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Theme of Hamlet
Analysis of the doll's house
Analysis of the doll's house
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The “Doll House” is a drama piece bringing to readers the typical occurrences that take place in marriages. At the beginning, Nora, the protagonist of the play and a typical housewife believes that true marriage is based on obedience. She put in illustration the act of being good to her parents as a daughter, obedient as a wife, and responsible as a mother. Torvald the husband of Nora is a man who is extremely successful and also projects on the act of being manipulative. As the breadwinner he is dominant and controlling and shows such characteristics at every given opportunity. In Torvald’s opinion, to have true marriage, a husband should be the model of his wife and breadwinner as it is from the named drama piece, Nora is the Doll in the house; “Doll House”.
The theme throughout the play highlight’s the idea of Nora being the doll toy owned by Torvald. This theme is repeated in words and actions that boldly is manipulation and domination as opposed to obedience, adjustment, and respect. Nora believes in self-fulfillment, and always desires what is there to be taken, but never has the interest to give anything unless it happens to be mandatory. Nora is the lady that sits and waits to be spoon fed by another. No matter what the circumstances are she inevitably digests all the poison and bitterness Torvald and the other characters push down her throat. Her love for money is far from normal; she demands as much money as Torvald earns. He always gives her everything she desires which explains why she never feels the need to change. All that Nora is, is not for her to be blamed, but for Torvald to be blamed. He made her who she is, being supportive and in agreement with her self-status. In contrast to further on in the play, Nora t...
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...that the only dolls should ever be in a house are children and pets. With all that knowledge gained by Nora she separates herself from Torvald. Torvald on the other hand after pleading for Nora to stay with him becomes sad with his only cares; his career and outdoor reputation which helps him to figure out they were the masters of incompatibility. This results in the separation to be the end of the drama and tells him that marriage is equality, and far more important than a successful career and the best reputation he could ever have. As for Kristine and Krogstad, separation ends for unity to takes place and their marriage becomes mature and succumb the effects of time. They lose their spouses, depend on each other for survival, and are pieces of each other. True marriage in this sense now is based upon ultimate sacrifice and responsibility.
Works Cited
Book, web
Throughout the play we never get to know who the real Nora is and what her true personality consists of. Nora also realizes that she does not know who she is, and decides to leave her life. She comments that she needs to discover who she is separate from her husband, children and more importantly society. Nora feels she is not respected, and she is a “doll” to her husband.
All in all, from this vivid analysis of the role of marriage in “A Doll’s House” and “The House of Bernarda Alba”, one can see that marriage did not have much value and was completely devoid of emotion. In these two tragedies the idea of marriage is influenced by the cruel society and its orthodox views and beliefs in general that mould a “model” citizen. Ultimately, in both of these works of literature, marriage is a key theme that forms a substantial amount of the plot of the story and marriage is also an element that repressed individuals in the dramas who finally took extreme measures to free themselves from the unrelenting grasp of societies vortex.
In “A Dollhouse,” Nora is stuck in a marriage with a rich man who has no respect for her. Nora’s husband Torvald, does not think his
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, a drama written in the midst of an 1879, middle-class, suburban Europe, he boldly depicts a female protagonist. In a culture with concern for fulfilling, or more so portraying a socially acceptable image, Nora faces the restraints of being a doll in her own house and a little helpless bird. She has been said to be the most complex character of drama, and rightfully so, the pressure of strict Victorian values is the spark that ignites the play's central conflicts. Controversy is soon to arise when any social-norm is challenged, which Nora will eventually do. She evolves throughout the play, from submissive housewife to liberated woman. It seems as though what took women in America almost a century to accomplish, Nora does in a three-day drama. Ibsen challenges the stereotypical roles of men and women in a societally-pleasing marriage. He leads his readers through the journey of a woman with emerging strength and self-respect. Nora plays the typical housewife, but reveals many more dimensions that a typical woman would never portray in such a setting.
Throughout Act one, Nora’s most noticeable characteristic is her child like personality and her inability to understand the importance of honesty. As the play opens on Christmas Eve Nora comes home with an abundance of extravagant gifts for her family. She also eats some macaroons that she secretly bought that her husband doesn’t allow her to eat. When questioned about the purchase of the dessert by her husband Torvald Helmer, she denies it. Through this act of deception we are able to see that Nora, in denying buying and eating the macaroons is more like a child to her husband. In a normal husband-wife relationship, the wife would have admitted that she did in fact eat them due to the fact that they are on an equal playing field. In this case, Nora was scared to tell him in fear that she will be punished and get in trouble. The deception allows us into Nora’s mind to see that she hasn’t yet understood that if she stand up for herself and says that she did, that with time Torvald will stop treating her like one of his children but instead like the mother and wife that she is. Throughout the first scene yo...
Weintraub, Stanley. ""Doll's House" Metaphor Foreshadowed in Victorian Fiction." Nineteenth-Century Fiction 13: 67-69. Web. 6 Jan. 2011.
In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen wrote a play that showed how one woman, Nora Helmer, stood up to her husband after feeling like she was useless to their marriage and their family. Nora’s husband, Torvald Helmer, was the man of the house and would make every decision for the family, especially for Nora. He supported her financially, but not emotionally. He always took it upon himself to do everything a man was supposed to do at the time, but never let Nora explore herself. He made sure she was kept as just a wife and nothing more. As it was mentioned in the play, Nora was arranged into the marriage by her father. While going through eight years of marriage, she finally felt it was time to find herself as an independent woman in...
When attending a masquerade, a person is expected to wear a mask. In fact, it’s looked down upon if a mask isn’t worn. But, what if for some people that mask never came off? In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, each character has constructed their own metaphorical mask that they set firmly in place every morning when exiting their bed. Each character: Nora, Torvald, Kristine and Krogstad all have masks that they put in place when speaking to each other. Throughout most of the play, it is clear that all of the aforementioned characters have multiple facades that they use when speaking to one another; often switching quickly as they begin speaking to someone else. Henrik Ibsen’s use of the masquerade serves as an extended metaphor to show the masks that the characters use in their everyday lives.
When reading A Doll’s House, the author tries to pursue the message that a true happy marriage is a marriage of equal parts between both people. In the beginning Torvald and Nora have a happy, typical, marriage that anybody in that time would have. There are many examples that show that towards the end of the play, a happy and equal marriage is something that Nora and Torvald don’t have. Once Norra leaves Torvald, there are many good and bad consequences that have the possibility of happening. There are many good and bad things that happen between their marriage, but in the end, the couple doesn’t know how to act as equals.
At the beginning of the play, Nora is already seen defying Torvald’s wishes by eating some macaroons. Not only that, but when Torvald reminds Nora about last Christmas and how Nora “locked [herself] up every evening, till way past midnight, making flowers for the Christmas tree” (1.125-127). Nora told Torvald that she “wasn’t bored at all” (1.129). This small act of defiance towards Torvald might seem like nothing special, but it is a subtle hint that Nora no longer wants to be Torvald’s plaything. Another instance of defiance happens right after, when Nora discusses her loan with Mrs. Linde.
Nora Helmer was a delicate character and she relied on Torvald for her identity. This dependence that she had kept her from having her own personality. Yet when it is discovered that Nora only plays the part of the good typical housewife who stays at home to please her husband, it is then understandable that she is living not for herself but to please others. From early childhood Nora has always held the opinions of either her father or Torvald, hoping to please them. This mentality makes her act infantile, showing that she has no ambitions of her own. Because she had been pampered all of her life, first by her father and now by Torvald, Nora would only have to make a cute animal sound to get what she wanted from Torvald, “If your little squirrel were to ask you for something very, very, prettily” (Ibsen 34) she said.
From Henrik Ibsen’s play, “A Doll’s House”, The lives of Nora, Torvald, and their three children seem to be normal in the beginning until Torvald begins to talk to Nora. Since Torvald believes that as the man in his own home, he has the advantage of doing whatever he wants such as teasing and ordering his wife around as if she was a useless toy (perhaps a doll?). I began to feel sympathetic towards Nora for her character is vulnerable to Torvald. He would call her strange pet names such as “squirrel” or “songbird”, and even order her around to do ridiculous things such as practicing the “tarantella” so she can perform for guests. One part that came to my attention was the scene where Torvald blames Nora’s actions on her own father. He tells Nora, “Ah well, one takes you as you are. It runs in the blood. It’s
Nora engages in a mutually dependent game with Torvald in that she gains power in the relationship by being perceived as weak, yet paradoxically she has no real power or independence because she is a slave to the social construction of her gender. Her epiphany at the end at the play realises her and her marriage as a product of society, Nora comes to understand that she has been living with a constr...
Nora is a dynamic character. When the play begins Nora is viewed and presented as a playful and carefree person. She seems to be more intent on shopping for frivolous things. But, as time goes on it becomes apparent that Nora actually has a certain amount of seriousness in her decisions and actions in dealing with the debt she incurred to save Torvald’s life. Nora’s openness in her friendship with Dr. Rank changes after he professes his affections toward her. Her restraint in dealing with him shows that Nora is a mature and intelligent woman. Nora shows courage, not seen previously, by manipulating her way around Krogstad and his threats to reveal her secret. After feeling betrayed by Torvald, Nora reveals that she is leaving him. Having
We see a woman who is making a bold action against gender inequality and the position society and culture has given her. As for Nora, we see in this first conversation that she seems entirely dependent on Torvald for her money, her food, and her shelter, despite the fact that she is keeping a secret. This secret is the kernel of her individuality and her escape from the doll’s house. While it is easy to paint Helmer as a tyrant and Nora as the naïve wife who suffers under his control, one must not forget that torvald is not aware of any damage he is causing. His greatest sin is perhaps his ignorance. The shock he shows at Nora’s revelation shows that he has no awareness that there is anything wrong with the status balance in his