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Henrik ibsen doll house analysis
Ibsen doll house analysis
Analysis of The Doll House by Henrik Ibsen as Feminism
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Nora’s Strength The classical drama “A Doll’s House”, by Herik Ibsen is a perfect example of society’s view of women at the time of publication. This classic is appreciated in modern day as well because of Ibsen’s exceptional use of irony and symbolism. Set in the 1800’s, Nora makes a loan with Mr. Krogstand without her husband, Torvald’s, approval. In order for this loan to be approved, she needed her father’s signature of which she was unable to obtain because of his death. Because this money was needed in order to save her husband’s life, forging her father’s signature was the only answer. Krogstand, for his own selfish reasons, wrote Torvald a letter explaining Nora’s indiscretions. Once Torvald was able to view the letter, his true self was revealed to Nora. With the revelation of Torvald’s lack of lack of empathy, lack of communication, and selfishness, Nora finds within her the strength she needs to sacrifice her family and go against the patriarchal society and ultimately reveal her own independence. Because Torvald views Nora as an invaluable member of society as well as his household, he refuses to understand Nora’s feelings when Krogstand’s letter is revealed to him. As Torvald reads the horrid letter, he questions Nora as to the validity. Nora tries desperately to explain to Torvald that the letter is true; however, the heinous crime was committed all in the name of love for him. His reaction to her is “Oh, don’t let us have any silly excuses” (Act 3). Torvald responds to Nora in such a way that he does not believe that she could commit such a malicious act out of love for him. Torvald continues to desire answers as to why she would have acted so recklessly, however he does not stop shouting to... ... middle of paper ... ...n living to please her father, and now Torvald. Nora at last comes to the realization that her life is worth more than just existing, she needs to find out exactly who she is, all on her own, by leaving her husband and children behind. The decision for Nora to leave her husband and children behind is an extremely difficult decision to make. I am able to understand how she could leave her husband, the self-righteous and pompous man that he is; however, leaving her children behind is a much more difficult decision to make. Through Torvald’s anger with Nora, he states to her that women are accountable for the decency of their children. He states further that because of her scandalous act; she is no longer able to be a role model for them. Because Nora understands that she is an uneducated woman, she agrees with Torvald and chooses to leave her children behind.
In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House, Ibsen tells a story of a wife and mother who not only has been wronged by society, but by her beloved father and husband because of her gender. Nora left her father’s house as a naïve daughter only to be passed to the hands of her husband forcing her to be naïve wife and mother, or so her husband thinks. When Nora’s husband, Torvald becomes deathly ill, she takes matters into her own hands and illegally is granted a loan that will give her the means to save her husband’s life. Her well guarded secret is later is used against her, to exort Torvald, who was clueless that his wife was or could be anything more than he made her. However, Nora has many unrecognized dimensions “Besides being lovable, Nora is selfish, frivolous, seductive, unprincipled, and deceitful” (Rosenberg and Templeton 894). Nora is a dynamic character because her father and her husband treat her as a child and do not allow her to have her own thoughts and opinions, as the play progresses she breaks free from the chains of her gender expectation to explore the world around her.
Nora has a hard time finding who she really is deep down. She is a mother and wife but, deals with her husband’s verbal abuse on a daily basis. Nora struggles with the need to be a useful individual as she desires to be wanted and respected. She feels like she lives her life day by day trying to please everyone. Then she has to deal with Krogstead bullying her while her life is in jeopardy when her intentions were to help her family
Upon reading “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, many readers may find the character Nora to be a rather frivolous spending mother of three who is more concerned about putting up a front to make others think her life is perfect, rather than finding herself. At the beginning of the play, this may be true, but as the play unfolds, you see that Nora is not only trying to pay off a secret debt, but also a woman who is merely acting as her husbands “doll” fulfilling whatever he so asks of her. Nora is not only an independent woman who took a risk, but also a woman whose marriage was more along the lines of a father-child relationship.
Very early on in this part of the text, the reader is able to identify signs that show Torvald may not fully love Nora at this point. Torvald announced, “It is to get about now that the new manager has changed his mind at his wife’s bidding” (Ibsen 45). He is trying to say he will not listen to Nora because of what others will think. Even if people might not agree, he should still listen to his wife if he truly loved her. At the same time, Nora as begins to show she might not feel the same way about Torvald as she did before. Nora noted, “My husband must never get to know anything about this. Because she is wanting to hide something from Torvald, the reader is shown she does not fully love Torvald enough to even trust him. While it is shown that they do not feel the same way about each other, Ibsen does indicate that both Nora and Torvald do still somewhat love each other. Nora explains, “Torvald loves me; he would never for a moment hesitate to give his life for me” (Ibsen 50). This quote tells the reader directly that Torvald not only still loves Nora, but still loves her enough to give his life up for her. While their feelings towards each other have changed, they still care about one
Nora was wife of Helmer and a mother of 3 children. They lived in a house where their nurse Anne-Marie took care of the children and Helene which was their maid took care of the house work. Nora was a stay at home mother and would occasionally take on little jobs in order to make ends meet. Nora has lived her whole life as a puppet. Her life has always been controlled by someone else; first by her father and then by her husband Helmer. “Her whole life is a construct of societal norms and the expectations of others” (Wiseman). “Nora’s father would force his beliefs on her and she would comply with them lest she upset him; she would bury her personal belief under Papa’s. According to Nora, Torvald was guilty of the same things” (Wiseman). Nora has always lived her life according to the beliefs of someone else. She didn 't know how to live life any other way because this is how she was raised. She felts trapped in the life she lived because she knew no other way of living besides her current lifestyle. Due to Nora being controlled her whole life she seemed childish and lacked knowledge of the world outside her house. At the end of the story Helmer decides to show his true colors once his future was threatened. This made Nora realize that she does not love her husband nor does he love her, and decides that is not the life she wants to live. “Helmer: You talk like a child. You don 't know anything of the world you live
Torvald is extremely cautious about how he is perceived by other people. He would do anything to keep his honourable image, even if it involves him doing something dishonourable. Another way the relationship between Nora and Torvald will end is from Nora’s desire for her own identity. Even though it might seem that without Krogstad’s extortion plan, Nora would have never developed her need for an identity, but she has shown signs of a new identity well before Krogstad tried to extort Nora from his job.
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 has been a doll all of her life, fortunately, she has an awakening that kindles her passion for freedom. Torvald restricts her freedom. Torvald adorns Nora to his wishes and desires and basically strips Nora of her identity. Nora wants a happy marriage; hence, she appeases Torvald. When she is being blackmailed, she believes that Torvald will be her savior. However, Torvald’s selfish reaction to the news is Nora’s auspicious awakening. She knows that her marriage is a sham and that she does not know who she is. Nora leaves Torvald so that she can have the liberty to gain knowledge of the world and herself. Nora’s awakening has provided her with the freedom to fulfill her life.
To many people, Nora’s first impression was most likely a money-loving, childish wife. She seems to just want money from her husband and when she was asked by her husband what she wanted for Christmas her response was “money”. Nora also acts childish so her husband, Torvald, treats her like one. Torvald treats Nora more like a house pet instead of his wife. Nora may
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
Nora had to leave or she would never flourish and be liberated as an independent woman. This is found toward the end of the play. When Torvald forgives his upset wife for forging her ...
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.
The idea of equality for women has been the subject of countless books, speeches, and performances for decades. The concept of a world in which a woman can be considered equal to a man is not a new concept in today’s society, but it was in that of 19th century Norway. This is the world of noted playwright Heinrik Ibsen, a forward thinking individual with ideas that challenged the restrictions of society time and time again. A forerunner in the women’s rights movement, Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House offers a commentary much before its time on the dangers of a patriarchal society through the evolution of its protagonist, Nora. In his play, Ibsen uses the Christmas tree to symbolize the growing empowerment and independence of Nora, as well as the steady deterioration of Nora and Helmer’s marriage.
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...
...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.