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Deceit In A Doll House By Henrik Ibsen

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In Henrik Ibsen’s groundbreaking play “A Doll’s House” the physical doll house itself can be seen as the object that presents the meaning of the work. The theme of Nora Helmer’s deceitful nature is strengthened by the symbolism provided by the significant doll house. The reader is further introduced to many deceptive aspects of the Helmer’s lives that stem from the essential symbol and its corresponding theme. The physical doll house represents the manipulation and filial degradation of Nora through Torvald’s self-absorbed actions. Nora was indirectly forced by her husband to basically perform a false act as a “doll” for him throughout their life together. She claims “I should not think of going against your wishes” (Ibsen 1.65). She is controlled …show more content…

At the beginning of the play, Nora appears to be a dutifully obedient and honest wife, however it is quickly revealed that she is hiding a serious secret from him—the fact that she borrowed money from Krogstad to finance a trip to Italy that she claims saved Torvald’s life (Metzger). This renders all of her statements about never disobeying him or hiding anything from him deceitful. When she reveals her dishonesty to Mrs. Linde, she insists that she ought to confess to Torvald immediately, insisting that a marriage cannot succeed when husband and wife are not completely honest with each other (Metzger). A literary “foil” occurs between Nora and Krogstad when it is revealed that both committed the same crime. Their acts of deception spark the unravelling of both their lives. With that being said, Nora’s deceptive personality and actions have negatively affected the people around her family. Krogstad’s reputation is now ruined, and Nora is forced to re-evaluate everything about herself and the society around her, eventually leading to her decision to leave her husband and family at the end of the play (Burt). Deceit is presented as a corrupting force in the lives of the people she loves and cherishes; however, in Nora’s case, it is clear that the motivation for her dishonesty was love. She lied in order to save her husband’s life. Furthermore, her actions wouldn't have had to be deceitful if it weren’t for societal law dictating that women were not allowed to handle financial matters independently. Therefore, Nora’s deceit was not the result of a personal flaw, but rather the only means necessary of overcoming restrictions in order to commit a noble

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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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Literary Argument Paper A Doll House is an 1879 play written by Henrik Ibsen that observes a few evenings within the household of Torvald and Nora Helmer. In A Doll House many different themes of traditional gender roles and marriage are explored throughout the play. Questions are raised on if the ways the events unfold are acceptable. At the end of A Doll House the main character Nora leaves her husband Torvald due to her realization that they are not in love and that she has been living with a stranger all these years.

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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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A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen, it’s a theatrical play that is full of elements related to the aspect of the “typical ideal family household” and the gender’s role. In order to maintain the structure of the play and also the literature composition, the author utilize specific details to enhance and sustain essentials points of the literature. In order to obtain and develop a complete or comprehensive literature analysis of Ibsen’s A Doll House, I made a research to assist what I thought about was Ibsen’s point of view with the theatrical play. The story began with a family portrait during Christmas festivities.

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Nora’s marriage to her husband Torvald makes her so restricted that she is more of an object to play with to Torvald, not a real wife. Lastly, Nora lets in why she was never a strong, independent women in the first place. She is the subject of dismissive behavior because her father raised her to be

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Nora is a character that will do everything that somebody tells her, she is kind of submissive regarding what Torvald says. She has to mention him at least once while she’s talking about anything, but she does have some petty forms of rebellion, like the macaroons. A larger way of her rebelling would be when she pays for the trip so that Torvald can get better. She is viewed as a child by Mrs. Linde, Christine, and is treated like one by Torvald and it seems almost like they look down on her because she is a woman and she is completely dependent on her husband. Her character, at this point, has no backbone; she is completely captivated by this life in which she perceives as

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In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Ibsen portrays growth in almost every character in the play. One of the most dynamic characters of the story is Nora. Nora exhibits many different character traits that develop her into the character she becomes by the end of the play, but one describes her development much more than the others. Throughout the play, Nora can be seen acting childish in her interactions with other characters and her dealings with inconveniences.

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For example, the main conflict in the play centers on the overwhelming stress caused from keeping a secret from Helmer. She never intended to be honest with Helmer about how she obtained the money that ultimately saved his life, so she was deeply frightened when Krogstad threatened her. Though she attempted to defend herself with evidence of situational desperation, she failed to realize “the law cares nothing about motives” (24). If Krogstad had decided to go take the issue court, the signature fraud had the potential to send Nora to jail, as she is clearly guilty. Yet the law is not the only enemy of liars that Nora comes across; Helmer feels the same disdain for deception.

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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).

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The reader becomes very aware of the situation Nora is faced with as Ibsen challenges us to think about the societal times women were a part of during the late 1800’s. As Unni Langas states in her article describing gender within the play, “..this drama is not so much about Nora’s struggle to find herself as a human being, as it is about her shocking experience of being treated as a woman..” (Langas, 2005). This gives the reader an insight into Nora Helmer’s character. She is evidently perceived as the Doll trapped in the Doll house, as she is viewed as an entertainer rather than her own person in the eyes of her husband and children.

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2274 Words | 10 Pages

Krogstad tries to blackmail Nora in order to keep his job at the bank so he is able to put food on the table and keep a roof over the head of his boys. By the end of the play Mrs. Linde is the one who helps Krogstad redeem himself and start on a path to

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Nora takes pride in thinking of herself as the perfect housewife and mother. She, just as every other wife, plays often with her children and attends formal parties on her husband’s arm. She is told

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Nora says,” I’ve been your wife-doll here, just as at home I was Papa’s doll-child.” Ibsen uses the idea of “women” and “doll” to show the inauthentic identity that a doll can never express opinions or accomplish anything without the aid of others. Her decision at the end to leave this false life and discover herself as a women is a symbol of realization. At the end of the play, Nora is still finding out “who is right, the world or

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Her existential choice seems to be forced upon her by society, but in adopting her husband‘s and society’s language, so often used to contain in control women, she now speaks of her duties towards herself, even sacred ones. In a radical refusal to stick to inherited notions of women’s role in family and society, Nora rejects the other identities available to her, both as a doll and as self-sacrificing wife and mother, and of her husband’s pet names for

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Discuss the evolution of Nora’s character and explain why the denouement of the play is then inevitable? A doll’s house is a play that carries forward Ibsen’s theme of an individual struggle for identity when faced with tyrannical social convention, he allows us to follow Nora through her journey from a wife and a ‘skylark’ to her own individual. Ibsen acknowledges the fact that in the 19th century, women were expected to stay home, raise the children and attend to her husband revolving their lives and existence around their husband. Nora portrays this lifestyle playing the typical 19th century women conflicted between a sense of duty to herself and her responsibility to her family and social convention.

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