving a note that her contract was revoked, she does not accept his apologizes and decides to leave Torvald and her children to "make sense of [her]self and everything around [her]" (Ibesen 100).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

Throughout A Doll’s House, Torvald views Nora’s actions as being deceiving not only towards him but also towards her family. However, Nora gain her perspective on her own actions and begins observing it differently than Torvald’s. The play states, “ It was me they told that his life was in danger...well, well, I thought, you’ve got to be saved somehow. And then I thought of a way-,” (Ibsen 35-36). Within Nora’s and Mrs. Linde’s private conversation, Nora conveys that her manipulation of money revealed how she deceives her husband even though it was in good intent to save his life. In addition, this demonstrates Nora’s willingness to think about others, such as her husband, before realizing for herself that there were going to be consequences for her later on. Within the play, Nora states, “ You have never understood me. A

In the film Joan demonstrates what Benokraitis (2015:162) explains is narcissism; playing with love. Benokraitis (2015:162) also expresses that “Narcissists believe that they are unique, smarter, and more attractive than others, and they constantly seek attention”. Linda Martinez-Lewi, Ph.D. Narcissistic Personality Clinical Expert, articulates that “Narcissistic mothers are one woman armies of human destruction. They are an elite team of ninja killers of the psyches of their children. One narcissistic mother does more psychological damage than you can imagine”. In her book she writes that “Showing disingenuous compassion or concern for others is a clever stage act the high-level narcissist uses to convince others to play his or her game” (Martinez-Lewi, 2008:18).

Firstly, Nora and Torvald have different opinions regarding money: he upholds that borrowing is never an alternative to financial problems, but acknowledges that Nora does not follow this rule. Torvald believes she cannot help her tendency of over-spending, describing it as a hereditary condition: "It is in the blood; for indeed it is true that you can inherit these things, Nora." (p 9). She has been content to maintain her secret of borrowing money from Krogstad without her husband’s consent. This allows her husband to think of her as a possession and an expense, as "One would hardly believe how expensive such little persons are." (p 8). This becomes the main source from which the play 's tension originates. This is essential, as Nora’s terror of Torvald uncovering this secret causes her to weave an increasingly unstable web of lies, which subsequently collapses around her

Nora has been put down by her husband. Torvald says, “You can’t deny it, my little dear. It’s a sweet little spendthrift, but she uses up a deal of money.” (Ibsen, Page 6). He doesn’t take her seriously and he treats her like a child.

In the play “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, Nora goes through a transformation of self-realization. Nora lives a doll-like existence. she responds lovingly to her husband’s pet names such as “my little lark” or “my little squirrel” (Ibsen, 793). She does not mind playing a role for her husband. As the play progresses, Nora show that she is not a little girl. She understands how business work by taking out a loan behind her husband’s back to save his life. When she is blackmail by Krogstad, her eyes open to her unfulfilled and underappreciated life. she realizes that she been putting on a show for her husband. Nora has pretended to be someone else in order to fulfilled a role for not only her husband but also her father

Nora thought she did the right thing by borrowing money when Helmer was sick and not telling him. She knows that it was illegal to forge her father’s signature but feels that this crime should not apply to her because she had the good intention of helping her husband get well. This can be seen as an example of the subordinate position of women in society. Nora was thinking of the well being of her husband, while not thinking about the rules of the business world which is where men had all of the power at the time and even today. This is evident when Krogstad, the man she borrowed money from, comes to meet with Nora with the forged loan to discuss what she has done.

Nora is described as a fragile woman that has been spoiled throughout her lifetime. The men

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

In the story “Doll House” Nora had been previously scolded by her husband and finally informed Torvald, “I’m saying we’ve never sat down seriously and got to the bottom of things” (936 MLM). Nora was done being treated as a child by Torvald. He shielded her from the world, like her father, and would never let her form an opinion stray from his own. He wouldn’t let her talk of the serious matters in life, from morality to simple decisions with money, that had to do with being her own person with her own mind. This led Nora to leave and find herself as Torvald would not let her just be with his grown instinct that love from a husband must have a controlling nature over the wife in the marriage, not an equality between the

Nora proceeds to apologize and plays the role of the obedient wife. Nora has the right to spend extra money after what she has been through for the first few years of marriage. Nora and Torvald were very poor. Torvald also became sick and had to travel to Italy to recover. Nora secretly and illegally got a loan to pay for the trip to Italy. During the time setting of the play, women weren’t allowed to do certain things without their husband’s permission such as take out loans. Nora has been working extra hard to pay back her debt and the promotion that Torvald will receive will help Nora become debt free.

Nora has never had the chance to grow as a person on her own, and as a result remains very erratic and irresponsible. In the very first scene, Nora pays the Porter hundred pence instead of fifty pence. Though it is not a significant amount of money, it shows how reckless and irresponsible she can be. Nora also has a disregard for others’ feelings and their welfare. An example of this is when Nora starts talking about her children, immediately after learning that Mrs. Linde did not have any children, without paying any attention to possibly hurting Mrs. Linde’s feelings. She blames Mrs. Linde for smuggling the forbidden macaroons into the house in an attempt to hide Nora’s crimes. Even though Nora insists that she had taken out the loan only for Torvald’s sake, she also says that once Torvald knows about the loan she wants him to appreciate and admire her for being more than just an ordinary housewife – which shows Nora’s actions were not as selfless as she made them appear.

Nora then has to keep her husband from knowing about the loan, and doing many things such as dancing with him. The play also pivots on the point that Nora is in a struggle to gain power from her husband. In a relationship the power needs to be shared between the participants. Nora does all she can to gain power which includes lying to her husband and always asking for money from him. She does many things that deceive him, and it is all about who has the power. Nora just wants her husband to respect her and know that she can be independent without him, and to have a miracle where he shares all his