A Doll's House Research Paper

Nora is married to Torvald for over 6 years and they have a comfortable routine that they follow. One day Torvald takes ill and Nora takes action. In the 1870’s the man was the provider for the household. Though, with Torvald sick, Nora needs to find a way to help her husband no matter the cost. They take off to Italy and “Torvald couldn't have lived if he hadn't managed to get down there.” (180) Nora feels a sense of pride knowing that she is the one that saves her husband. Nora wishes she could tell her husband what she had done but she understands the repercussions it would have on their relationship. Torvald would feel the humiliating effect of having his wife being his protector. To Torvald, Nora is just an object that is to serve his every need. She is his entertainer, his squanderbird. Torvald believes that Nora is just his “....poor, helpless, bewildered little creature.” (226) Their marriage is only real on paper, there is no equality in their household. This is something that Nora comes to terms with. She understands that “I must stand on my own feet if I am to find out the truth about myself and about life.” (228) Nora is a person of strong will. She knows how to put on a mask when the time comes, and she plays her cards just right. Because Torvald treats her as more of a trophy wife, she does not tell him about how she was able to take him to Italy.

Nora was portrayed as an object, which Torvald dominated. Due to this she leaves to be independent and not be controlled any

The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate

Nora begins to take offence to the words of Torvald. He refers to her as his most “prized possession”, and continues to say that he often imagines her as though she is his mistress, and she is a temptress. Nora continues to get offended, telling Torvald she doesn’t want any of this. Nora begins

Nora and Torvald have been married quite a long time. In total, they have been married for 8 years and they have 3 children together. Nora is unemployed and works as a housewife and Torvald currently is working in a bank and is about to be promoted to the bank manager.

When comparing her talks with Torvald and to Linde, two different characters within Nora shown, one based on what Torvald wants, another on her own

Writer Henrik Ibsen, wrote a three act play called “A Doll’s House” in 1879, and later in 1880, transformed his piece into a German production. This play captured the attention of many because, in the original play, Nora, a main character who is both a wife and mother, decided to abandon her family due to a hollow marriage. However, do to the complaints and demands of fans, Ibsen changed the ending in the 1880 version where Nora decided not to abandon her family and marriage. Ibsen’s 1880 ending is more appealing to me than his original.

Moreover, this shift in power towards the end signifies a major disempowerment to Torvald because he is then forced to beg her to stay with him (Ibsen 1803). However, his wife is too far gone from his reach to be swayed by his attempts at begging and- later- force. This is significant to witness because it highlights the fact that Torvald is no longer able to keep control over a woman he has controlled for eight years of their relationship- the entirety of their marriage. In addition, this illustrates her increased power because she has lowered his worth in their relationship- that has become non-existent. Scholars say that Nora’s departure is accompanied with despair (Gelber 360). This is especially true in regard to Torvald; in fact, it illustrates that Torvald’s character is far more dependent upon his wife than she was of

For years, women have been told what they can and cannot do. They have fought exceptionally hard for decades to gain equality among men. Back then, during the time of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, women were thought of as property. They were mere trophy wives to their egotistical husbands. The female lead in this play is an example of what a woman’s life was like during this time period and how they handed it. Once Nora walked out on her husband and left her children, only one question remained: can women have both gender equality and familial relationships? Or must they choose between the two?

Torvald’s wife Nora is the center of several of the traits that classify him as a morally ambiguous character. Nora is more like a possession to Torvald than a soul mate or wife. She is like a doll to him, something that he can control and shape into what he wants. Nora is treated like a child and as if she can not function a second without him to be there to tell her what to do. Her dependency on him is extremely important to him because that is

When Torvald’s stunning words reveal a harsh truth to his wife, Nora, she immediately closes the door to her marriage and family. In A Doll’s House, we find Nora rebelling against her husband Torvald and the institution of marriage due to the secrets that Nora kept from her husband for his sake, because she realizes her marriage was nothing but a false devotion for one another, and because she faces a reality that now is time for her to discover her own path in life and examine some of her newfound ambitions.

Nora them made the conscious decision to leave Torvald and find meaning in her own life. We can see that the role of women has been greatly inhibited, which led to Nora acting out to feel in control of her

A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, portrays a young married woman, Nora, who plays a dramatic role of deception and self-indulgence. The author creates a good understanding of a woman’s role by assuming Nora is an average housewife who does not work; her only job is to maintain the house and raise the children like a stereotypical woman that cannot work or help society. In reality, she is not an average housewife in that she has a hired maid who deals with the house and children. Although Ibsen focuses on these “housewife” attributes, Nora’s character is ambitious, naive, and somewhat cunning. She hides a dark secret from her husband that not only includes borrowing money, but also forgery. Nora’s choices were irrational; she handled the

Nora responds to his remark saying, “Go away, Torvald! Leave me alone. I don’t want all this.” Torvald asks, “Aren’t I your husband?” implying that one of Nora’s duties as his wife is to physically please him at his command.

Mrs. Linde assumes that Dr. Rank is the person that Nora borrowed money from, but Nora denies it and doesn’t tell her who the real person is. Torvald shows up. Nora begs him to not fire Krogstad. Her begging only angers off Torvald, and he tells the maid to send Krogstad his notice. Torvald goes to his office. Nora then had a plan to ask Dr. Rank for the remainder of the money that she owes, but her plan fails when he tells her that he will be dying soon and that he is in love with her. She feels guilty and doesn’t ask. As Dr. Rank goes in to see Torvald, Krogstad comes storming in, upset that he was fired. He yelled at Nora and then put blackmail in Torvald’s mailbox on the way out. In a fret, Nora tells Mrs. Linde everything. Mrs. Linde explains that she used to have a relationship with Krogstad that maybe she could change his mind. Mrs. Linde leaves to give a note to Krogstad, while Nora has to keep Torvald from reading the letter. The next night, while the costume party was taking place, Krogstad met up with Mrs. Linde to talk. The conversation revealed that they were once both deeply in love with one another, but Mrs. Linde left him for another wealthier man. She then confesses that she wants to get back with him. He accepts. They agree that they would leave Krogstad’s letter for Torvald to read because it would be better if Krogstad knew what his wife did for him. They ran