In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House play things was not what it seemed. It also teaches us a lesson on the consequences of having a marriage lacking trust and poor communication. The marriage of Torvald and Nora seemed normal like any other marriage in that time period. Torvald was the bread winner Nora was a house wife and she took care of their two children. Nora thought that the only thing she was missing to be the happiest person on earth was money, and all her problems were going to disappear. Since her husband was going to start a new job she believed that soon her dream was going to come true. All Nora wanted was to have a good life with her family, but what she did not know was that her secret was going to destroy her marriage with Torvald.
In act one we see the way Nora behaves and the way Torvald treat Nora. In front of her husband Nora seams submissive and she also acts childish. When Nora goes to show him the things she had purchased for the children he hears her coming and he tells Nora “Is that my little lark twittering out there. Is that my squirrel rummaging around?” (Ibsen 794). Nora does not mind that Torvald has these pets name for her and she even calls herself these pets’ names. Nora tells her husband “Hm, if you only knew what expenses we lark and squirrels have, Torvald” (Ibsen 796). I believe that by Nora doing this she is giving Torvald the consent to continue calling her by pet names. In my opinion this is not a normal behavior for a marriage couple. But it seems like Nora did not care that Torvald treated her like a child or called her pet names, what was important to her was the money that Torvald was giving her.
We can see as the play progresses that Nora was not as innocent as she seems in front of he...
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...e. Nora had made up her mind that she was going to leave Torvald. This marriage could have been saved if these two individuals had good communication, and trusted each other.
Works Cited
Goonetilleke, D.C.R.A. "A Doll's House: Overview." Reference Guide to World
Literature. Ed. Lesley Henderson. 2nd ed. New York: St. James Press, 1995.
Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll's House." Michael Meyer. Literature to go (E-Book). 1st
Edition. Bedford Books, Oct. 2010. Web 6 Dec. 2013.
Kristina, Coop Gordon, et al. "The Interaction between Marital Standards and
Communication Patterns: How does it Contribute to Marital Adjustment?" Journal of marital and family therapy 25.2 (1999): 211-23. ProQuest Central. Web. 5 Mar. 2013.
Rosefeldt, Paul. "Ibsen's A Doll's House." The Explicator 61.2 (2003): 84-5. ProQuest. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
Upon the first glance of Torvald and Nora’s relationship, Nora is returning from a day of Christmas shopping. She is acknowledged by her husband’s greetings of belittling pet names that he uses in an inconspicuous thus unnoticed form of verbal oppression and a verbal stake to claim her as his property “But if Helmer considers Nora his property, as he apparently does, Nora encourages him to do so. To him, she calls herself his little squirrel and his lark” (Dukore 121). These actions are not Nora’s fault, it appears Nora does not fight his degrading pet names because she knows no difference and also it benefits her in the ability to manipulate Torvald w...
When Torvald finds out about the crime that Nora commits, he completely disregards the fact tha...
The dollhouse condition of Nora and Torvald's marriage and household was not only the responsibility of Nora, but also that of both Nora and Torvald. A marriage cannot be a marriage without both the husband and the wife. In Nora's case, she as many women during the late 1800's had little rights and respect as a woman. Her opinion was always second best to that of her husband's. To place the blame of the conditions of their marriage only on her shoulders when she could do so little would be like blaming a child for the mistakes of their parents.
In Ibsen's "A Doll's House", there are many clues that hint at the kind of marriage Nora and Torvald have. It seems that Nora is a type of doll that is controlled by Torvald. Nora is completely dependent on Torvald. His thoughts and movements are her thoughts and movements. Nora is a puppet who is dependent on its puppet master for all of its actions.
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...
Throughout A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen illustrates through an intriguing story how a once infantile-like woman gains independence and a life of her own. Ibsen creates a naturalistic drama that demonstrates how on the outside Nora and Torvald seam to have it all, but in reality their life together is empty. Instead of meaningful discussions, Torvald uses degrading pet names and meaningless talk to relate to Nora. Continuing to treat Nora like a pampered yet unimportant pet, Torvald thoroughly demonstrates how men of his era treat women as insignificant items to be possessed and shown off. While the Helmer household may have the appearance of being sociably acceptable, the marriage of Torvald and Nora was falling apart because of the lack of identity, love, and communication.
Nora and Torvald's marriage fails because they lack in all of the qualifications for a successful marriage and because of Torvald's control over his family. Before Nora leaves, she tells Torvald,
...r had a serious conversation. Nora explains her own pains as she has never been understood by any man. Nora leaves as she explains her own life. She shuts the door and there is no certainty that she will return as Torvald realizes. Torvald gains hope as he realizes that if he transforms into a better man he may have a hope of getting Nora back.
Furthermore, if we go to see a production of this play (at least among English-speaking theatre companies), the chances are we will see something based more or less on this interpretative line: heroic Nora fighting for her freedom against oppressive males and winning out in the end by her courageous final departure. The sympathies will almost certainly be distributed so that our hearts are with Nora, however much we might carry some reservations about her leaving her children.
After asking his wife if she understands what she has done Nora answers “[Looking squarely at him, her face hardening] Yes. I am beginning to understand everything” (835). This statement might be the key phrase of Nora’s realization. The double- meaning implies Nora’s understanding of the actual situation as well as her awareness that her marriage, even though it conforms with social expectations, is far from perfect. She now doubts the depth of her love for Torvald and becomes calm with comprehension as she begins to recognize the truth about her marriage. While she expects compassion for her sacrifice, she is none given. Instead of sacrificing anything to help Nora out of her predicament, Torvald is only worried about himself and appearances. It becomes very clear, after the second letter from Krogstad arrives, that her well-being always comes second “I’m saved. Nora, I’m saved! You too, of course” (836). Throughout the conversation with Torvald, Nora finally realizes, she needs to rearrange her life and priorities to be happy. This implies independence and self-awareness. While Nora finally understands the situation, she is in and what she needs to do but Torvald defines her new attitudes as madness “You’re ill, Nora; you’re feverish; I almost think you’re out of your mind” (840). “However, the characterization has been tied to the fact that she is breaking taboos or challenging conventions” (Langås 160). Torvald is still stuck in his fantasy world of how a wife should talk and act per his standard and the society he stands for. “Nora still has no way of knowing that she is not endangering her children with her presence and in the end, she feels impelled to leave, and her decision is less an act of defiance against her husband and society than an attempt to save the lives of her children” (Brooks
Torvald expects Nora to agree with what he says and thinks, and commit her life to keeping the family happy by being a housewife. But Nora defies the roles that she is expected to have as being a wife, a woman, and a friend. As a wife, Nora spends Torvald’s money on macarons which are forbidden and attempts to earn her own money while going against what her husband tells her, because she wants to be an independent person with her own opinions. The trip to the south and borrowing money was all done by her, and in the end of the play Nora ultimately goes against the expectations set upon her by leaving the house to live on her own to gain knowledge and experience, but leaves behind her husband and children who she is responsible for taking care of. As a woman, she does not have the authority to disagree with her husband or try to influence his actions. Torvald says, “If it ever got around that the new manager had been talked over by his wife…” (Ibsen 42) showing that it would be a laughing matter if a woman had an idea, but Nora still makes many attempts to persuade her husband. As a friend, Nora is expected to know her role which is a listener and supporter for Mrs. Linde and just an acquaintance to Dr. Rank, but the relationship with Dr. Rank goes beyond what is acceptable. When Dr. Rank confesses his feelings for Nora she is very upset because they can no longer flirt with each other now that the feelings are real. Her role is to be a loyal wife to her husband, which she is, but Ibsen uses the flirtatious dialect between the two to show that there are mutual feelings and that confessing them brings the relationship beyond what is allowed. As Nora challenges all of these roles, she is gradually becoming more stressed and eventually breaks down and leaves her husband, which demonstrates the effect of the unrealistic expectations to uphold the roles of
Torvald even calls Nora pet names like "my sweet little lark" and "my squirrel”. These nicknames may seem harmless and cute, but in reality, the names actually show how little he thinks of her and how he’s the one harnessing the power in the relationship. When Torvald says "my little squirrel" he is suggesting that he in fact owns Nora and that she is second-rate to him, since she is seen as little and as a squirrel which are usually frightened, non-threatening creatures. Torvald sees women as both child-like, helpless creatures detached from reality and who are responsible for taking care of the chores and children while staying inside the house. Gender roles are also seen in the rules Torvald for Nora to follow.
Torvald does act criminally toward Nora after reading the letter. He calls her horrible and degrading names and insulted her father. Torvald states that Nora may, at his whim, continue to live in the house, but can longer be trusted to raise the children. Basically, he is removing a mothers rights to her children. Although, the times allowed for such actions, it would still be considered criminal to treat a human being that way.
Nora Helmer was a delicate character that had been pampered all of her life, by her father, and by Torvald. She really didn't have a care in the world. She didn't even have to care for the children; the maid would usually take care of that. In every sense of the word, she was your typical housewife. Nora never left the house, mostly because her husband was afraid of the way people would talk. It really wasn't her fault she was the way she was; it was mostly Torvald's for spoiling her. Nora relies on Torvald for everything, from movements to thoughts, much like a puppet that is dependent on its puppet master for all of its actions. Her carefree spirit and somewhat childish manners are shown throughout the play with statements such as, "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" (1). "Is it my little squirrel bustling about?" (2). A lark is a happy, carefree bird, and a squirrel is quite the opposite. If you are to squirrel away something, you were hiding or storing it, kind of like what Nora was doing with her bag of macaroons. It seems childish that Nora must hide things such as macaroons from her husband, but if she didn't and he found out, she would be deceiving him and going against his wishes which would be socially wrong.
On the other hand, towards the end of the story, Nora exhibits the independence and