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A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen

752 Words4 Pages

At the end of his play A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen has the protagonist Nora make a very questionable decision, to leave her husband of eight years and their three young children. Nora’s decision to leave her husband and children is self centered and impulsive. Nora parting from her family is a selfish and impulsive choice, as Nora refuses to give Torvald an opportunity to change or her relationship a chance to grow and furthermore Nora takes no responsibility for the life and family she has helped create. Upon announcing her decision to leave her husband and children, Nora selfishly refuses to give Torvald any opportunity to change his ways. Several times Torvald tries to convince Nora that she doesn’t have to leave because as he says, “I have it in me to become a different man” (79). Torvald is not only willing to change for Nora but, “…would gladly work …show more content…

Nora blames her father and husband for the situation she is in as if she has no control over her own mind or body. This lack of responsibility is evident as Nora says to Torvald “You and papa have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life” (74). Nora continues to avoid taking responsibility for her life as she describes “When I was at home with papa, he told me his opinion about everything… and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it… And when I came to live with you… You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as yours else I pretended to…” (74). Nora not only refuses to take responsibility for her marriage but also for her children as she responds to Torvald’s pleas by saying “I cannot consider that at all. I only know that it is necessary for me” (76). Nora’s decision to leave is therefore yet another for her to avoid taking any responsibility for her own

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Throughout the play, emotional labor plays an imperative part in Nora’s deteriorating mental state until her epiphany, where she transforms into a woman determined to discover her authentic self, no matter the punishment. Subsequent to Nora’s epiphany, she explains to Torvald that she was her father’s doll-child, just like she is Torvald’s doll-wife, going “from Papa’s hands into yours. You arranged everything to your own taste, and so I got the same taste as you--or I pretended to; I can’t remember… I’ve lived by doing tricks for you, Torvald. But that’s the way you wanted it… You’re to blame nothing’s become of me” (Ibsen 1015).

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people know that her hband can do everything with the new problems of fear, guilt, and wrongdoing. We can feel that she takes too much pride in it because it remains one of the few independent actions she has ever taken. Mrs. Nora is also proud that she can influence her husband, as she let Krogstad boasts her. She wants to support and help those around her. Although she has been able to exert that sort of influence over Torvalds, he did not notice that, and her power extremely limited as a woman because paradoxically, when Krogstad asks Mrs. Nora to exert this influence on Torvald on his behalf, Nora perceives his request is an insult to her husband, but when she does it is fine.

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So Nora stands up for herself to discover her values and Ibsen wanted to highlight that fact, that women should not be taken as for granted they should be valued and that women need to stand up for themselves and not be constrained to the way society was back then. Nora’s friend Mrs. Linde had to abandon Krogstad for a better life for her family. The nanny also had to abandon her children just so she can find a job to live and earn

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Nora is a married woman and has children to take care of. She really has little freedom because of the way Torvald treats her. She is not even I feel as if deep down she knows she is not free and wants something more in her life then to be a entertaining puppet for Torvald. She realizes at the end of the story that Torvald is not good to her because of the way he acted when she told him about forging the signature. When Torvald called her a criminal and other harsh words she realized that she had no true love from Torvald and wanted to be free from him.

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This brings in to question whether or not it is acceptable for a woman to simply walk away from a marriage, involving three children, and not attempt to work things out. Nora realizes she and the life she has been living has been a complete construct of the way society expects her to be. Nora is Torvald’s doll and her life has not amounted to anything more than making sure he and the world around her is happy. The result of the inequalities she is faced with results in Nora being completely unhappy. Torvald fails to recognize everything that Nora does to ensure his happiness.

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1418 Words | 6 Pages

After eight years of marriage, what allows Nora to see that she must break free from the “Doll’s House”? “A Doll’s House” is a play written by Henrik Ibsen, set in late nineteenth century where women were expected to uphold social norms of being a submissive wife and a caring mother. In the beginning of the play, Nora is initially portrayed as a naive and obedient “doll” trapped inside of a “Doll’s House”, but towards the end of the play, Nora is able to come to the realisation that she was never happy during her eight years of marriage with Torvald, leading to her leaving Torvald and breaking free from the “Doll’s House”. This essay will explore the different factors which allows Nora to see why she must break free.

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She realized that wasn’t fully being herself, and because of that, she didn’t know who she was. She was tired of living by society standards. During Torvald and Nora last argument, Torvald said by deserting her husband and children she is forsaking her "most sacred duties." Meaning she was supposed to be a loyal wife and take care of her husband and children. Though, Nora doesn’t see that as her “most sacred duties” She tells Torvald that her duties that are most scared to her is the duty to herself.

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A Doll House In Ibsen’s play, A Doll House, Nora is the unhappy wife finding a hard time to gain affection and love from her husband. Throughout the play, it is revealed that she has taken illegal loans in order to pay for a trip to Italy that would improve the health of her husband, and has been working in secret to pay it off. Her life seems to be wrapped around supporting her husband and seeking his approval, as well as raising their children in a happy home, all in return for the reward of her husband giving her the love and attention she seeks and satisfaction with her efforts at being the perfect wife. At the end of the play, her efforts to save her husband’s life, and to secretly secure finances for the family, and to be the perfect wife and mother are shattered when her husband (Torvald) discovers her secrets and instead of appreciating her efforts, becomes angry and reacts cruelly towards her.

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Entry #1: Act I, Pages 1 – 13 I started the play, “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen and since I came late into the course, I have some background on the play and some minor information about Nora, Torvald and Mrs. Linde, Christine from some of the IOPs presented. The first impression for each character introduced differed. Torvald seemed like a dominant man that was the essence of a typical Norwegian man during the time the play was written. He’s constantly being demeaning towards Nora and women in general during the dialogue between him and Nora. For example when he says, “That is like a woman!”

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1436 Words | 6 Pages

In the end, Nora inevitably chooses to leave her family. In this decision to as stated “educate” herself, she leaves her children motherless, and runs from a substantial household. Some may say that she was unhappy, but Nora never brought it to Torvald’s attention that she was unhappy and chooses to leave him behind without ever giving

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615 Words | 3 Pages

In "A Doll's House" the main character, Nora, is influenced and controlled by her husband Torvald. He often treats his wife as if she is one of his children, and the bigger problem with that is that Nora follows along with it. She acts very childish

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833 Words | 4 Pages

Torvald, however; only lusts after Nora and does not truly love her for who she is. Torvald treats Nora as an object and although he is just is a man of his time, it is still a vile and not virtuous thing to do to another human being. This play has characters that are complex, but their virtues are clearly seen. Every fault that Nora has in this play can be linked back to her being a victim of the time she was born in and the people

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In the modern world divorce is not something that is considered overly strange or obtuse regardless of whether the person to instigate the divorce is the husband or wife. For many people, marriage is both a legal contract between two individuals who decide building their life together but also the divine union of two separate spirits. In A “Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen, the character of Nora leaves her husband of several years in order to pursue her own goals in life and find herself. While many people might still see this as a controversial decision as the woman had children with her husband, others instead point out the ways in which Nora acts as a kind of precursor to the women's rights movement as she decides to make a change for her own betterment instead of for the betterment of her family. It is in this light that Nora’s perspective on her life, the changes that she needs to make, and the overall way she is treated by her husband that allows her to make her decision as one that is not only understandable but preferential to the alternative of staying with Torvald.

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1229 Words | 5 Pages

He rather expects her to be more compliant, loyal and wants her to follow the social and moral rules strictly, like he does. Torvald’s assertion that Nora’s lack of understanding of money matters is the result of her gender (“Nora, my Nora, that is just like a woman”) reveals his prejudiced viewpoint on gender roles. Torvald believes a wife’s role is to beautify the home, not only through proper management of domestic life but also through proper behavior and appearance. He quickly makes it known that appearances are very important to him, and that Nora is like an ornament or trophy that serves to beautify his home and his reputation. He tells Nora that he loves her so much that he has wished in the past that Nora’s life were threatened so that he could risk everything to save her.

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759 Words | 4 Pages

During act III, Nora asked to speak to Torvald after her performance of the tarantella dance. The following conversation demonstrated her quest for autonomy and freedom, as well as Torvald’s inadequate responses to her arguments and demands; it also showed how deeply connected her unhappy situation is with society’s regulation of the relationship between the sexes. She asserts that she is “...first and foremost a human being”, and her strong conviction that her womanhood, and the expectations associated with it, are secondary, strengthens her resolve to make a radical choice: A break with both husband and, with necessity due to her legal position, her children (Ibsen, 184). During her conversation with Torvald, she proclaims, “I have other sacred duties... The duties to myself (Ibsen, 184).”

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