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Comparing Krogstad's Letter To Her Husband

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Krogstad and Christine are alone, while the Helmers and Dr. Rank are upstairs at the party. Krogstad reproached Christine for renouncing their betrothal, years ago, leaving him for another man in order to support her and her family. After she had already wrecked their relationship, Christine shows up again in town again, taking over his hard-won position at the bank. However, this is not Christine 's intent. She says that she had returned to town to seek Krogstad and pursue their love for each other once more. Krogstad also feels the same way and comes to the decision to ask Torvald to return his letter. However, Christine changes her mind, deciding that Torvald should find out the truth in order for Nora and Torvald to realize a true marriage. …show more content…

Confronting her husband across a table, Nora proceeds to the "settling of accounts." First of all, she says, this is the first time in eight years "that we two, you and I, husband and wife, have had a serious conversation. . . . We have never sat down in earnest together to try and get at the bottom of things."(Ibsen 74) Over Torvald 's sputtered objections, she outlines the life she has been living in the "doll 's house." First, she lived with her father who treated her like a toy, whose opinions and tastes she had to followed because he would be dissatisfied with any sign of independence. She says"...he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. And when I came to live with you I was simply transferred from Papa 's hands to yours."(76) Torvald made all the arrangements in their life, so she never developed her own tastes or ideas for herself. Torvald admits some of the truth in what she says. It shall be different in the future, he vows, "playtime shall be over and lesson time shall begin." However, she says that he is not the person to educate herself. She isnt ready to bring up her children because she must do something in her life before being with them once more. "I must try and educate myself," she says, "and I must do that for

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In a few words, he recommends her not to follow silly stereotypes and to start thinking by herself.

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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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In “A Doll’s House”, Nora wanted freedom from Torvald. By both authors, freedom is defined and shown in different ways. Freedom in “A Doll’s House” is what Torvald has control of and Nora does not. Torvald can do whatever he wants and has all the freedom while Nora can not even eat a macaroon without Torvald saying something about it. Nora basically gets treated like a child by Torvald.

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What is noticeable about Torvald’s statement is that he says “ he wouldn’t be a man.” Is he not a man already or is there a societal requirement that he must possess in order to be considered a man? This kind of wording is evidence of how societal norms can shape how someone perceives themselves. Torvald feels that he has to “guide” and “teach” Nora because he is “a man.” This is what society deemed men should do - control their wives.

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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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Torvald tells her that Nora has a duty as a mother and a wife but Nora tells him that “she is an individual”, showing that she is finally putting herself on par with Torvald, and no longer allowing Torvald to control her, but instead she is trying to gain independence and liberation from social norms in order to break free from the “Doll’s House.” She tells him that she must leave him, because “for eight years [she’d] been living with a stranger”, emphasising how there was never any proper communication and mutual understanding between them, and hence no proper marriage, as she didn’t actually know what his true character was like up until that night, as she was convinced all along that Torvald would be the man to take everything upon

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Along with Nora's father, Torvald saw the child that could potentially come to light from Nora. While conversing with her Torvald

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As the climax rises, Nora starts to realize her childishness which is why she compared to her life as a doll’s life. She expresses to Torvald how she feels. “I have been your doll wife, just as I was Papa’s doll child” (67). Torvald subtly dismisses her statement by telling her that “playtime is over”(67). His dismissiveness shows the control that he had over her.

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“Torvald is so absurdly fond of me that he wants me absolutely to himself, as he says. ” This quote is said from Nora to a close friend of hers in the play The Dolls House by Henrik Ibson, and it is a perfect encapsulation of how perspective changes the reading of a story. While a neutral reader would see this line as bad but understandable, A female young adult reader growing up in a time and setting where she has taught to be comfortable about her sexuality would have a very different impression of this line. This female reader would judge TorvaldTovald much more harshly and more lasting than the average reader It is an irrefutable fact that Torvald treat Nora like a child, and this reader would be offended by this.

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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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A Doll’s House written by the famous playwright Henrik Ibsen, tells the story of a failing marriage and a woman’s realisation to her role in society. Despite the play being written in a realistic fashion, Ibsen chose to incorporate both metaphors and symbolisms within the play, with symbolisms illustrating the inner conflicts of the main character Nora, and the less prominent metaphors depicting the state in which the characters are in. The use of both symbols and metaphors aide in developing the characters in the play, allowing the audience to further sympathize with the characters created by Henrik Ibsen. What perhaps is the most significant metaphor used throughout the play lies within the title of the play itself, ‘A Doll’s House’. The title introduces the idea that both Nora and Torvald were just in fact dolls in a dollhouse, being played not just by one another, but also by the society of that time.

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does feel the need to keep up her self –respect, while satisfying her own needs. Again, her lies established the fact that how stressed she is by the opinions of her husband. The patriarchal setup of the play and gender roles are being broken as she is destroying the strict rules and by deciding to go out of family. She says that Torvald stops her from eating macaroons as they will destroy her teeth as well as her beauty, she still eats the macaroons. The limitations didn’t stop her from satisfying her own pleasures and she refused to obey through harmless actions showing that she strongly desires independence, but is too afraid to raise her own voice.

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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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In 1880s, women in America were trapped by their family because of the culture that they were living in. They loved their family and husband, but meanwhile, they had hard time suffering in same patterns that women in United States always had. With their limited rights, women hoped liberation from their family because they were entirely complaisant to their husband. Therefore, women were in conflicting directions by two compelling forces, their responsibility and pressure. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen uses metaphors of a doll’s house and irony conversation between Nora and Torvald to emphasize reality versus appearance in order to convey that the Victorian Era women were discriminated because of gender and forced to make irrational decision by inequity society.

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Torvald and Nora’s relationship and home can be compared to as a “doll house” because of its perfect characteristics, however it is quite the opposite, with its foundation based on lies and pretend happiness. The stage directions read “A room furnished comfortably and tastefully, but not extravagantly. At the back, a door to the right leads to the entrance-hall, another to the left leads to Helmer’s study. Near the window is a round table, arm-chairs and a small sofa. Engravings on the walls; a cabinet with china and other small objects; a small bookcase with well-bound books” (Ibsen 4).

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