First impressions mean everything in this society which is why people try so hard to put on their best faces when meeting someone new. However, looks can often be deceiving. “I don 't know if you 've ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong” (Snicket 9). Henrik Ibsen masterfully describes such impressions in his play A Doll House. He takes a seemingly perfect family and begins to show that appearances aren’t always as they seem. First impressions are extremely important in A Doll House as they are often wrong, and contribute to the façade that the Helmer family is living behind. Firstly is the introduction of Nora. Right from her first line, Nora comes across as childish and shallow. “Yes, Torvald, now we can afford …show more content…
This shows that Nora isn’t the submissive little housewife that she appears to be. Nora’s embracing of independence only becomes more and more apparent until the climax of the play. NORA: Maybe. But you don’t think – or talk – like the man I could choose to be with. When your big fright was over – not the danger I was in, but what might happen to you – when that threat was past, then it was like nothing happened to you. I was just what I was before, your little songbird, your doll, and you’d have to take care of it twice as hard as before, since it was so frail and fragile. In that moment, Torvald, it dawned on me that I’d been living with a stranger – that I’d borne three children with him – . Aah – I can’t stand the thought of it! I could tear myself to pieces (Ibsen 768). By the end of A Doll House, Nora is no longer the submissive and obedient housewife. She is witty, self-reliant, and clever. She thinks for herself, and acts independently from her husband by making choices that will benefit …show more content…
Nothing does this better than the Christmas tree. It first appears at the top of Act 1, and Nora decorates it as the Act progresses. Then at the top of Act 2, the tree is described right away as, “The same room, in the corner by the piano stands the Christmas tree, stripped, bedraggled, with its candle-stumps all burned down” (Ibsen 741). The Christmas tree mirrors the Helmer family’s happiness and harmony. At the beginning of the show, it is beautiful and put together. Nora is the one fluffing it up and making it look as pretty as she’s trying to make her life look. Then as soon as Torvald goes into a discussion about how he thinks a lying mother will poison her children, the tree is next described as a tattered
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
The Christmas tree in itself is symbolic and it means the play takes place during Christmastime. Ibsen uses Christmas tree to mainly construct the character of Nora. The Christmas tree symbolizes the feelings of Nora. At the start of the play, Nora enters the room carelessly and her mood is festive. The Christmas tree, a festive object used for decorative purposes, represents the function of Nora in her household who is pleasing to look and who adds the charm to their home. Nora dresses the tree just as Torvald dresses her up for the Stenborgs’ party. Like other married women during the period, Nora is simply decorative and is not allowed to make familial decisions. Nora instructs the housemaid, “Hide the Christmas tree carefully, Helen. Be sure the children do not see it till this evening, when it is dressed” (Ibsen 793), the same as when she tells Torvald that no one can see her in her dress until the evening of the dance. The Christmas tree also imitates the psychological state of Nora when it is described to be “…stripped of its ornaments and with burnt-down candle-ends on its disheveled branches” (Ibsen 812). This describes Nora when she receives the bad news from Krogstad; as a result her min...
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.
During this time period, there was the stereotypical opinion that women should only be homemakers because they do not have the intellectual capacity to do anything more. The struggle for dominance between Torvald and Krogstad also brings to light Nora’s venture to have purpose. Ibsen uses her to comment on society’s gender roles. For the majority of the play, Nora plays her part as the ideal wife well. However, at times she portrays herself as being more than just a trophy wife. Her conflict with Krogstad reveals how innovative and unselfish she actually is. For instance, she does not spend all the allowance money Torvald gives her. In addition to saving a little of her allowance, she also does odd jobs to earn money. She does all of this in secret to pay off the loan to Krogstad. At first, Nora gives off the impression that she is a “spendthrift” and an airhead, but she proves herself to be a woman of perseverance and determination. The men’s struggle for dominance also reveals her marriage’s flaw. Torvald treats her like a doll he needs to take care of and show off to others. He underestimates her ability, similar to how society doubts that women can do more than just sit still and look pretty. His condescending demeanor towards her ultimately allows her to realize that she needs to leave him in order to be truly independent and live up to her potential. Like all women in society eventually realize,
Nora 's character is a little bit complicated. she is a representative of women in her time and shows how women were thought to be a content with the luxuries of modern society without worrying about men 's outside world. However, Nora proves that this idea is entirely wrong. Nora is not a spendthrift as all people think specially her husband. on the contrary, she has a business awareness and she is mature
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.
A Doll’s House illustrates two types of women. Christine is without a husband and independent at the start of the play whereas Nora is married to Torvald and dependent on him and his position at the bank. Both begin at different ends of the spectrum. In the course of the play their paths cross and by the end of the play each woman is where the other started. It appears that a woman has two choices in society; to be married and dependent on a man or unmarried and struggle in the world because she does not have a man.
Henrik Ibsen paints a sad picture of the sacrificial role of women throughout all social economical classes in his play “A Doll House”. The story is set in the late 19th century and all minor female characters had to overcome adversity to the expense of love, family and self-realization, in order to lead a comfortable life. While the main female protagonist Nora struggles with her increasingly troubled marriage, she soon realizes, she needs to change her life to be happy as the play climaxes. Her journey to self-discovery is achieved by the threat of her past crime and her oppressing husband, Torvald and the society he represents. The minor female characters exemplifying Nora’s ultimate sacrifice.
In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen successfully writes about the shocking transformations of the play’s characters. At the beginning of the play, each character behaves just as society would expect them to, based on their situations. At the end, each character has transformed into someone completely unexpected; someone that goes against societal norms of that
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
A Doll House was a play written well ahead of its time. This play was written in a time when it was considered an outrage for a woman such as Nora not only to display a mind of her own, but also to leave her husband in order to obtain her freedom. This play relates to the Art Nouveau and Edwardian period because just as the furniture and clothing were considered decorative pieces, so were women. Women were expected only to tend to the husband's and children's needs. Women were not supposed to do anything without first consulting the husband and certainly never do anything without his prior knowledge and approval. Women were expected to be at home and always looking presentable for their husbands.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. In Four Major Plays. Trans. James McFarlane and Jens Arup. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
...dlike mentality and needs to grow before she can raise her own children. Her defiance of Torvald, when he refuses to let her leave, reflects her epiphany that she isn't obligated to let Torvald dictate her actions. The height of Nora's realization comes when she tells Torvald that her duty to herself is as strong as her duty as a wife and mother. She now sees that she is a human being before she is a wife and mother and she owes herself to explore her personality, ambitions, and beliefs.
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
...on as a disgrace to society because women are not expected to leave there husbands. Nora proved that she can withstand enormous amounts of pressure and that she is capable of doing things when she is determined. She is eventually freed from that doll ouse, as she calls it, and it allows her to leave without being afraid to learn about her and the world around her.