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Today a reader might find it hard to imagine how daring Nora Helmer was a hundred years ago. The theme of women? s liberation makes this story seem almost contemporary. This was considered a controversial play featuring a woman seeking individuality. ? A Doll? s House?
was the play that made Ibsen world famous. It was written well ahead of its time. In Ibsen? s time it was considered an outrage for a woman such as Nora to display a mind of her own. It was unthinkable that a woman would leave her husband to obtain freedom. This play presents problems and that still appear in today?
s society. This play, one of Ibsen? s most popular works, was a simple classic story of women? s liberation. Animal imagery in the play is a critical part of the character development of Nora. It is used to develop Nora?
s character. Throughout the play Torvald calls his wife, ? his little lark? , ? sulky squirrel? , or other animal names. A lark is a happy, carefree, songbird.
It can also be used as a verb meaning to engage in spirited, fun, or merry pranks. Torvald thinks Nora is always happy, never sad, and energetic (all the characteristics of a songbird. ) A squirrel is quite the opposite. It is a small fury rodent. Nora? squirreled?
away her bag of macaroons, and also scrounges money to pay off her debt. Torvald would ask if, ? that is my squirrel rummaging around? ? This shows that Nora was burying something, maybe the macaroons or the money she secretly borrowed. Torvald uses names that show how he feels about Nora at the time. The animals chosen Stevens 2 are related to how Nora is acting.
In act two, Nora tells Torvald she will be a wood nymph and dance for him. A wood nymph is a hummingbird that is graceful in flight, just like Nora wants to be for Torvald when she dances. When Nora begs Torvald to let Krogstad to keep his job at the bank she gets very worked up. Torvald notices her? frightened dove eyes? and tries to comfort her.
A dove is well known as a symbol of peace. Nora only wants Krogstad to keep his job to maintain peace and order in her life. Most of the animal imagery used refers to happy peaceful animals. This is because Torvald sees Nora as a happy, carefree housewife.
He does not know about the secret worries she has. The imagery also shows what kind of person Torvald is and the kind of person he would like Nora to be (Magill). Through most of the play Nora has a typical relationship with society. Most women in her time were denied a part in public life, their education was limited, they were not legally able to transact business, and they could not own property. Women were considered property of their husband or fathers. Nora?
s demeaning treatment was a common occurrence in life. Nora was a typical housewife who worshipped her husband. Her main purpose was to be happy for his sake. Nora had general duties, mostly restricted to caring for the children. She fails to see that the law does not take into account the motivation behind her forgery.
Nora? s first confrontation with a? lawful society? was her meeting with Krogstad. Nora does not realize her naivety and inexperience with the real world until she encounters rules with the world outside of her? doll house. ?
She does not realize that rules outside of the house apply to her. Nora has been so sheltered from society that she cannot comprehend the severity of her decision to Stevens 3 borrow money illegally. In her opinion it was no crime to do everything possible to save her husband? s life.
She also believes that her actions will be overlooked because of her desperate situation. Nora? s state of shocked awareness at the end of the play shows how society awakens to the changing view of the role of women (Magill). Torvald also has a very typical relationship with society. He is a smug bank manager, a perfect symbol of their society.
With his job comes many responsibilities. He often treats his wife as if she is one of these responsibilities. Torvald is very authoritative and male dominated. He puts his appearance (both social and physical) ahead of his wife that he supposedly loves. He is not a strong supporter of his family; instead he is a mean and cowardly man. This is a man that is worried about his reputation, and cares little about his wife?
s feelings. He waits until after he discovers that his social status will suffer no harm before revealing his true feelings. These feelings put both his social and physical appearance ahead of Nora, the wife who he says he loves. Torvald is a typical husband in his society. He denied Nora the right to think and act the way she wished.
He required her to act like an imbecile and insisted upon the rightness of his view in all matters. An obvious example of his physical control over her would be his re-teaching of the tarantella. Nora pretends to need Torvald to teach her every move to relearn the dance. Nora had to hide the fact that she was capable of making her own decisions from him. Torvald does have a small positive side. He is an admirable man, rigidly honest, with high morals, and is passionately devoted to his wife and children.
Torvald was not completely empty of grace. Nora would not have married him in the first place if he lacked all charm. She would not have committed forgery at great Stevens 4 personal risk to safe his life if he were not at all appealing to her. Overall Torvald was a shallow, self-centered person. He only reveals his true feelings after he discovers that his social status will suffer no harm. His pride would not let him accept that he needed a woman to help him.
His self confidence would not have been strong enough to take that kind of blow to his ego. Torvald also speaks as if he is only interested in Nora physically, and not emotionally. He comments that, ? When I saw you turn and sway in the tarantella-my blood was pounding till I couldn? t stand it (Kirszner 1014)?
also Torvald asks, ? Can? t I look at my richest treasure? At all that beauty that? s mine, mine alone-completely and utterly (Kirszner 1013). ?
Nora replies by saying, ? Go away, Torvald! Leave me alone. I don? t want all this (Kirszner 1014). ?
Torvald then implies that it is one of Nora? s duties as his wife to physically pleasure him at his command when he says, ? Aren? t I your husband? (Kirszner 1014)? Nora is a dynamic character in this play. She goes through many changes and develops more than any other character.
She is a grown woman that was pampered all her life by men. She was spoon fed all of her life by her father and husband. She believes in Torvald unquestionably, and has always believed that he was her god or idol. She loves so much that nothing else matters; she has no social, legal, or moral considerations. She is the perfect image of a doll wife who revels in the thought of luxuries that she can afford because she is married. She is very flirtatious, and constantly engages in childlike acts of disobedience.
Nora goes through life with the illusion that everything is perfect. Because of the society she grew up in, when Nora is placed in a responsible position that demands moral judgment, she has none to give. Slowly Nora? s Stevens 5 character is forced to discontinue the role of a doll and seek out her individuality. She progressively confronts the replies of the real world, but still clings to the hope that her husband will protect and defend her from the outside world. Nora shows many contradicting actions in the play.
These actions emphasize her inferior role in her relationship with Torvald. Nora is infatuated with luxuries. She is at a point in her life where her family is very comfortable with extra money to spend. Her love for nice things contradicts her resourcefulness in scrounging and buying cheap clothing. Her flirtatious behavior also contradicts her devotion to her husband. These two sides of Nora contrast each other and emphasize the fact that she is lacking in independence.
She cannot act the way she wants to act because society and her husband will not allow her to (Magill). At the end of the play Nora finally confronts the realities of the real world and her subordinate position. She comes to see herself as an ignorant, unfit mother. She realizes that playing with and dressing her children does not make her a suitable mother.
At the end of the play she also is aware of her ignorance, and her desire to go into the real world is not to prove herself, but to educate and discover herself. Throughout the play Nora tried to avoid having Torvald? s pride injured. She knew forcing him to borrow money would have been a huge blow to his self-esteem, even though it was necessary to save his life.
To spare him she took matters into her own hands and borrowed the money herself. She grows from this experience. She learned about human nature, about the value of money, and learned a lesson of practicality. She lived her life pretending to be the old Nora, and hid the changed woman she had become. She let the illusion of the old Nora continue well after she became a new person. Nora slammed the door on more than Stevens 6 Torvald.
She also slammed the door on everything else that happened in her past. It took time to evolve into a new person, but after she did she became a person who could not stand to be married to Torvald any longer. There is foreshadowing hinting that Nora will leave before the play is over (Magill). She says, ?
do you think that [the children] would forget their mother if she was gone for good? ? (Kirszner 993) There are three minor characters in the play, but they each have a very important role. Kristine Linde was a childhood friend of Nora? s. She has a major effect on events that happen in the play. She is the first character to see that Nora is not a child. Nora is just acting to fit into the role Torvald has made for her.
She is a savior for Nora. She has gone through many tough times so she has much more real world experience than Nora. Kristine? s past was very rough, but the things she has lived through make her the strong person she is. She once had true love, but made the mistake of leaving it for stability and money.
She suffered because of the choices she made and is much stronger because of them. At a young age Kristine sacrificed her happiness to take care of her dying mother and two younger brothers. Her life did not really start until her family no longer needed her. Kristine also has a big effect on the changes Krogstad makes in his life. These two had a prior love that still lingers into the present. Kristine helps Krogstad improve his life.
This change benefits Nora? s life in many ways. Kristine? s hard life was something that most women did not have to experience many years ago. Like Nora, she also had an empty marriage.
This ended when her husband died, but his death only forced her to work for a living. Kristine was a foil to Nora; she experienced hard work and a troubled, but independent life. Nora was weak, frail, and only knew how to live by other people? s Stevens 7 rules. She helped Nora become a stronger person; this strength helped Nora live her meaningless life to start over. Kristine has already gone through all the things Nora is about to face.
Finally, Kristine was a good friend to Nora. Kristine helped Nora fix her dress when Nora was helpless and did not know what to do. She also fixed the situation between Nora and Krogstad. In many ways Kristine helped Nora fix her life (Sortland).
Another minor character was Krogstad. He provides much of the conflict in the play. He starts off as a cruel and pitiless man, only looking out for himself. During the play Krogstad completely turns around.
He no longer only cares about his money and fortune. Kristine helps him become a better person. Krogstad is a foil for Torvald. Torvald is a stubborn man, unwilling to change. Torvald has a superior attitude, while Krogstad reveals the truth, reforms, and becomes a better man. Krogstad is a manipulator, but this deception evolves into the truth.
All of the bad things Krogstad tried to do to Nora ended up helping her. The position he put her in made her realize that she needed a change in her life. Krogstad tries to clean up his reputation and improve his social standings so that he can be a better father to his children (Mazurak). The final minor character is Dr.
Rank. He has the equivalent of a love affair with Nora. Everything is there, including the emotions; the relationship is only lacking physical love. Dr. Rank is someone Nora can talk to. He is available emotionally while Torvald is not.
Nora can confide in Dr. Rank, but not her own husband. The Helmers were fond of Dr. Rank? s presence, especially Nora. Dr.
Rank did not present himself as superior. He looked at Nora as an equal, and that is something that Torvald never did. Dr. Rank truly loved Nora. He did not think of her as a doll or plaything (Magill). Stevens 8 Each of the characters in the play has a specific relationship with another character.
There are business relationships, relationships of love, and relationships between friends. Nora and Krogstad? s relationship is strictly business. Nora borrowed money from him to take care of Torvald when he was sick. Nora knows that women are not supposed to borrow money and she knows that Torvald would not approve of her borrowing money. It was not only inappropriate for Nora to borrow this money, but she also forged her father?
s signature to get it. This puts Krogstad in control of their relationship. The agreement they had started out very simple, but when Krogstad is about to loose his job he will do anything to keep it. It was very convenient that he had? dirt? on the wife of his new boss (Mazurak).
Nora and Dr. Rank also have a caring relationship. It may not have been a totally honest one, but there were feelings involved. Dr.
Rank was secretly in love with Nora for most of the play. It was not until he became very sick that he told Nora his true feelings. Nora may not have felt the same way as Dr. Rank, but she did enjoy his company. He was the only man who did not see Nora as inferior. Nora and Kristine have the most honest and caring relationship out of all the characters.
Kristine is one of the few characters who is sincere, and without realizing it she helps Nora get her life together. Kristine has a lot of experience that Nora does not, so she is able to give Nora advise. Kristine and Krogstad have a relationship that dates back farther than the other characters realize. They once had a love, but it was lost. Kristine is a down to earth person, so the two characters have a relationship based on truth.
In the play Kristine says, ? There was a time when he? d gladly do anything for me Stevens 9 (Kirszner 1006). ? This is the first time Nora is told about Kristine and Krogstad? s previous relationship. This comes up in the middle of Nora?
s situation with Krogstad. Kristine helps Krogstad change into a better person with her? shipwrecked? story. In part of Kristine? s story she says, ?
Two on one wreck are at least better than each on his own (Kirszner 1010). ? This quote comes up during their secret meeting. Kristine is suggesting that they become a couple again and go through these hard times together. She thinks that it would be harder to suffer alone. She has already experimented with men and has experience to handle situations (Sortland). When the two bump into each other at the Helmers?
house, they realize that the love is still there. Both of them have had a hard life and lost their spouse. Kristine and Krogstad rekindling their relationship will also benefit Nora. Krogstad?
s life will no longer be miserable, so he will have no reason to harass Nora. Finally, there is Nora and Torvald? s relationship. On the outside they appear to be a happy couple.
Nora is treated like a child in this relationship, but as the play progresses she begins to realize how phony her marriage is. It takes time for Nora to recognize the problems in her marriage, but wen she does; she abruptly ends the relationship (Magill). In? A Doll House? Torvald is an example of today? s stereotypical man.
He is only interested in his appearance, and the amount of control he has over others. Nora is a woman who plays to a man? s desires, or in other words, is only doing what he wants her to. She allows Torvald to think he is stronger and smarter than he really is.
Nora may have been the inferior person in her marriage, but she definitely had the power to control Stevens 10 Torvald as well as he controlled her, she just did not realize it. Nora only made Torvald think she was helpless. Nora was manipulative too. She was able to stop Torvald from reading Krogstad? s note. She made sure Torvald was kept busy until she could dispose of the letter containing all her secrets, even though she changed her mind.
Nora was a character that stood for women? s freedom. She showed the women of her time that they should be able to share their thoughts and opinions. She slams the door of her doll house to show that she was putting away childish things and taking her rightful place in the adult world. As soon as she slams the door Torvald realizes what true love and equality are. He realizes that he never had that with Nora.
Kirszner, Laurie. , & Mandell, Stephen. (Eds. ). (2000). A Doll? s House. Philadelphia: Harcourt College Publishers.
Magill, Frank. Master Plots. Vol. 3 Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1996 Magill, Frank, ed. (1997). Masterpieces of World Literature.
New York: Harper & Row. Mazurak, Mark. Important Quotes. 1996. 7 April 2000 web Mazurak, Mark. Krogstad. 1996. 7 April 2000 web Sortland, Chris. Christine Linde and Her Influence on Nora. 1996. 7 April 2000 web
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Research essay sample on Doll House Nora
