A Dolls House - Henrik Ibsen - 1132 Words

A Doll s House, by Henrik Ibsen, is a well written play portraying women s struggle for independence and security in the nineteenth century. The drama revolves around Nora, a traditional housewife, who struggles to find a way to save her husband s life while battling society s norms. Her decision to forge a check to help her husband, Torvald, went against the patriarchical laws of that time: her plan was to borrow money and save her ill husband s life. Krogstad, the antagonist, discovers her deceit and threatens to expose her lies. As a result, the protagonist is torn between telling the truth to her husband or attempting to cover it up to save her marriage. In the following analysis, I ll discuss Torvald and Nora s†¦show more content†¦She continually manipulates him for her desires. When Nora, [Smiling quietly and happily] You haven t any idea how many expenses we skylarks and squirrels have, Torvald. Whether its societal pressure or her own views, Nora allows herself to be treated like a child and allows her husband to feel as if he s in control of their relationship. She admits that she acts the way she is, because she thinks of, How painful and humiliating for Torvald, with his manly independence; to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relationship. Its ironic to realize that th eir entire relationship is based on lies. Torvald s main priority is to thrust his manly independence and power over Nora, as both play the part of actors in society s drama. Torvald challenges Nora s attitude and character in the hope of having her fit his idealistic view of women. Torvald wants an out-of-touch-with-reality Nora in his life. As Nora explains, Torvald can t bear to see dress making going on. Torvald does not want to see Nora as an independent and rebellious woman. Her true self is quite different to what she portrays, yet she continuously plays this character that Torvald will agree with. Torvald later forgives Nora for bringing up the topic of Krogstad employment: because it is such eloquent witness to your great love for me. This clearly shows that their relationship is ruled by the more powerful character. Torvald wants NoraShow MoreRelatedDoll’s House by Henrik Ibsen1126 Words   |  4 PagesHenrik Ibsen wrote the book, Doll’s House, in the late 1870s about the life of the common woman in Norway during the 1870s. The book gave society an inside of look of the life women in general. Woman during this time were oppressed and men were contemptuous towards women. Women that opposed their husband were considered mentally insane and sent to a mental institution. The book is about a domesticated woman named Nora. Nora lives in a house with her husband and their three kids. Nora main job toRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen1725 Words   |  7 Pagessuffrage, took place from 1848-1920. In the drama A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, readers are pre sented with what seems to be the perfect little American dream home. Anti-feminist values are presented immediately in the first scenes of the play and carry out until the end. The play was written in 1879, a time when the feminist movement was just starting to take shape and become well known. The drama A Doll’s House has feminist themes that indicate Henrik Ibsen to be a supporter of the feminist movement throughRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen1492 Words   |  6 PagesA Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen was written in 1879 during the Victorian Era. The story is written as a play to be performed on stage. The two main characters Nora and Torvald Helmer are upper middle class husband and wife, but it boils down to social expectations. Conflicts arise when women are under their husbands rule for everything and society pressure to keep up appearances. Torvald Helmer is the antagonist to Nora, his wife, because he is mostly concerned about his reputation, he is the sup remeRead MoreA Dolls House, by Henrik Ibsen1539 Words   |  7 PagesThe themes of â€Å"objecthood† and â€Å"feminine liberation† in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House as conveyed through the characterization of Torvald and Nora, diction, stage directions and structure in two integral scenes. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House conveys the story of a wife’s struggle to break away from the social norms of late nineteenth century middle class Europe. Throughout the play, Ibsen focuses on Nora’s characterization and experiences and thus this leads the reader to perceive her as the protagonistRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen1556 Words   |  7 Pagesprevalent in a variety of literary selections. This paper will focus on animal imagery in Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House by using the reader response strategy. In the play A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen, animal imagery is used in the development of the main character Nora. It is also later found that the animal imagery is a critical part in understanding who Nora is and how other characters perceive her. Ibsen uses creative animal imagery to develop Noras character throughout the play. The animalRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen1829 Words   |  7 Pages Henrik Ibsen, writer of his most famed play A Doll’s House. Ibsen emphasizes on small-town life in this play. A Doll’s House takes place in the 1880s in Europe/Norway and based on a married couple, Torvald Nora, who are considered to be middle class. The main character Nora in Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, seems to give this false installment of her identity. She is both unpredictable and childlike. The entire first and second act she spends giving this hidden subtext that she is unreliableRead MoreA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen868 Words   |  3 Pagesmoney is considered to hold the most power. In the case of the household, the person who holds the most power is the person who handles the money, and in our man-centric world, it is usually the man who holds both money and power. In Henrik Ibsens play A Doll’s House, the theme of money is used to establish power roles between the characters of the play, and how the theme contributes to typical gender roles in the 19th century. A womans duty in the 19th century was to exhibit â€Å"piety, purity, submissivenessRead MoreA Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Essay961 Words   |  4 PagesIn Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, pointedly captures the reality of the Victorian Era within the play. Nora Helmer, the protagonist of the story, represents the typical women in society during that era. The audience’s first impression of Nora is a money obsessed, childish, obedient house wife to her husband, Torvald Helmer. However, as the play progresses one can see that Nora is far from being that typical ideal trophy wife, she is an impulsive liar who goes against society’s norm to be whomRead More A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen Essay842 Words   |  4 PagesA Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen â€Å"A dolls house† was written by Henrik Ibsen and produced by famous actors during the time of the 1800’s; in fact it was the year of 1879 to be precise. It was around this time that many different Social, cultural and historical moments were changing through time, leaving the end result to change not only one country but had an effect on most of the world. For this section of the work I will be carefully discussing with you the issues of; * Social events Read More A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Essay1111 Words   |  5 PagesA Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen The play â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen is about a wife that is hiding a big secret from her overprotective husband. The play takes place on Christmas Eve till the day after Christmas. Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer have been married for 8 years, yet Nora is hiding something from Torvald that she thinks would ruin everything if he found out. It opens up with Nora coming home and decorating the house for Christmas and making preparations. They have 3 children: