Tennessee Williams and Henrik Ibsen both beautifully illustrate their characters in their plays. Although characters Nora Helmer of A Doll’s House and Laura Wingfield of The Glass Menagerie are incredibly different, the authors used very similar techniques of creating them as convincing characters. Nora and Laura both undergo convincing character development with specific motivations behind their actions. Williams and Ibsen also use direct and indirect characterization to further develop Nora and Laura. Without such qualities, the characters would fall short of being memorable. Laura is a static character, like every other character in The Glass Menagerie. From beginning to end, she is described as “terribly shy” by two people—Tom and …show more content…
Unlike Laura, Nora is developed as a very round character through the use of indirect presentation. Over time, Nora builds up the confidence to leave her husband, who treats her like a plaything, a doll. Little things built up to make her marriage unhappy. In the beginning, Nora seems a bit ditzy, even a bit unintelligent, and not much of an intriguing character at all. She allows her husband to call her ridiculous things like his “sulky squirrel” or “little lark” and doesn’t seem the tiniest bit offended by it. She also seemed childish when her husband refused to give her spending money but exclaims, “Money!” when Helmer says “Nora, guess what I have here.” It’s like offering a little child a small present like candy to lift their spirits a little. And she poses to be a little scatterbrained when she couldn’t help but be a little prideful and slightly insensitive while talking to Mrs. Linde, who had almost nothing and was pretty miserable. At first she realized what she was doing and said “Oh, but thoughtless me, to sit here, chattering away. Sweet, good Kristine, can you forgive me?” but reverts back to doing so. Although Mrs. Linde insisted “No, no, no, tell me about yourself,” it seemed like she was saying that out of politeness as Mrs. Linde doesn’t seem like the kind of person to sit there and spill out all of her pains and sorrows. However, the ditzy side of Nora is really only skin deep. She is truly a round character. It can be seen that she is willing
In The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, and A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, each protagonist faces the difficulty of society’s rule. Tom, being the “man of the house”, provides for his family and is depended upon. Were as Nora is co-dependant of her puppet master of husband Torvald. Despite their differences, Tom and Nora parallel the flaws in their common daily lives.
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
Henrik Ibsen creates characters in A Doll’s House who change throughout the play. Ibsen’s use of foil characters helps the reader understand each individual character better. Some of the characters in the play are perceived as opposites but in fact share several similarities. Krogstad and Torvald, Christine and Nora, and Krogstad/Christine’s relationship and Torvald/Nora’s relationship are all foils to each other. Foil characters are mirror images of each other; they have similarities as well as differences.
When the audience first meets Mrs. Linde, she seems to be quite a contrast to the childish Nora. Nora is immature and
Nora and her husband have just found money through her husband’s raise at the bank, but Noar is unhappy with her relationship with Herman. “I mean that I was just passed from Papa’s hands to yours. You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I had all the same taste’s” (Isben 1606). Nora is not happy with where she is in the relationship. She is just being led like cattle, but she is now leaving so she will not have to deal with it anymore. “I’m leaving right now” (Ibsen 1606). There are similarities and differences in these aspects between the two plays. Tom in The Glass Menagerie is also sympathized for, but he is not the center of attention until the end of the play. Laura and Jim are the center of attention. This is until the audience finds out Jim and his girlfriend Betty are “going to be married the second of June” (Williams 1656). The tone in this play can be seen as gloomy. Not one character in this play has found what they want in life. Tom wants happiness, his mother wants a good man, and Laura wants a husband to love her. Tom in The Glass Menagerie wants to better his career and life, and Nora in A Doll’s house wants to better herself and pay back the debt she owes to Krogstad. In the end they both achieve their goal.In The Glass Menagerie Tom leaves to find a better life for himself, but he is then left with thinking about his sister and how he did her wrong. “Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you
From the title alone, Henrik Ibsen’s, A Doll’s House, carries an adolescent connotation, with dolls holding immediate association with young girls and youth. In this controversial playwright, Ibsen portrays his Danish protagonist as an ignorant juvenile. Set in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the 1880’s, Nora’s childlike character suggests what the lifestyle of many women during that time may have been. Ibsen reveals Nora’s innate, childlike nature incorporating strategic set placement and direction, significant symbols, an array of revealing dialogue, and elaborate description, healthy in detail.
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
Tennessee Williams has a gift for character. Not many playwrights do, and even fewer possess the unique ability to craft a character as paradoxical and complex as Amanda Wingfield. In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda is a very difficult character to understand because of her psychological disposition. Williams realizes this and provides the reader with a character description in hopes of making the character more accessible to meticulous analysis.
In many literary works, there are characters in which portray both similarities and differences. In the Play "A Doll's House," by Henrik Ibsen, two of the characters have many oppositions and congruencies. These characters go by the names of Nora Helmer and Mrs. Linde. Ibsen characterizes these women by describing their comparable and contrasting personalities. He does this by describing their financial situations as well as their family lives. He describes these women, as opposites while in fact there are some distinct similarities. They share many of the same values and goals. Both Nora and Mrs. Linde are strong women with a weak exterior.
Laura's glass menagerie seems to be the play's central symbol. "Laura's collection of glass animal figurines represents a number of facets of her personality. Like the figurines, Laura 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.
Laura is the character in the story that everyone feels compassion for once they finish reading. She’s different from the other characters. For some different is bad for others different is good. Tom
When we first meet Nora in A Doll’s House, she is a perfect wife, mother, and representation of a 19th century woman. She even seems to enjoy her role as a homemaker as shown when she says, regarding the children, “I will take
Nora's character is viewed as a young girl who doesn't have a care in the world. she demonstrates that she is not absolutely ignorant that and that her life is inconsistent with her actual identity. For example she challenges her spouse, Torvald, in little yet important courses by eating macaroons and afterwards deceiving him about it. She swears, only for the joy she gets from the minor defiance to social orders principles. Nora appears to be totally cheerful. She reacts warmly to Torvald's teasing, talks with energy about the additional cash his new employment will give them, and takes joy in the time she spends with her kids and companions. She doesn't appear to notice her doll-like presence, in which she is indulged, spoiled, and belittled.
In The Glass Menagerie, Laura lives in her own illusion of what she feels like is reality. Laura is a girl with no motivation to pursue a career or relationship. She lives in a world of delicate and fragile glass animals, a lot like herself on the inside. For example, the book says “Whereas fabricating an idealized past becomes Amanda’s compensation for her present existence, Laura’s retreat