Lies In A Doll's House

Lies help to cover the harsh reality of the truth. Children use lies to cover very simple mistakes, however, adults like Nora and Torvald in A Doll’s House, use lies to maintain the security and simplicity of their homestead. Nora especially has to lead a life of submission to patronizing authority. Her wanting to keep this simple, submissive life has roots in her act of deceiving Torvald the entire play, as well as their marriage as a whole. Nora also understands the repercussions of revealing her secret, therefore she keeps this secret in an effort to save Torvald’s reputation. In the play, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, light and dark and paper imagery convey that preserving one’s reputation through deceit develops a temporary sense of security. Light and dark imagery of A Doll’s House represents the light of truth amidst their dark world of protection made up of falsehoods and lies. Specifically, the imagery of the lighting and extinguishing of the candles on the Christmas tree represents the fleeting moments of truth throughout the play, then immediately back into their world lacking understanding. Torvald reveals in the beginning of the play that Nora’s trivial secrets of the money she spent on presents will be revealed on Christmas Day. He says, “They will all be revealed when the Christmas tree is

The Helmer’s relationship did not have a solid foundation in truth and understanding for one another, therefore the deceitful lives that they lived, but especially Nora, if discovered could completely destroy the relationship. The security of their reputation as a family and couple is dependent on keeping up appearances, which lying allowed the Helmer’s to achieve. When finally coming to terms with the truth, both could not understand how to recover, therefore they broke away from the marriage and their