Vincent DeLaurentis
12 July 2015
Intro to Literature
Professor Ayres
Deceit Is Not The Way To A New Beginning
“A Doll’s House” is a story about a husband and wife, who are well off, and going through the Christmas holidays. Helmer, the Husband, is going to start a new job after the New Year. There is a strong focus on the marriage. In fact, when I first read "A Doll 's House," I thought marriage was the theme, but with closer examination now I realize the real theme is deceit. I will use examples from the play, symbolism, and character analysis to demonstrate this idea.
The first example of lying is when Nora comes back from being out and shopping for Christmas gifts. She has macaroons in her pockets, and has eaten a couple already. There is
There is no point in lying about this. However, this sets the tone for the rest of the play, and allows lying and deceit to snowball after this. The second example of lying, which really stands out, is when Krogstad has deposited a letter into the locked mailbox. This letter essentially holds the fate of Nora, because it tells of her misdeed towards Helmer. She tries to get the letter out. To do so, she must pick the lock. She tries to do this with a hairpin, but she fails in her attempt. Helmer notices this and says, “What is this? Someone has been at the lock.” Nora replies, “At the lock?” Helmer, “Yes, someone has. What can it mean? I should never have thought the maid. Here is a broken hairpin. Nora, it is one of yours.” Nora, “Then it must have been the children” (Act 3, 198-201). This is an important dialogue that really drives the deceit theme home. Earlier in the play, Helmer mentions that a mother, who is a liar, does not deserve to raise her children. This is ironic because not only is she being deceitful to Helmer, she is also blaming the children to save her from
This was going to take place after the New Year. However, this did not happen because the amount of deceit taking place in the household. Nora’s constant lying drove the marriage apart, from Nora’s side, keeping the secret, and Helmer’s side, learning of the secret. After Helmer had learned the secret, Nora left the household. The audience can see here how she felt, “Never to see him again. Never! Never! Never to see my children again either never again. Never! Never! Ah! the icy, black water the unfathomable depths If only it were over! He has got it now he is reading it. Goodbye, Torvald and my children” (Act 3, 248-252). Throughout the play she had felt disparaged. This was symbolized by the Christmas Tree she decorated. After this, in the beginning of scene two, we learn that Christmas Tree had been stripped of all of its ornaments, and also that it had been pushed back into the corner of the room. This is symbolic of how Nora felt. She felt like she had nothing left and that she was unappreciated. This is also symbolic of emptiness as well. There is nothing on the Christmas tree, just as Nora felt that her deceit had stripped her of all her ornaments so to speak. The final symbol, which confirms the theme of deceit, is the letters. These letters are what dictated the actions of Nora and Ms. Linde. The letter, which Krogstad had written,
In the Doll’s House, Nora dutifully lies to save Torvald from dying of illness. The readers are told that Nora’s husband, Torvald, fell sick. Nora lied to him about why she needed to borrow money. Though she told him she want to travel to shop (Ibsen 11), the doctors told her in order to save the ill-fallen Torvald, he needed to go to the South (Ibsen 10). Since she cannot borrow the money, Nora forges her father’s signature to save her husband’s life. It might seem as if Nora’s lying is wrong, but in reality, it was justified because Torvald would not have gone to Italy if he had known he was sick. He thought of her as a child, not capable of making adult decisions (Ibsen 69). Would not it make sense for Nora borrow money to help Torvald, even if it meant forging a signature and keeping it a secret? Krogstad also would not have lent Nora the money if he had known she was the actual borrower, not her father. Nora lies for reasons pertaining to life and death. She is not being deceptive to keep herself out of trouble. For these reasons, her deceit is defendable.
Everyone has a poker face. Everyone has a bunbury. Everyone keeps secrets, and everyone lies. The question is, how does one tell if another is truthful about their intentions? There are many different cases in which one will lie about who they really are, but there is no telling when it is okay and if they can be forgiven. In many different stories that were read in Late British Literature this semester, we have characters that keep secrets from friends and loved ones. The simple truth is, people’s words are often different from the truth.
Honesty helps people bond. One of the characters, Emilia, lies about her life at the Kleist’s farm and about her friend August, who she said she was married to because she was ashamed of being raped by a Russian soldier. She thought if she lied about it to everyone, including herself, then
When David told his wife their daughter died, he expects that she will get over it soon, when in reality, she gets depressed over the death of her daughter so she keeps herself busy by getting a job. Also every time David looks at his wife, he thinks of what he did, and because of this he can’t always talk to her because it’s too hard. Norah says, “David...what is happening to us?” (Edwards 51) and later describes their marriage as if there was a wall between her and David. In both of these examples, the author shows that lying is never good because of the unknown consequences that will come up in the future.
First and foremost, the act of lying can cause a lot of wrongs and damage. For example, Abigail Williams told her uncle, Reverend Parris, that all the girls including herself were only dancing in the woods. This is not truthful because in the beginning of act 1 in the Crucible it was stated that Reverend Parris saw Tituba waving her hands over the fire mumbling gibberish while the girls danced and someone ran through the trees naked. Knowing this it had also caused a lot in the village due to the belief of witchcraft. Abigail denied it but told the girls that if anyone questioned them to keep hush and claim that they had only danced. “Listen
Some say that children always have one very delicious thing on their mind, sweets! Macaroons are “a flourless egg-white-based cookie. Most often made with coconut… it can also include nuts or nut paste. Macaroons are often served for dessert at Passover celebrations, since they don’t contain flour” ( "What’s the Difference Between a Macaroon and a Macaron?" ). Nora throughout the play lies to Torvald about different things. The first lie the reader may notices is the macaroons at the beginning of the play, which seems innocent considering the lie is about cookies but it symbolizes a much bigger problem in their marriage. This immediately shows the reader how willing Nora is to lie to Torvald an...
...t him. However the true character of Torvald seems nothing like the imagined one of Nora, for he gives in to the demands of Krogstad very quickly upon assessing the situation. She originally experiences denial, because she forced herself to believe that Torvald will come to her rescue. The third piece of mail shows Nora the truth about her husband, and makes her realize how he mistreats her. Therefore, it reveals the lie that she tricked herself into believing, that Torvald is not the man she wanted to believe he was. In fact, it could be argued that Nora never in fact loved Torvald at all, and any love expressed in the marriage was a lie in itself. In that case the note also reveals the facade put on during their marriage. Ibsen used the letter symbolizing the true nature of Nora's husband to point out the lie that she choose to believe about their relationship.
Richard Gunderman asks the question, "Isn 't there something inherently wrong with lying, and “in his article” Is Lying Bad for Us?" Similarly, Stephanie Ericsson states, "Sure I lie, but it doesn 't hurt anything. Or does it?" in her essay, "The Ways We Lie.” Both Gunderman and Ericsson hold strong opinions in regards to lying and they appeal to their audience by incorporating personal experiences as well as references to answer the questions that so many long to confirm.
In Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House we encounter the young and beautiful Nora on Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer seems to be a playful and affectionate young woman full of life and zeal. As the play progresses, we learn that Nora is not just a “silly girl” (Ibsen) as Torvald refers to her. She learns of the business world related to debt that she acquired by taking out a loan in order to save her beloved Torvalds life. Although Krostad’s blackmail does not change Nora’s whimsical nature it opens her eyes to her underappreciated potential. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald,” (Find diff quote perhaps?) she exclaims in her confrontation with Torvald. She realizes that she has been putting on a facade for
This leads Nora into a frenzy of techniques to convince her husband into not firing Krogstad, however; Nora had been the one who recommended Mrs Linde to work for Helmer, who is now the one replacing Krogstad. After many attempts, Nora is unable to convince Helmer to keep Krogstad. The last day she seems hopeless and willing to assume the consequences, she has a final opportunity at getting away with it; by finding out Mrs Linde and Krogstad have unsolved romantic affairs and that he is deeply in love with her. This new development convinces Krogstad to be with Mrs linde, but unfortunately the previous letter telling everything about the debt and forgery was already in Helmer’s mail. When the night comes for Helmer to read his mail, he finds out about the note and Nora’s mistakes, he is quick to think of a way to come up clean, while at the same time dishonoring Nora for her actions. “ Oh, what an awful awakening! In all these eight years-she who was my pride and joy-a hypocrite, a liar-worse, worse-a criminal” (Doll Act 3). Nora’s attitude at this point is guilt and shame. Soon after another letter is received. Krogstad sends the note, implicitly liberating them from all guilt and also attaches a letter apologizing and explaining the events that recently took place in his life,
She lies to the bank so she doesn’t get charged with “$60 in overdraft fees”, out-and-out lie. She does not tell the truth to her husband about her day so he does not “[keel] over,” white lie. She lies to her clients so that she does not get fired for telling the truth about the reason she is late. She lies to her friends so that her friend’s feelings do not get hurt, (Ericsson 181).All of these are justifiable because of the intent. There are consequences to telling the truth in these cases and thus Ericsson needs to lie to avoid the
This lie continues when Helmer asks his wife if she went to the candy store. Nora lied by telling her husband that she had not, even though the reader saw that she was snacking on macaroons earlier. This is just a small act of deceit from Nora, who had been keeping a huge secret from her husband. Part of the huge secret is revealed to Mrs. Linde, an old friend of Nora’s and a widower, when Nora confides in her. After lying about the source of the money for a trip that was taken to help her husband heal from an illness, Nora admits that her father did not give her the money. This confuses Mrs. Linde because just a few lines before, Nora tells her the money for the trip came from her father. In truth, the money came from a loan. This confuses Mrs. Linde even further, since at th...
The first symbol that we notice in the play is the “Christmas Tree”. The Christmas tree represents happiness and unity in the family as well as the effort Nora has taken in making her home a comfortable haven to relax in. He efforts though are met with a slight disdain from her husband Torvald as he elaborates repeatedly that she is using money unwisely. “Come come we can`t afford to squander money.” An important role for Nora as a mother and a wife is to bring joy in her house when she can but due to the limitations Torvald has put on her, she finds it hard to
Nora loves her husband very much, even to the point of idolizing him. As she first enters the home with the Christmas packag...
When Nora tells Kristine her well kept secret, Nora portrays herself as the noble and selfless heroine that has saved her husband’s life. However, when Krogstad threatens Nora to reveal the secret, she answers, while on the brink of tears: “This secret- my joy and my pride- that he should learn it in such a crude and disgusting way- learn it from you. You’d expose me to the most horrible unpleasantness-” (Ibsen 1265). Nora’s self-satisfaction and idealistic dream stem from her secret. Moi writes, “Her secret is the source of her identity, the foundation of her sense of worth, and makes it easy for her to act the part of Helmer’s chirping songbird and playful squirrel. That she has aestheticized her secret- turned it into a thing of beauty…” (Moi 9). After realizing that her beautiful secret is in fact a crime, Nora feels tarnished by