“I’ve been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Papa’a doll-child” (Ibsen 1491). Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House tells a story of scandal and deceit set in the Victorian era. Nora Helmer is married to Torvald Helmer and she feels more like his toy than his wife. Nora had to have Torvald to be able to do anything, because of when she lived. Nora borrows money behind her husband’s back (which is illegal at this time) and tries to cover up everything she has done. Ibsen employs the use of many themes and symbols in his A Doll House to show the reader just how Nora was a doll-child who evolved into a doll-wife.
The central theme of A Doll House is a true marriage us a joining of equals. The entire play centers in on the crumbling of a marriage that is just the opposite of this. At the beginning of the play both of the Helmers seem happy with their marriage. Though, as the play moves along the imbalance becomes more and more apparent. By the end of the story, the marriage falls apart because of a complete lack of understanding between Torvald and Nora. Together in wedlock, the two cannot realize who they are as individuals. They can only see themselves as part of the marriage.
Another very important theme in this play is the home. From the very beginning of the play home is a place of comfort, joy, and shelter. The idea of home is woven into the idea of a happy family, which the Helmers seem to be. Towards the end of the play, the happiness in the Helmer household changes and the imbalance of power becomes a major issue. At this point, the seemingly happy home is revealed as just people putting on an act for each other and the outside world. The Helmers put up a façade, a doll's house, as a way of hiding the tension between the...
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...ven though he contests that the play is not a feminist play, it challenges the roles men and women played in society. It shows just how the women felt trapped and alone in their own homes. Although not everyone will agree with what she did, Nora had no other way of getting out of such a horrible situation.
Works Cited
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Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Alison Booth and
Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2010. 1447-496. Print.
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Henrik Ibsen uses the technique of realism throughout A Doll's House as a means of explaining the oppression set on women during the Victorian era. Nora and Torvald's marriage, like many other marriages of the Victorian era, is presented realistically in the sense that their marriage is primarily built from romanticized illusions. Throughout the ...
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House (1879). Trans. Rolf Fjelde. Rpt. in Michael Meyer, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th edition. Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1999. 1564-1612.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House. The Bedford Introduction to Drama. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston: Bedford/ST. Martin’s, 2001. 659 – 688.
To start, in this play the main character Nora is portrayed to be the perfect nineteenth-century wife to her husband Torvald. Not only that, but Nora is also painted in a way that characterizes her as a bubbly air-head that is not able to take care of herself or have a mind of her own. Ibsen wirtes “HELMER: Nora, Nora, how like a woman! No, but seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that. No debts! Never borrow! Something of freedom’s lost—and something of beauty, too—from a home that’s founded on borrowing and debt. We’ve made a brave stand up to now, the two of us; and we’ll go right on like that the little while we have to. NORA [going toward the stove ]: Yes, whatever you say, Torvald.” (944)Since Realists go against individuals having freedom of action over a state control, Torvald Helmer can be seen as representing a government while Nora represents a citizen with no say in any matter. Torvald uses the term “like a woman” to denounce Nora's inability to handle money, thus belittling her. Nora still complies to Torvalds wishes, giving up her voice rather easily while she only does what is best for her greater power. Furthermore, Nora obtains money from her father before he dies to support the trip to Italy because Torvald was ill and needed to go in order to get help. This shows that Nora did was only thinking about her husband, the higher power she obeys, and put herself last. This also exemplifies a Realist concern with community benefit, not
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.
From the time A Doll's House was performed for first time (1879) till now, there have been all sorts of interpretation and critics about its message. According to Mr. Mayer's files critics considered that the A Doll's House message was that "a marriage was not sacrosanct, that a man's authority in his home should not go unchallenged". Another similar critics' interpretat...
Henrik Ibsen, author of one of the greatest drama plays A Doll House, is said this piece of work is a feminist play. Feminism is defined as a “collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women”, according to Dictionary.com. Did Ibsen produce A Doll House to be a feminist play?
Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” is a controversial play focusing on the marriage of Nora and Torvald Helmer. The play is filled with symbols that represent abstract ideas and concepts. These symbols effectively illustrate the inner conflicts that are going on between the characters. Henrik Ibsen’s use of symbolism such as the Christmas tree, the locked mailbox, the Tarantella, Dr. Rank’s calling cards, and the letters allows him to give a powerful portrayal to symbolize aspects of characters and their relationship to each other.
Patriarchy's socialization of women into servicing creatures is the major accusation in Nora's painful account to Torvald of how first her father, and then he, used her for their amusement. . . how she had no right to think for herself, only the duty to accept their opinions. Excluded from meaning anything, Nora has never been subject, only object. (Templeton 142).
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.
Patriarchy's socialization of women into servicing creatures is the major accusation in Nora's painful account to Torvald of how first her father, and then he, used her for their amusement. . . how she had no right to think for herself, only the duty to accept their opinions. Excluded from meaning anything, Nora has never been subject, only object. (Templeton 142).
In the play A Dolls House, Nora seems to be quite happy with her life and the people in it as she portrays the perfect wife. Into the play you understand that Nora isn’t as put together as she seems. She is more of a determined and ambitious woman as she tackles her debt that her husband doesn’t know about, even though she is in it for him. She is willing to break the law for her husband which shows a loving wife. Torvald loves Nora, but he continuously treats her as if he is her father. Torvald’s control issues stem from him wanting to maintain an appearance in front of the world; which is why they live in a “doll house.” The play includes many themes and symbolism that give a deeper meaning to Nora living in a Dolls house as she notices her true potential and regaining control over her life.
Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” a nineteenth century play successfully uses symbolism to express many characteristics of Helmer’s life, together with the way that the main character Nora feels towards her marriage at the end of the play. Ibsen’s use of symbolism to convey about the social setting, including the harsh male-controlled Danish society, seen mostly in Torvald in the play and the role of women, signified mostly in Nora. These symbols act as foretelling before the tragic events at the end of the play, as they show the problems which lead to the demise of the Helmer’s ‘perfect’ family life.
In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll House Ibsen describes the perfect family and the conflicts within. Ibsen examines the normal lives of the Helmer family through the eyes of the wife, Nora Helmer. She goes through a series of trials as she progresses through the play and with each trial she realizes something is missing in her life. Ibsen examines the struggles within the house.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." Ibsen : Four Major Plays - Volume 1. Trans. Rolf Fjelde. New York: Signet Classics, 1992. 43-114. Print.