Jessica DeMoss DeMoss 1
Professor Stiles/ Whitson
English 100/ 235
22 February 2011 In Sickness and in Health What does it mean to be married? People take on many different roles as husbands and wives, but what roles lead to a happy marriage? A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen, shows how the main character, Nora, takes on her role as Torvald Helmer’s wife, which is best described as “doll-like”. Throughout the course of the play and as troubles brew for Nora, the audience takes note that a marriage needs more than just a good façade to work. It is almost safe to say that the audience will learn what not to do in a marriage by reading A Doll’s House. First of all, a marriage needs both the husband and the wife to make decisions for the relationship. In the beginning of the play, Nora not only accepts her role as a doll in Torvald’s house but she actually embraces it like the meaning to life. She takes pride in making everything pleasing to Torvald, including the Christmas tree. And like the Christmas tree, she hides herself until she is ready to be presented. It is obvious to the audience that Torvald likes Nora acting like a child. He calls her belittling pet names such as “little squirrel” and “little skylark”. Nora is not really allowed to make any sort of decisions by herself including spending money and eating macaroons. When Nora expresses her lack of interest in saving money, Torvald exclaims “That is like a woman!” Torvald believes women do not know a thing about finances. The audience also sees instantly that Torvald is extremely concerned with appearance. He thinks that it would DeMoss 2 be embarrassing to be seen with any sort of conflict, especially with his wife. Maybe if Torvald was not so concerned with appearance, he could take time to really understand what is going on right under his nose. It is clear that Torvald believes a proper place for his wife is as his puppet or as his child because he is always guiding her to do what he thinks is right. This issue is definitely more common in less modern times than it is now but it is still crucial to a marriage that both people are involved as equally as possible in the affairs of their household. It may not have seemed this way for Torvald because he actually enjoyed his wife’s dependence on him, and in some cases this too can work but the result, as we can see, can lead to unhappiness. Torvald even said, “Do you know that I’ve often wished you were facing some terrible dangers so that I could risk life and limb, risk everything, for your sake?” As a husband, Torvald likes saving Nora so much that he wishes that opportunities like that will arise. Another crucial necessity of marriage and for any other relationship is honesty. From the beginning, Nora cannot be honest with her husband because she is afraid. She must always be on alert to hide something if Torvald should come into the room. Nora is deathly afraid about her secret of borrowing money. Even when telling him seems like the best solution, she knows that he will be incredibly ashamed to learn that his wife has borrowed money and has forged her father’s signature behind his back. Nora even considers suicide before Torvald reads Krogstad’s letter just so she does not have to endure telling him the truth. Nora and Torvald are not the only couple in the play that could benefit from being honest with each other. Once Mrs. Linde has a word with Mr. Krogstad and tells him the truth about how she feels, they both benefit because now they can move on and be with each other happily. Krogstad even agreed to turn the forged note to the Helmers after experiencing great truth and great joy with Mrs. Linde. This shows that DeMoss 3 love can go a long way with honesty attached. Honesty is not only good for the couples in this play but it is also good for Nora as an individual. She experiences great realization once the truth is revealed about
the late 1800s, the traditional family was depicted as a working father, stay-at-home mother, and children. Many ideas of the nuclear family still define the role of family in society today, but it is not as structured as it was back then. “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen portrays how society and culture influence an individual’s sense of identity and come to understand themselves and their place in the world. Nora, the main character, is a mother and a wife and is largely influenced by the people and…
March 2014 Character Analysis: Nora Helmer At first the protagonist, Nora, seems a little bit off. When her husband, Torvald, calls her things like his "little squirrel," "featherhead," she doesn't seem to mind. In fact she seems to not mind it or just be into it. When Torvald first calls her a spendthrift, we're pressured to agree. So far, we've seen her give the porter a good tip, come in with tons of Christmas presents, and not take into account the idea of debt. Soon, though, we see that Nora…
It is Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer enters the house with packages and a Christmas tree. She pays the porter double what she owes him and eats some macaroons. Her husband, Torvald Helmer, comes out of his study and addresses Nora with tenderness and authority, calling her his “skylark” and his “squirrel.” Nora tells Torvald that she wants to show him what she has bought, and Torvald teases her for being a spendthrift. Nora replies that she and Torvald can afford to be extravagant, since Torvald’s new…
and you go on with your normal life. That is exactly what Nora Helmer does in the play, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. For most of her marriage, Nora has been pretending to be someone she’s not. She conforms to Torvald’s beliefs because she doesn’t want him to stop loving her. At the end of the play, Nora realizes that all she is, is a doll in his house and questions whether Torvald really loves her or not. In the beginning of the story, Nora seems happy…
Christine Bernal Dr Ryan World Drama 12 Dec 2014 A Doll’s House; Appearance vs. Reality, Selfishness Henrik Ibsen, considered by many to be the father of modern prose drama, while living in Italy in 1879, Ibsen published his masterpiece, A Doll’s House. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen uses the themes and structures of classical tragedy while writing a play about every day, unexceptional people. Nora borrows money from Krogstad while Torvald is in danger of dying, but forges her father’s signature. Krogstad…
The Doll’s House Throughout the play, A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen the role of women was very different then it is now. During the 19th Century, women were often seen as weak and ineffective. They also relied very heavily on the man to provide for them and were expected to stay home while they cook, clean and take the care of their children. Henrik Ibsen gives his readers a glimpse of what is what like to be a woman during this time by showing how Torvald treated his wife…
Throughout our history as human beings men and women were always distinguished as men being the superior and women being inferior. One of the major themes of the play A Doll’s House by Ibsen were the roles of men and women, how they act in society. This portrayed through the characters Torvald, the husband and Nora, the wife. Two major examples in act one supports this theme. First example is the way Torvald calls Nora. The second example is when Nora takes out a loan. These examples show theme the…
father. Before my sixteenth birthday I had the world at my hands and hard times didn’t exist at least not that I had seen. I did my best with what I was given and never feared to let my parents down it wasn’t an option. Failure did not exist in my house when I was growing up and I’ve always been taught to take everything as a blessing. My greatest concern was, when were my parents going to let me drive my new car and how i'd spend my next pay check. I was sixteen young, free and ready to drive…
A Doll House Built for the Future Ibsen's A Doll House or A Doll's House is a play regarded as highly radical for its time. It sparked a great deal of controversy and critizism. A number of people refused to be involved with it's production, some threatened to take matters into their own hands and rewrite the ending themselves. Though it was met with incredible critizism in its time, A Doll House has survived until today where it is still widely produced and since been translated into numerous languages…
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. Henrik Ibsen's widely regarded work, A Doll's House, was first introduced in 1879 as a theatrical presentation of human rights. Today, Ibsen's work remains as such, although often conveyed as more focused on women's rights. The Norwegian playwright's vision of a seemingly common home is quickly translated…