The Theme of the Individual vs Society in A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler

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

Nora only achieves maturity when she leaves her husband and children. Through her abandonment she was able to receive closure on the aspect of her life that was preventing her from reaching her full potential. Prior to her leaving, Nora explains to Torvald what she must do for her best interests. "I have to try to educate myself," she says, "You can't help me with that. I've got to do it alone. And that's why I'm leaving you now" (Ibsen 192). Torvald responds by saying that she has no right to neglect her duties to her husband and children. Nora explains, "I have other duties equally sacred...Duties to myself. I believe that, before all else, I'm a human being, no less than you-or anyway, I ought to try to become one" (Ibsen 193). Nora reprioritizes her life and realizes that she needs to cater to her personal needs and establish a life of her own before she can tend to the lives of others. Ibsen is implying that the woman

With the home she lives in, her "self" is very much silenced, and this eventually comes to displease her. As she confesses to Torvald of her decision, she tells him her most sacred duty, "Duties to myself"(Act III, 76). She begins to realize that not every woman has to rely on a manly figure to survive in society, and begins to take on the rebellion by going on a journey to seek her own individuality with determination. It will make one inhumane if they lost their own precious soul; Nora created the right path for herself and also for future women who struggle with finding their own

Authors’ own political and social views often infuse their writing, as Hardy frequently commented on the hypocrisy of Victorian attitudes to women. However, in contrast, Ibsen’s play was received very differently to how it was intended, as he said ‘I

Nora begins to take offence to the words of Torvald. He refers to her as his most “prized possession”, and continues to say that he often imagines her as though she is his mistress, and she is a temptress. Nora continues to get offended, telling Torvald she doesn’t want any of this. Nora begins

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.

To begin with, the plot starts when Nora saying that her and her husband have never had a serious conversation. They have never solved any problems they were having previously in their marriage. Torvard her husband, is confused and doesn’t understand what she is saying. She goes on about how he doesn’t understand her and why she feels like she’s been treated unfairly. Like the treatment that her dad would give her when she was younger. Nora never had her own thoughts or opinions and was taught to only think one way, the way that her father wanted her to think. Feeling like she is property that was passed down from her father to her husband. Torvard asked her if she is unhappy and she admits to never being happy even though he treated her nicely. Explaining to him how she wants to find herself and put herself first. The husband begs

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

Ibsen utilizes the boundaries of the “inexpensively furnished” (147) room to create Nora’s symbolic cage displaying how she is physically unable to leave the confines of the room and the role in which every 19th century wife must play. In Act I, Nora plays her façade of the frivolous “funny little spendthrift” (150) in an effort to seem as defenseless as the woodland creatures Torvald finds so endearing and subsequently patronizing. Nora’s quarantine is enhanced as she is called a “squirrel…skylark, and little bird” (150) by Torvald, infantilizing her character and consequently solidifying her inability to escape the confines of her assumed womanly role. Nora readily assumes the position of a subordinate and feeble woman to protect the illusion she perceives as a complete home in addition to avoid “[being] completely alone” (154). This absolute isolation in adherence to the role in which she has been nurtured to conform to is slowly deteriorating her character, which is displayed in the increased sporadic nature of “poor little Nora’s” (152) actions and her lack of ability to focus as the play progresses. Nora’s childlike behaviors steadily become more obvious as her fixated birdcage becomes increasingly suffocating, the discomfort with her current isolation grows and as her mask of perfection slowly disintegrates.

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

The play also does suggest that women should leave their controlling husbands or lovers in order to gain the independence they are seeking. Nora’s husband Torvald plays the dominant role in their relationship. Torvald often would degrade Nora by calling her “silly girl” referring to her not being able to make decisions on her own, so he thought. Nora plays the role of a loving mother and respectful wife, whom is all about her family. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That’s how I’ve survived.

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

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.

First of all, Ibsen shows women’s struggle in Nora. In Act I, there’s part where Nora and Krogstad talks and he says,” When your husband was sick, you came to me for a loan of four thousand, eight hundred crowns.” (Page 1037) This was Nora’s

Nora, the innocent little housewife, starts off as a harmless little doll but soon changes. She is Torvald’s perfect wife in the beginning of the play, but little does he know that she has a mind of her own and isn’t really his little doll. The opening of Nora’s ulterior personality starts when she opens up to Mrs. Linde (Act 1). Nora bleeds to Mrs. Linde her financial problems with the trip that she spent two hundred and fifty pounds on, on her husband. Being the reader, I was shocked to hear so knowing how harmless and perfect Nora appeared to be. Then later on, the plot unfolds and reveals the incriminating fact that Nora had been owing Krogstad this money the whole time and had been paying him back in increments with the allowance given to her by Torvald. It is crazy that Nora had been so sneaky all along and had been keeping it away from Torvald all along. Nora is then stuck in a dilemma when Krogstad blackmailed her by telling her that she has to get his job back or he’ll reveal the whole thing to