Use of Language in A Doll’s House Essay

Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” is a controversial play focusing on the marriage of Nora and Torvald Helmer. The play is filled with symbols that represent abstract ideas and concepts. These symbols effectively illustrate the inner conflicts that are going on between the characters. Henrik Ibsen’s use of symbolism such as the Christmas tree, the locked mailbox, the Tarantella, Dr. Rank’s calling cards, and the letters allows him to give a powerful portrayal to symbolize aspects of characters and their relationship to each other.

A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, both have central themes of search of self-identity within a social system. This is demonstrated by women characters from both plays breaking away from the social standards of their times and acting on their own terms. In most situations women are to be less dominant than men in society. These two plays are surprisingly different from the views of women in society and of the times and settings that they take place in.     

Commonly, we see female characters in literature completely at the discipline of their male counterparts. However, some females challenge the notion that subservience to the patriarchy is absolutely ‘necessary’. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd both create interesting female characters in Nora Helmer and Bathsheba Everdene respectively. Whether these women are truly either independent or dependent, is ambiguous in their pieces of literature.

Henrik Ibsen's, A Doll's House is definitely a unique story written by a very intelligent, complicated writer. I believe he intentionally wrote the play in a manner which would lead every reader to draw his own conclusions. He forces us to find our own interpretation of the play in context with our personal lives and experiences with the opposite sex. The theme may be interpreted by many as a study of the moral laws that men and women are required to follow by nature. I believe it is primarily based on the gender stereotypes that determine the role of women in society.

A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, portrays a young married woman, Nora, who plays a dramatic role of deception and self-indulgence. The author creates a good understanding of a woman’s role by assuming Nora is an average housewife who does not work; her only job is to maintain the house and raise the children like a stereotypical woman that cannot work or help society. In reality, she is not an average housewife in that she has a hired maid who deals with the house and children. Although Ibsen focuses on these “housewife” attributes, Nora’s character is ambitious, naive, and somewhat cunning. She hides a dark secret from her husband that not only includes borrowing money, but also forgery. Nora’s choices were irrational; she handled the

Henrick Ibsen in the play, “A Doll’s House” implies that deception of marriage derived from secrets can act as a poison that creates isolation and poses as a threat. Ibsen supports his implication by providing examples through figurative language to express the symbolism of the Tarantella dance and its relation to the characters, Nora and Torvald, and their marriage. The author’s purpose is to express Nora’s violent and aggressive movements during the Tarantella dance caused by anxiety and loathe towards Torvald in order to show that the poison has consumed her and she is trying to rid of it.

“Here I have been your doll wife, just as at-home I used to be papa’s doll child.” states Nora Helmer (A Doll House, Act 3 pg. 114). The play A Doll House was composed by Henrik Ibsen and is written in first person. It takes place in Norway in the late 1800s. A Doll house focuses on a woman name Nora Helmer who is married with children. After eight years of being married, she decides to end it. Nora ends her relationship to start a new life and discover herself. However; she does commit a selfish act by leaving her children behind with the father. Literary elements such as, plot ,setting, and theme enrich the play and the experience of the reader.

Nora Helmer and Kristine Linde represent the role of women in Henrik Ibsen’s, A Doll House. Their lives had always been in parallel. In the beginning of the story Nora lives a very happy life and has the role of a loving wife, while Kristine is a lonely widow. As the story develops; Nora Helmer and Kristine Linde emerge as contrasting characters; one goes on to liberate herself, while the other comes to security.

Ibsen’s “A Dolls House” is a story about a wife who forges her father's signature to obtain a loan that can save her authoritative husband from a life-threatening illness. Unfortunately, her husband’s co-worker Krogstad discovers the forged document and threatens to reveal her which would bring shame upon both Nora and her husband. Krogstad’s motivation to blackmail Nora begins when he finds out Mrs. Linde is now an employee at the bank. Believing Mrs. Linde was hired to replace him, Krogstad need’s Nora to influence her husband to retain his position.

Throughout A Doll’s House, the use of symbolism is present. Through Torvald’s actions, the reader develops a clear understanding of Nora and Torvald’s relationship and thus developing the role of women theme. Firstly, Torvald treats Nora as if she is a child, but Nora doesn’t act upon this until the end of the play. This symbolic action could be due to the constant reminder of Nora’s secret bank loan, which affects her attitude and interaction with her husband, along with the constant inequalities present between herself and Torvald. Secondly, although not typically considered as imagery, stage directions are very helpful to the reader as they provide visual information that the reader can use to help create the setting and act out interactions in their mind. And lastly, without prior knowledge of the play, the title seems nonsensical, but as the story unfolds, the title becomes clearly connected to the plot and the theme of the story through the use of symbolism.

Nora tells Torvald, “You and [me] I both would transform ourselves to the point that…I have stopped believing in miracles” (Kirszner and Mandell). Henrik Ibsen’s ending for his play, “A Doll House” must stay the same, or many integral parts of Nora’s story would not have any intrinsic value. Although the description of Nora’s character at the beginning of Act I as an irresponsible spender and her husband calls her “my squirrel” (Ibsen 6). The conclusion of the play showed that people can grow and how the character of Nora Torvald developed through Ibsen’s writing. What eventually bewildered Nora’s friends and family was her abrupt exit from their lives. The play illustrated her personal growth even though others did not understand leaving was the next phase in her maturation process. The ending of the play represents

In Henrik Ibsen’s, A Doll House, there are a strict set of patriarchal standards that Nora is obligated to meet as a woman of her time. It has been over one hundred years since Ibsen’s publication and in that time much has changed. There have been exceptional developments made when it comes to the fight for women’s equality. However, even though the patriarchy’s standards for women have altered with time they have not been eradicated and that is problematic.

Katherine Mansfield's "The Dolls House" seems to be a simple story about children receiving a own ideas and opinions. Even though everyone is entitled to their own opinion it is often bizarre to see how our opinions are based on those of others. This essay will outline the events that occurred in the story which are a big part in regards to the two different worlds of adults and children, and how they are separated from each other.

Write a paper that explains how history is portrayed in a particular play emphasizing what a certain historical event, personage, or situation enables the playwright to communicate. Discuss what effect the playwright's transformation of historical reality has on an audience.

A Doll’s House was published in Norway in 1879 by Henrik Isben. He is known as the father of Modern Theatre. He is also referred as the father of realism. The play is very interesting because of the funny dialogue, the unique characters, and Ibsen 's view of the place of ladies in the public eye. The main characters of the play is Nora Helmer and her husband Torvald Helmer. Imagine what it would be like to live in a doll 's home? It 's a house in which you are controlled and have no energy to settle on any solid choice; It 's a house in which you are a play thing for another person 's amusement. This sounds a ton like an awful marriage, so it 's a house in which your husband holds the satchel strings, in a manner of speaking, and abandons you with no influence over your family 's accounts. In fact, your husband keeps you on a tightrope. Such is the perceived life of Nora Helmer.