A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen Essay

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, is a theatrical play that takes place in 19th century Norway. This geographical location is significant to the story, as Norway was the playwright’s native country as well as a region that was highly influenced by the Victorian period and its patriarchal tendencies. In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen illustrates the Norwegian social issues that failed to recognize the potential of all its constituents, through the life of Nora Helmer. Ibsen characterizes Nora Helmer as a dynamic character that is initially childish but later becomes independent (defiant). Through the characterization of Nora, Ibsen demonstrates how the traditional Norwegian marriage was based on social representation, male dominance and deception.

A Doll’s House takes place during the Victorian era, a time when women were expected to maintain their duty as mother and wife. Women were also subjugated and considered inferior to men, which only reiterates the concept of male dominance in a marriage. Women served as an emotional and moral guidance to their husband and children. On the other hand male superiority was a strong proponent in marriage and Torvald Helmer is the epitome of that demeaning husband. Torvald gives Nora nicknames such as “my little lark”, “my little squirrel”, and “my child”, which evokes a fatherly relationship between Nora and Torvald. The undermining nicknames solidifies the control he has over her, rather than recognizing her true character. In addition, Torvald’s use of the possessive pronoun “my” is used to further emphasize how Torvald is controlling and possessive of

Nora is viewed independent when she becomes deceptive with her abilities. In act I, Torvald questions Nora, “Not been nibbling sweets?” (4). Nora lies and says that she has “certainly not” eaten any sweets” (4). This is the first time we see Nora lying to her husband. Nora is viewed as an independent when she becomes deceptive with her abilities. Through this petty lie, Ibsen shows how lying is the only thing that Nora is left capable of doing in an oppressive Norwegian marriage. Another example where Nora shows her independence is when Nora decieves her husband about taking partial control of the family’s money through loans. To pay off the loans, Nora works independently in secrecy. Nora describes the opportunity to work with money as rewarding, Nora states, “It was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man” (13). Ibsen’s purpose in characterizing Nora as an independent through her deceptive acts is to show the imbalance of power of in a Norwegian marriage. This imbalance eventually persuades Nora to leave her life style to find her true self. Since decisions related to marriage were controlled by males, Nora’s decision to leave the household was monumental. It was a shift in Nora’s characterization to that of a more independent woman who should be allowed to express themselves