In stories many roles are insignificant when affiliated with other greater ones but it is those insignificant ones that ameliorate the greater ones. Mrs. Linde is one of the greater roles in the play of “A Doll’s House” that is enhanced with the help of Nora; a figure that helps Nora unmask her reality, a role model for all women and with her selfless personality, fits the mold of an overall well rounded character.
Throughout the play Nora is described by Ibsen to set the picture for the average 1900’s women. After reading the letter, Helmer’s true feelings towards Nora are released as shown when he says ”...No religion, no morality, no sense of duty...” towards Nora and questions her beliefs. Of course soon afterwards Nora does not defend herself and simply says “Yes, this.” Throughout the play Nora was required to always sacrifice her desires in order to put her husbands before her own even without any appreciation from Helmer,
Nora: But don’t you think it is nice of me, too, to do as you wish?
Helmer: Nice?-- because you do as your husband wishes? Well, well, you little rogue, I am sure you did not mean it in that way.
The black paint to that picture is Mrs. Linde who defies the standard issued wife; places her husbands needs before her own, doesn’t speak out on her feelings, or even stands up for her own beliefs.
Helmer:You should embroider instead, you know.
Mrs. Linde: Oh? Why?
Helmer: So much prettier. Watch! You hold the embroidery like this in the left hand, and then you take a needle in the right hand, like this, and you describe a long graceful curve. Isn’t that right?
Mrs. Linde: Yes, I suppose so…
Helmer: Whereas knitting on the other hand just can't help being ugly. Look! Arms pressed into the sides, the knitting n...
... middle of paper ...
...lways referring to Nora throughout the play as an animal or a small creature which creates a heavy weight on Nora’s position as a person. Eventually Nora gets into the mindset of being below Helmer. Even when Nora decided to share her secret that she was able to take out a loan without a mans signature with Mrs. Linde, Nora seemed to be more boastful rather than sharing which emphasizes Mrs. Linde’s personality even more.
Without Nora taking on her role in the play Ibsen’s selection of Nora that the theme of women rights would have been displayed very negatively. Mrs. Linde influenced not only Nora to stand up for herself but every women in that era of time, was the positive image of what many women dreamed to be of and encompassed her personality; all of which elevated Mrs. Linde towards her position as the most important character in the play “A Doll’s House.”
Throughout the play we never get to know who the real Nora is and what her true personality consists of. Nora also realizes that she does not know who she is, and decides to leave her life. She comments that she needs to discover who she is separate from her husband, children and more importantly society. Nora feels she is not respected, and she is a “doll” to her husband.
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, a drama written in the midst of an 1879, middle-class, suburban Europe, he boldly depicts a female protagonist. In a culture with concern for fulfilling, or more so portraying a socially acceptable image, Nora faces the restraints of being a doll in her own house and a little helpless bird. She has been said to be the most complex character of drama, and rightfully so, the pressure of strict Victorian values is the spark that ignites the play's central conflicts. Controversy is soon to arise when any social-norm is challenged, which Nora will eventually do. She evolves throughout the play, from submissive housewife to liberated woman. It seems as though what took women in America almost a century to accomplish, Nora does in a three-day drama. Ibsen challenges the stereotypical roles of men and women in a societally-pleasing marriage. He leads his readers through the journey of a woman with emerging strength and self-respect. Nora plays the typical housewife, but reveals many more dimensions that a typical woman would never portray in such a setting.
Throughout Act one, Nora’s most noticeable characteristic is her child like personality and her inability to understand the importance of honesty. As the play opens on Christmas Eve Nora comes home with an abundance of extravagant gifts for her family. She also eats some macaroons that she secretly bought that her husband doesn’t allow her to eat. When questioned about the purchase of the dessert by her husband Torvald Helmer, she denies it. Through this act of deception we are able to see that Nora, in denying buying and eating the macaroons is more like a child to her husband. In a normal husband-wife relationship, the wife would have admitted that she did in fact eat them due to the fact that they are on an equal playing field. In this case, Nora was scared to tell him in fear that she will be punished and get in trouble. The deception allows us into Nora’s mind to see that she hasn’t yet understood that if she stand up for herself and says that she did, that with time Torvald will stop treating her like one of his children but instead like the mother and wife that she is. Throughout the first scene yo...
A grandiose sense of importance and uniqueness can be argued for Nora in the beginning of the play when she reunites with a friend she hasn’t seen in many years. Instead of allowing the friend to talk Nora rhapsodizes about her ideal life with her husband and children all while knowing about the hardship her friend has faced in recent years (Ibsen, 1731). Although this is a selfish thing to do to a friend; Nora is a secretive person afraid of allowing people to get close enough to see under the mask she wears every
Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House examines a woman’s struggle for independence in her marriage and social world. Through the use of character change, Ibsen conveys his theme that by breaking away from all social expectations, we can be true to ourselves. When Ibsen presents Nora Helmer, we see a “perfect” wife, who lives in a “perfect” house with a “perfect” husband and children. The Helmer children have a nanny that raises them. By having the nanny, Nora has the freedom to come and go as she pleases. Torvald Helmer, Nora’s husband, will begin a new job as bank manager, so they will be rich, which will make her “perfect” life even better. Torvald even calls Nora pet names like “my sweet little lark” (Ibsen 1567) and “my squirrel” (Ibsen 1565). These names may seem to be harmless and cute little nicknames, but the names actually show how little he thinks of her. “Torvald uses derogatory diminutives to address Nora” (Kashdan 52). Torvald talks down to her. Nora is “regarded as property rather than a partner” (Drama for Students 112). He isn’t treating her like a real person. In Torvald eyes, she isn’t an equal. “Nora is viewed as an object, a toy, a child, but never an equal” (Drama for Students 109).
...The play demonstrates this in the following lines: Helmer: Before anything else, you’re a wife and mother. Nora: I don’t believe that any more. I believe that before anything else, I’m a human being, just as much a one as you are … or at least I’m going to turn myself into one … I want to think everything out for myself and make my own decisions. Nora must be true to herself in order to participate in society in a meaningful manner. Her relationship with her children has been marred by her relationships with her father and husband; she treats her children as dolls, and they are apt to grow up in the same manner, with the same inability to be true to themselves. By the end of the play, Nora realizes that she cannot properly fulfill her duties as a mother until she learns how to become a person first. In this sense, her abandonment of her children is an act of mercy.
The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate husband, Torvald. Nora parades the façade of being naïve and frivolous, deteriorating her character from being a seemingly ignorant child-wife to a desperate woman in order to preserve her illusion of the security of home and ironically her own sanity. A Doll’s House ‘s depiction of the entrapment of the average 19th century housewife and the societal pressures placed upon her displays a woman’s gradual descent into madness. Ibsen illustrates this descent through Torvald’s progressive infantilization of Nora and the pressure on Nora to adhere to societal norms. Nora is a woman pressured by 19th century societal standards and their oppressive nature result in the gradual degradation of her character that destroys all semblances of family and identity.Nora’s role in her family is initially portrayed as being background, often “laughing quietly and happily to herself” (Ibsen 148) because of her isolation in not only space, but also person. Ibsen’s character rarely ventures from the main set of the drawi...
The characterization of Nora and Torvald Helmer is a testament to possible inequalities in marriage. The relationship between the main characters Nora and Torvald is “a drama rife with emotional debts, secrets, recriminations, and sexual poverty” (Hilton). It is obvious by plays end that Ibsen’s character Nora Helmer has undergone a transformation. At opening we see an unsure, immature, childlike bride. This character seeks approval almost in a manner resembling a dog getting a pat on the head for retrieving his master’s slippers. Her entire demeanor resembles one who cannot think for themselves. She finds herself in a precarious situation that gives her more experience with life and people. These experiences enable Nora to mature and desire independence.
In “A doll`s house” by Henrick Ibsen, we learn from Nora of how women play an integral role in society but due to the limitations society has put on women they find it difficult to reach their full potential . This notion can be seen through the author`s use of conflict and symbolism. The play is packed with symbols that epitomize intellectual ideas and concepts that are effective in illustrating the fact that women are being underappreciated in society.
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.
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.
Nora Helmer was a delicate character that had been pampered all of her life, by her father, and by Torvald. She really didn't have a care in the world. She didn't even have to care for the children; the maid would usually take care of that. In every sense of the word, she was your typical housewife. Nora never left the house, mostly because her husband was afraid of the way people would talk. It really wasn't her fault she was the way she was; it was mostly Torvald's for spoiling her. Nora relies on Torvald for everything, from movements to thoughts, much like a puppet that is dependent on its puppet master for all of its actions. Her carefree spirit and somewhat childish manners are shown throughout the play with statements such as, "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" (1). "Is it my little squirrel bustling about?" (2). A lark is a happy, carefree bird, and a squirrel is quite the opposite. If you are to squirrel away something, you were hiding or storing it, kind of like what Nora was doing with her bag of macaroons. It seems childish that Nora must hide things such as macaroons from her husband, but if she didn't and he found out, she would be deceiving him and going against his wishes which would be socially wrong.
Helmer thinks of his wife Nora of being merely a doll to him. In Act I of the play, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Helmer uters, “ My little songbird must never do that again. A songbird needs a clean beak to warble with” (1468). Helmer is basically being forward in suggesting that Nora must always be honorable and honest with him. Women in today 's society are supposed to be honest with their husbands, but there husbands do not talk to their wives like that. Anytime Nora wants to cheer Helmer up by bringing up her dress. Nora brings forth the comment to Helmer, “You know, it’s going to be quite attractive” (Ibsen 1470). When Nora vocalizes about her dress Helmer quickly becomes cheerful and focuses all his attention towards her and the joy it brings him to think of her looks and delightful appearance. In today 's society women get a guy 's attention not only on what they wear, but also how they present themselves both inwardly and outwardly, with more of what is on the inside rather than solely seen on the exterior. Women are all the time changing their hair and makeup not only to perhaps catch the attention of others, but as an expression of who they are as a person first and
In "A Doll's House", Ibsen portrays the bleak picture of a role held by women of all economic classes that is sacrificial. The female characters in the play back-up Nora's assertion that even though men are unable to sacrifice their integrity, "hundreds of thousands of woman have." Mrs. Linde found it necessary to abandon Krogstad, her true but poor love, and marry a richer man in order to support her mother and two brothers. The nanny has to abandon her children to support herself by working for Nora. Though Nora is economically advantaged, in comparison to the other female characters, she leads a hard life because society dictates that Torvald be the marriages dominant member. Torvald condescends Nora and inadvertently forces Nora to hide the loan from him. Nora knows that Torvald could never accept the idea that his wife, or any other woman, could aid in saving his life.
In A Doll's House, Ibsen paints a bare picture of the sacrificial role held by women of different economic and financial standards in his society. The play's female characters demonstrate Nora's assertion that men refuse to sacrifice their integrity. In order to support her mother and two brothers, Mrs. Linde found it necessary to leave Krogstad. She left her true love, Krogstad, to marry a richer man. These are some of the sacrifices that women have to make to provide for there family. The nanny had to abandon her own child to support herself by working as Nora's children sitter. As she often told Nora, the nanny considers herself very fortunate to receive the job as the sitter, since she was a poor girl who was left astray. Isben concerns about women in society are brought up throughout the play. He believed that women had the right to develop their own individuality, but only if they made a sacrifice. Wo...