The dramatic play “A Doll’s House” was written by Hendrik Isben in Norway in 1879. The play mainly focuses on Nora and Torvald Helmer. Nora once borrowed a large sum of money without her husband, Torvald, knowing. She tried paying it back by saving small amounts of her household allowance. Torvald is later appointed bank director, and has to decide if he should relieve a man who was convicted of forging a signature on a document. The man, Nils Krogstad, is who Nora has borrowed money from. During the play, it is revealed that Nora forged her dad’s signature when she borrowed money from Mr. Krogstad, and he blackmails her with her crime. He will not tell her husband of her crime if she can convince her husband not to fire him for his. When all is solved at the end of the play, Nora decides to …show more content…
The Helmer’s are considered middle-high class citizens in their society, and the Victorian society is very judgmental. Being said, Torvald defines his life and marriage by what their society deems acceptable and respectable for their class. The effect of class on their marriage is shown when Nora offers Mr. Rank a macaroon. Mr. Rank responds “Macaroons? But I thought they were forbidden here.” Nora says “How could you know that Torvald had forbidden them. I have to tell you, he’s afraid they’ll ruin my teeth.” He is more concerned with the way Nora looks, as they are to look pristine, rather than her happiness. Class is also important to their society, and this is shown through Mr. Krogstad. He made a “bad mistake” that ruined his reputation and stopped him from moving forward with his job. He wishes to rebuild his reputation and work his way back up to the top. He tries to achieve this through blackmail with Nora, and says he has “the power to force her” to help him. Mr. Krogstad’s reputation and rank in society is more important to him that stooping down to the level of blackmailing
When Krogstad confronts Nora about her forgery, he tells her, “Now listen to me, Mrs. Helmer. If necessary, I’ll fight for my job in the bank as if it were for life itself” (Ibsen 2200). Krogstad understands the noble reason behind Nora’s crime,exploiting Nora’s secret trying to fix his reputation and get a well-paying job. This demonstrates the power that money and reputation have in society and how predatory people in society act to gain money and status. When Krogstad is laying out exactly what he wants in return for keeping Nora’s secret he asks her, “Are you forgetting that I’ll be in control then of your final reputation?” (Ibsen 2216). Krogstad, especially living with a tarnished reputation, knows the value of status within society. He is willing to threaten Nora’s reputation, and therefore the well-being of her entire family, to ensure the restoration of his status and employment , an act which asserts how predatory a member of society will act keep their honorable standing and keep out others that are not so highly
The play “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen starts in the Helmer’s home on Christmas Eve. At the beginning of the play, the audience is introduced to Nora Helmer, the woman of the household. Nora is completely delighted with her life, and feels favorable for the way her life is coming along. She looks forward to the New Year when her husband starts his new job as a bank manager, where he will “have a big salary and earn lots and lots of money” (Ibsen 1350). Torvald Helmer, her husband, teases her and treats her like a child who is incapable. Nora responds to her husband’s actions with pure affection and does not seem to mind her controlled doll-like life. In the play Ibsen creates the setting in the late 1800s where women took care of the household, family, and children. Men saw women as delicate, innocent, unknowledgeable, and uneducated in the business world. Symbolism plays a large role in comprehending the play. The Christmas tree, the Tarantella, and the New Year are symbols that unveil the life of the characters and what they stand for.
Nora is trying to keep something away from public knowledge and especially away from her husband. She hides the fact that she borrowed money to save his health. She was afraid that if Torvald knew that she had taken initiative to borrow money to help him that it would be "painful and humiliating"(Ibsen 501) for him. She knows that Torvald needs to feel in control of everything. So she hides her actions from him. & nbsp; Nora hides the fact that she has done something illegal from Torvald. She is given the opportunity to tell Torvald and maybe get his support or advise on the situation, and she lies to him to hide the truth. She claims that the reason that she does not want Torvald to fire Krogstad is that "this fellow writes in the most scurrilous newspapers.he can do [Tor could have told him, but instead she decided to hide the truth from her husband. & nbsp; She also hides her own strength. She plays the part that she has come accustomed to, being the doll. The first time in the play that Torvald refers to Nora, he calls her a "little lark"(Ibsen 493). Throughout the play, he refers to her as a cute little animal, never with any word that might her indicate that he wishes she were a little plaything of his. To fit this character, Nora hides her true strength until the end of the play. Nora says that "[she] must stand quite alone"(Ibsen 546) and leaves Torvald to be alone. Not only does Nora make the claim that she could stand alone, she follows it with an action, thus the audience knows that Nora can be stronger than she was appearing and that she must have been hiding her true & nbsp; Nora hides her ability to handle money. She does not let Torvald know that she is entirely capable of handling debt. Instead, she leads on that "[she] should not care whether [she] owed money or not"(Ibsen 493). Although she says that she would not care about being in debt, the audience learns that she is handling her own debt She leads on that she is the little doll who cannot handle anything. She hides her abilities from Torvald to be his little doll. & nbsp; The hiding and seeking of the characters in the play is reminiscent of the game that Nora plays with her children. In playing games like that with her children, Nora is also hiding from them and her job as mother. She likes to take off their warm outer clothing because "it is such fun"(Ibsen 506). She finds the job of mother fun.  507). The job of mother was no longer fun, so she abandons it. She uses the nurse to hide from the children that she gave birth to. & nbsp; Torvald also hides from his wife, Nora. He shares none of his work with Nora. They speak very little about financial matters. When they do talk, it is mostly silly talk not seriously about their financial situation. Their first conversation on stage is about money. He tries pitifully to talk to her seriously about money, but shillings-a pound-two pounds"(Ibsen 493). He gives her more money to make her happy instead of trying to work out their financial situation. Torvald hides business about money from Nora just like she hides from him. & nbsp; Torvald also hides information about his job from her. Nora barely knows what he does at his job at the bank. Nora asks Dr. Rank if "all the people who are employed in the bank dependant of Torvald now"(Ibsen 504). Nora knows that Torvald has had a promotion, but does not even know really what & nbsp; Nora knows that they are hiding from each other. She knows that she must hide from those around her to protect her way of life. Although she is talking to her children at the time, Nora's words can be applied to her actions throughout the play. Nora says, "Must I hide? Very well, I'll hide first"(Ibs hiding. The snares are hidden. & nbsp; Nora and Torvald both hide from each other. Although she hides from her husband, Nora starts seeking truth. She is playing the game on both sides. She hides and she seeks. She is trying to learn about life. Nora wants to find that there can be a life where she does not have to hide from the of another and inferior species, Woman"(Shaw 143). Nora wants to be able to stop hiding. To be able to do that, she must be treated like an equal. That is something that Torvald will not do for her. He will not "sacrifice his honor for the one he loves"(Ibsen 548). Torvald will not bear all of Nora's weight, even though him, and when that did not happen and she was abandoned, she must seek another life. She seeks a life where her sacred duties are "to [herself]"(Ibsen 546) before her husband and children. M. C. Bradbook acknowledges that "in leaving her husband Nora is seeking a fuller life as a human being"(87). Nora is leaving a life in hiding to find a life that is richer and more full & nbsp; The hiding and seeking that goes on in the play is far from over when Nora ends the game with the children. It started before then and finished only when Nora walked out on Torvald and her marriage. Nora hides her strength, knowledge and abilities from her husband. She does this because he could not handle having a peer as a wife. He given to the nurse and Nora is only left with playing with her children. The job of wife to Torvald is filled only with a hidden personality. He wishes something that he can call his own and protect with ease. Nora becomes a seeker when she realizes what kind of life she is leading with her husband. When she realizes what he seeks as a wife, she also realizes that she needs to find another life. The a sense of individuality. With leaving her husband, Nora gives the indication that she will no longer tolerate a way of life that forces her to hide.
Nora is the pampered wife of an aspiring bank manager Torvald Halmer. In a desperate attempt to saves her husband's life Nora once asked for a loan so she and her family could move somewhere where her husband could recover from his sickness. Giving the circumstances she, as a woman of that period, by herself and behind her husband forged her dad signature to receive the loan. Now, Nora's lender (Mr. Krogstad), despite her paying punctually, uses that fault as a fraud to pressure her so she could help him to keep his job in the Bank where her husband is going to be the manager. Nora finds out that Torvald would fire Mr. Krogstad at any cost. At learning this, Nora trembles for she knows Mr. Krogstad will tell everything to Torvald. She remains confident; however that Torvald will stand by her no matter what outcome. His reaction though is not what she expected and therefore here is when she realizes that she "must stand quite alone" and leaves her husband.
Krogstad is different from Torvald because he is not as well off economically and socially and this leads him to try an extremer form of manipulation. Krogstad is desperate to keep his job at the bank and tries to get Nora to secure the job with her husband through blackmail. Since he was once found to be forging documents, his reputation has been flaky, so in order to regain his reputation for his sons: "For their sake I must win back as much respect as I can in the town" (22), he needs to keep his job at the bank.
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 a different quote perhaps?) she exclaims in her confrontation with Torvald. She realizes that she has been putting on a facade for him throughout their marriage. Acting like someone she is not in order to fill the role that her father, Torvald, and society expected her to have.
The woman in this play is a very happy mother, who does not objectify to be a stay home wife, her life is happy and although she was faced by many obstacles before, like incurring into debt to save her husband’s life, she is a happy woman as long as she possesses the love of her children and husband. Life for Nora seems as calm as it could possibly be, but soon after the promotion of her husband and the imminent consequences such promotion will bring to Krogstad, bring a new set of complication to her life. Soon her past mistakes come to haunt her. She committed forgery, by signing in place of her deceased father, which of course is taken as leverage by Krogstad, the owner of the note she signed, in order for him to conserve his
The women had very little influence on what their husbands thought, how they acted, or what they did. Nora followed many of Torvalds’s commands, allowing him to hear little of what she did behind his back. In a scene where Krogstad asked her for a favor to convince Torvald to let him keep his position at the bank, Nora responds with, “What should make you think I have any influence of that kind with my husband?” (24). This proves that Nora would have little effect on her husband. Many of the times she tried to talk to him, he would easily demean her. He would call her his “little skylark” or other names what would make her feel like a child with little power over him. During the 1870’s women had a hard time finding positions in their home and in life without the influence of their husband. It wasn’t until after the 1870’s that women officially started to gain more rights, such as voting, divorce rights, and property claims.
His appearance in the story proves to be the catalyst forcing Nora to examine how happy she is hiding secrets from her husband for fear that he would not love her if he finds out. Because both are the lone ones in A Doll’s House who see every case about morality situationally, they starkly see how those who do not conform to society’s conventions are greatly ostracized. Krogstad has even experienced this isolation when he is shunned from his work place despite being fairly competent at his tasks. This unfair treatment lingers in Nora’s mind as she struggles with her own worries. To aid her toward the direction of self-honesty, Krogstad and Christine decide that the truth of Nora’s actions must be revealed since they have just finished their talk about their feelings and pasts. Ultimately, Nora realizes that no matter her efforts, she is fake for constantly trying to be someone she is not without finding who she really is. She sees that Torvald treats her horribly like how he treats Krogstad because both committed a similar crime, and she decides that if Torvald acts the same way to her as to a coworker for the sake of appearances, she is like a stranger to him. The two must separate to reflect in order to live a life without deceit, even if it means breaking this perfect doll-house life Nora has meticulously crafted for the past eight
Henrik Ibsen was born in 1828 to a wealthy family, however, when he was just eight years old his family went bankrupt, and they lost their status in society. Ibsen knew how the issue of money could destroy a person’s reputation in no time at all. Perhaps that is how he makes the characters in his play, A Doll's House , so believable. Nora and Mrs. Linde, the two main female characters in the play, have had the issues of money and forgery ruin their lives. Nora forged her dead father’s signature to get a loan. The play revolves around her struggle with her fear of being found out. Both women’s values change as the story moves along. At first, it appears that Nora values money and the status that it brings. Mrs. Linde values her own happiness, and eventually Nora realizes that the only way she will be able to live with what she has done is to do the same.
Nora is a doll who has a “passive character with little personality of her own” (Wiseman). Her life is structured according to the whims of her husband. Torvald expects his wife to abide by his rules. Nora loves macaroons; however, Torvald forbids Nora to have macaroons. Although Nora disobeys the rule, she has to lie and blame Mrs. Linde for the macaroons just to appease her husband. The Helmers have been invited to a costume party. Instead of picking her own costume for the party, Nora says “[Torvald] couldn't you take me in hand and decide what I shall go as, and what sort of a dress I shall wear?” Nora’s freedom is so restrained that she cannot even choose a costume for herself. Torvald decides that she should dress up in a fish girl costume and perform the tarantella. “The costume and dance are part of T...
Torvald Helmer starts off the story with a new job as a bank manager. He has a wife Nora who does not have a job in the workforce since that was the man's role. Torvald even calls Nora pet names like "my sweet little lark" and "my squirrel”. These nicknames may seem to be 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.
Torvald explained to Nora that keeping Krogstad on at the bank would appear to others that he is easily swayed by his wife. Torvald has also complained about Krogstad’s use of his first name at the bank. Of course, Torvald’s true feelings about his appearance come out explicitly during his fit of rage in the end. Torvald is excessively consumed with how others view him and has no moral objections to having his wife perform sultry dances in front of other men.
As the play goes on, Nora seems to transform from her delicate little character into something much more. At the end of act one, Krogstad goes to Nora for the recollection of the money she had borrowed from him. "You don?t mean that you will tell my husband that I owe you money?" (21). Since Nora was wrong in doing so socially, she could not tell Torvald or anyone else about her problem. Not only would that affect their social standard but also Torvald's ego, which inevitably would happen anyway. After Krogstad threatens to expose Nora for forging her father's signature, she realizes that no matter what she does Torvald was going to know the truth. The flaw with...
In the beginning of the play, the reader is introduced to the Helmer household on Christmas eve; Nora purchases a Christmas tree to be used as the main ornament in the house and brings it in to be decorated. Shortly after, Torvald, her husband, approaches her by referring to her as his “little lark”(12) and his “little squirrel”(12). Shortly after, Torvald criticizes Nora for eating a macaroon: “Not nibbling sweets?..Not even taken a bite at a macaroon or two?”(14). Torvald “was only joking”(15). Perhaps it was the way the couple communicated at all times, but Torvald’s teasing is also manipulative. Nora seems to believe anything Torvald tells her; as naive as she is, she believes Torvald is only playing with her. However, as the man of the house, he does cause Nora to consistently ask for his approval, or fear his rejection: “I should not think of going against your wishes”(15), Nora says.