An Analysis of a Woman’s Manhood in A Doll’s House Essay

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.

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

Ibsen’s character Nora in A Doll’s House, shows gradual development throughout the play to support his theme that above all else, you are human; even in marriage both parties should be given the equal opportunities, rights and respect. While Nora may at first seem happy with her life inside her “doll house”, she begins to recognize that she must find herself, and stop being a toy in the lives of men.

When Torvald does not immediately offer to help Nora after Krogstad threatens to expose her, Nora realizes that there is a problem. By waiting until after he discovers that his social status will suffer no harm, Torvald reveals his true feelings, which put appearance, both social and physical, ahead of the wife whom he says he loves. Nora's personality changes from a two-dimensional figure to a fully developed and captivating woman who can independently take care of herself and her family without the guiding hand of a man at her side; this is illustrated by her handling of the debt crisis up to the point that her husband finds out. This revelation is what prompts Nora to walk out on Torvald.

Nora also receives the command from her husband that she should “...make your mind at ease again, my frightened little singing bird. Be at/ rest and feel secure; I have broad wings to shelter you under”(3. 1. 543-544). After showing his whimpering self at realizing that society might find out that he owes his wife, he then receives a note promising not to reveal the truth. Torvald reacts with happiness and pretends that he did not just hurt his wife. His wife does not let this go as he rants with sexist remarks bluffing about his strengths. The pride Torvald has as a man makes him discriminate against women and what they stand for showing making the break up within this family. Also in The House on Mango Street, one of the protagonist's friends must take care of their family because she is the eldest daughter but this has only made her hope for a man to get out of here since all she has learned is that men are superior to her. This shows how dominance of a family member can make other family members want to leave, therefore breaking the family

Ibsen’s “A Dolls House” is a story about a wife who forges her father's signature to obtain a loan that can save her authoritative husband from a life-threatening illness. Unfortunately, her husband’s co-worker Krogstad discovers the forged document and threatens to reveal her which would bring shame upon both Nora and her husband. Krogstad’s motivation to blackmail Nora begins when he finds out Mrs. Linde is now an employee at the bank. Believing Mrs. Linde was hired to replace him, Krogstad need’s Nora to influence her husband to retain his position.

Commonly, we see female characters in literature completely at the discipline of their male counterparts. However, some females challenge the notion that subservience to the patriarchy is absolutely ‘necessary’. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd both create interesting female characters in Nora Helmer and Bathsheba Everdene respectively. Whether these women are truly either independent or dependent, is ambiguous in their pieces of literature.

Write a paper that explains how history is portrayed in a particular play emphasizing what a certain historical event, personage, or situation enables the playwright to communicate. Discuss what effect the playwright's transformation of historical reality has on an audience.

Growing up and facing reality could be a cruel process but may also be a beautiful aspect of life. Bill Watterson, famous creator of “Calvin and Hobbes” believes that such change in life is bitter and relentless to an individual. Moreover, Henrik Ibsen, the writer of the famous play “A Doll’s House”, considers that this development is actually a positive factor. There are strong components that authenticate that “Calvin and Hobbes” and “A Doll’s House” are different on their theme of growing up. The process of becoming of age may have positive and negative elements buried within it.

A Doll House is a play that focuses on human rights and feminism. Throughout the play there are two women: Nora and Mrs. Linde. Nora is the main character and though Mrs. Linde is less prominent throughout the play her role is very important. The two women become foils for each other in ways that don’t become apparent until the very end.

On the other hand, manliness is quite obvious throughout the play. Nora's appears to be aware of the social pressures that Torvald faces as a male just as she is aware of her own social role as a woman. Torvald, however, bases manliness on the value of complete independence. He seeks to reach total financial or moral independence that over time puts him out of touch with

The title “A Doll’s House” is the first sign of thematic significance used in the play. Nora mentions doll’s houses a few times early in the play such as when she buys toy dolls for her daughter and mentions that the fact they were cheap didn’t matter since they would most likely break soon. This is an interesting parallel as it suggests that Nora is raising her daughter to experience a future life similar to Nora’s, and foreshadows Nora leaving her husband and family at the end of the play. When Nora refers to her children, she calls them her “little dollies.” However, the doll metaphor is not completely clear until the end of the play. Nora argues to Torvald that both he and her father treated her like a doll, and uses this as one of the reasons as to why she has become dissatisfied and troubled with their marriage.

Torvald barely recognizes the dynamic character Nora transforms into at the end of the play and the changed person she has become. He can’t understand why his seemingly perfect household wife could have committed such a horrendous crime and how she could leave her responsibilities to him and their children behind to educate herself. Barry Jacobs states that “to challenge [Torvald’s] outmoded ideas about marriage” and his strict regulations and rules, “she becomes a rebel and informs him that she is leaving him and the children” behind (Jacobs). Nora’s rebelliousness shines in every action she does, irregardless of the significancy so that she could gain a sense of herself and capture some control of her life filled with regulations and orders she must

Ibsen and Wilde present their female protagonists as secretive women who hide the truth. To what extent do you agree that Nora and Mrs Arbuthnot are both performers?

A Doll’s House was published in Norway in 1879 by Henrik Isben. He is known as the father of Modern Theatre. He is also referred as the father of realism. The play is very interesting because of the funny dialogue, the unique characters, and Ibsen 's view of the place of ladies in the public eye. The main characters of the play is Nora Helmer and her husband Torvald Helmer. Imagine what it would be like to live in a doll 's home? It 's a house in which you are controlled and have no energy to settle on any solid choice; It 's a house in which you are a play thing for another person 's amusement. This sounds a ton like an awful marriage, so it 's a house in which your husband holds the satchel strings, in a manner of speaking, and abandons you with no influence over your family 's accounts. In fact, your husband keeps you on a tightrope. Such is the perceived life of Nora Helmer.