Torvald Helmer of Henrik Isben's A Doll's House
In Henrik Isben's A Doll's House, he makes the observation that women in contemporary society posses no independent self unrestricted from the male's image of them; Isben accomplishes this through the character relationship between Torvald Helmer and his wife Nora.
Henrik Isben sought to show the psychological complexity of realism underneath the surface of a typical urban bourgeoisie or professional class family. Thus in doing so, brings out the central conflict between the idealistic Torvald and this underlying theme demonstrated through Nora.
Ultimately, it is because of Torvald's completely inflexible and self-righteous attitudes towards life and his moralistic values, that Nora is driven from her role of submisiveness in his game of male dominance to seek her own identity.
Hel. (walking about the room). What a horrible awakening! All these eight years-she who was my joy and pride-a hypocrite, a liar-worse, worse-a criminal! The unutterable ugliness of it all! For shame! For shame! ...(62)
It is only when she has found this sense of a self that she had been denying and sacrificing all these years, that she can truly begin to love others.
Hel. Before all else you are a wife and a mother.
Nora. I don't believe that any longer. I believe that before all else I am a
reasonable human being just as you are-or, at all events, that I must try and become one. (68)
This game which she had been playing with her father before, and now with the close-minded Torvald, she finally realizes, is the "Dolls House" she's been living in for all her life, never finding out who she truly is.
Nora. But our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your
doll wife, just as at home I was Papa's doll child; and here the children
have been my dolls. I thought it was great fun when you played with me,
In the closing scenes, Nora witnesses the final indication that she is truly regarded as Torvald’s possession. Beforehand, Torvald stated that he would protect Nora at all costs. However, as soon as he discovers the possibility of his reputation being tainted, he instantly degrades her to a point of dehumanization. As a result, Nora comprehends that true love never existed in their marriage, “You don’t understand me. And I’ve never understood you either- until tonight. No, don’t interrupt. You can just listen to what I say. We’re closing out accounts” (Ibsen 1234). Through this scene, Ibsen effectively represents Nora’s final mental awakening. The author employs sharp and decisive diction to convey Nora’s transformation. She no longer amuses Torvald with her childish antics, but speaks with a matter of fact tone. Nora had become accustomed to “pretending” her whole life, and therefore had convinced herself that she was in a loving marriage. As Sabiha Huq, English professor at Khulna University, indicates, “Nora has admonished a life living through hypocrisy and falsehood” (par. 1). It becomes evident to Nora that her whole life she has been dependent on a male figure and has never accomplished anything for herself. Subsequently, Nora feels as though her life has been meaningless, “I went from Papa’s hands into yours… it seems as if I’d lived here like a beggar--just from hand to mouth. I’ve
Isben, Henrick. A Doll?s House. 1879. Kirszner & Mandell. Literature Reading, Reacting, Writing. Fourth Edition. Harcourt College Publishers.
The suppressed position of women was blatantly highlighted in Henrik Isbens play titled "A Doll's House" The dehumanization weathered by Nora, the dependence she felt, along with lack of adequate experience and education all played a part in Isbens story as if it were exact representations of society just beyond the doll house walls. As the reality of Nora's predicament was raised to the surface her inability to manage herself is seemingly what leads her down the path to her own independence. It is through the disillusionment that Nora undeniably felt towards her husband Torvald and the world that she finally comprehends her unmitigated state of repression.
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.
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.
During the Archaic Age of Ancient Greece, circa 776-500 B.C.E., the population growth in Ancient Greece called a need for more food supplies, and this demand was met by trade, establishing colonies, and by warfare to seize more land (Making Europe 71). According to Kidner, the Archaic Age “brought a revival of culture, the economy, and political significance to Greece” (71). As Greece began to overpopulate, methods for dealing with the overpopulation had to be found, once of these methods was to import food, which caused an expansion of Greek commerce and production of trade goods (Making Europe 71). Another solution to the overpopulation of Greece was to find new land somewhere else, and during the colonization that lasted from 750-550 B.C.E., Greeks colonized coastal cities because they wanted access to trade routes across the sea (Making Europe 71). The revival of Greek trade also brought Near Eastern culture into Greece, including new styles or art. According to Kidner, “Greek sculpture assumed a very Egyptian look, and Greek pottery depicted many eastern designs…and Greek potters and sculptors soon used designs from their own myths and legents”
In Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”, Nora Helmer portrays the Victorian English archetype of the “angel in the house”, otherwise known as the “doll” metaphor. In the Victorian age, the social construction of gender roles was much more traditional than contemporary gender roles; women had a clear role in society of which they could not escape. A major focus of social construction is to uncover the ways in which individuals and groups participate in the construction of their perceived social reality. As society is revolutionized, people individualize, freeing themselves from the constraints imposed by traditional societies. Nora Helmer represents an antecedaneous model of a feministic viewpoint in an oppressed position. Trapped in her role of the “doll”, Nora struggles to break free, her actions precipitated by her husband, Torvald’s, actions. Weintraub, in his ““Doll’s House” Metaphor Foreshadowed in Victorian Fiction” critical essay, depicts Shaw’s work and proposes the idea that the male protagonist has an immense impact on the female protagonist’s automorphism as “the doll” and the decisions she makes. In Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” Nora’s characterization and ultimate decision to leave can be seen as a struggle against the combination of Torvald and Society’s pressure to conform.
Henrik Ibsen created a world where marriages and rules of society are questioned, and where deceit is at every turn. In A Doll’s House, the reader meets Nora, a housewife and mother trapped in her way of life because the unspoken rules of society. Nora and the people around her decieve each other throughout the entire play, leading up to a shocking event that will change Nora and her family lives forever. Ibsen uses the theme deceit to tell a story filled with lies and betrayal.
The second effect is the communication between family and friends. For example, 65% of people who have cell phones say that the phones ...
Nora engages in a mutually dependent game with Torvald in that she gains power in the relationship by being perceived as weak, yet paradoxically she has no real power or independence because she is a slave to the social construction of her gender. Her epiphany at the end at the play realises her and her marriage as a product of society, Nora comes to understand that she has been living with a constr...
In his play, A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen depicts a female protagonist, Nora Helmer, who dares to defy her husband and forsake her "duty" as a wife and mother to seek out her individuality. A Doll's House challenges the patriarchal view held by most people at the time that a woman's place was in the home. Many women could relate to Nora's situation. Like Nora, they felt trapped by their husbands and their fathers; however, they believed that the rules of society prevented them from stepping out of the shadows of men. Through this play, Ibsen stresses the importance of women's individuality. A Doll's House combines realistic characters, fascinating imagery, explicit stage directions, and an influential setting to develop a controversial theme.
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer is a traditional “angel in the house” she is a human being, but first and foremost a wife and a mother who is devoted to the care of her children, and the happiness of her husband. The play is influenced by the Victorian time period when the division of men and women was evident, and each gender had their own role to conform to. Ibsen’s views on these entrenched values is what lead to the A Doll’s House becoming so controversial as the main overarching theme of A Doll’s House is the fight for independence in an otherwise patriarchal society. This theme draws attention to how women are capable in their own rights, yet do not govern their own lives due to the lack of legal entitlement and independence. Although Ibsen’s play can be thought to focus on the theme of materialism vs. people, many critics argue that Ibsen challenges the traditional gender roles through his portrayal of Nora and Torvald. Throughout the play Nora faces an internal struggle for self-discovery, which Ibsen creates to show that women are not merely objects, but intelligent beings who form independent thoughts.
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
Towards the ending of Act III, Torvald heavily berates Nora after he learned of Krogstad’s loan scandal. He makes an extreme statement about gender roles as he furiously scowls, “ I am in the power of the man without scruples” immediately following with, “And I am brought so pitifully low all because of a shiftless woman” (221). He makes a drastic claim that once again, men are superior to women. Torvald, who places his pride before others claims to have a “godly” power over all others, including Nora. He claims that he can do as he pleases without hesitation while Nora is supposed to follow Torvald’s notions. However, Nora has committed an immoral sin which jeopardizes Torvald’s reputation; hence he calls her a “shiftless woman”. Later on, when Torvald realizes that Krogstad has pardoned them once more, he exclaims, “I shouldn’t be a proper man if your feminine helplessness didn’t make you twice as attractive to me” (223). This hyperbole contradicts the first one as he tries to show his remorse for Nora after learning of the pardon. He desperately tries to convince Nora that he has completely forgiven her, despite claiming that she was nothing more than an inconvenience to him. It is evident that Torvald uses hyperboles to oppress Nora as well as to beg to gain back her love and